Ratatouille- Thanksgiving Learning Experiences
Welcome Back! This Thanksgiving is going to be SO different than the ones we’ve had in the past. With many states having shut-downs due to COVID, our Thanksgiving plans are going to look much different this year. My youngest daughter is doing Outschool classes for some interaction with other kids (if you haven’t heard of Outschool, you should check it out here) and she has no classes the whole week of Thanksgiving for the holiday break. I wondered “why?” since so many are staying home this year and fewer will be traveling. But that got me thinking… why not do a Thanksgiving edition of my blog? Here are activities that you can do with your littles the week of Thanksgiving to gear up for the holiday, have some fun being thankful, and learn a little history along the way.
The movie this week? Ratatouille! Why Ratatouille, you might ask? When I think of Thanksgiving, I think of lots of time in the kitchen, cooking away in preparation of celebrating a family meal. Ratatouille- about a rat with a nose for cooking and a dream to be a French chef- seemed like a great choice!
The Hook- I love maps and like to use them in my blogs. This one is no different. Show your child where France is on a map, globe, or atlas. If you don’t have these things, a digital map on your computer works, but I always go for the tactile experiences when I can. You can also find Paris on the map and tell your child that this is the capital of France. You can see how France is close to England, which was the setting of Bedknobs and Broomsticks (see my learning experiences here) and Austria, which was the setting of Sound of Music (see my learning experiences for that movie here). Compare France to where you live. How would you get there? You can also tell your child that in France people speak French. The French are known for their fine foods. French fries? NOT made in France. However has your child ever had a baguette? A croissant? Eclairs? Souffles? Crepes? These are all delicious French dishes. And of course, one of France’s well know dishes- Ratatouille!
Now you’re ready to watch Ratatouille!
Ratatouille is a cute film, but there are a couple of things to be aware of as you watch. One is the use of guns. When an old sleeping woman wakes to see a rat in her kitchen, she starts shooting her shot gun, trying to shoot the rat. Surprisingly for a Disney movie, a chef tells Linguini “Welcome to Hell” thirty-five minutes into the movie. Another part that was confusing to my youngest daughter was the part where Linguini was Chef’s son, but he didn’t know. My daughter just didn't understand how he didn’t know. Also, the mother in the show has died, in Disney fashion. Seriously, is Moana the only Disney movie where the parents aren’t dead? Anyway, Linguini makes a quick joke about the mom being dead, but she’s in heaven so she’s okay. Depending on the sensitivity of your child, you may need to explain that some more.
Supplies needed:
-Clay or Play-Doh
-Paper
-Construction Paper or Card Stock
-Scissors
-Markers
-Ruler (optional)
-Supplies for baking and cooking (see recipes below)
Fun With Play-Doh: Create Your Own Thanksgiving Dinner
This one is fun and easy. Bust out the Play-Doh and encourage your children to create his or her very own Thanksgiving Dinner! What foods would your children have if they were in charge of making Thanksgiving dinner? What foods are they thankful for? My 7 year old put a twist on this activity and decided to make a Thanksgiving meal for Rats and Mice. You could even make your own restaurant and menu to add a writing component.
Venn diagram: How are Mice and Rats the Same and Different?
My daughter was interested in knowing the difference between a mouse and a rat. I showed her how to make a Venn diagram by tracing a cereal bowl twice on a piece of paper, once on the left side and once on the right, so that the circles overlap in the middle. On the left we wrote “Rats”, on the right we wrote “Mice”, and in the middle is where the rats and mice overlap; how they are the same.
We then looked at a bunch of different websites. I was surprised I didn’t find more kid-friendly websites about the differences between rats and mice, so we actually got most of our facts from the last link below, which is actually an extermination website. But it has some good comparisons, in pictures, between the mice and rats.
https://www.natgeokids.com/au/discover/animals/general-animals/facts-about-rats/
https://www.petakids.com/photos/rats-mice/
https://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/animals/mouse.html
https://www.rentokil.ie/mice/rats-vs-mice/
Year of the Rat- Chinese New Year
Did you know that 2020 is the Year of the Rat? If you are interested, this would also be a fun way to delve into Chinese New Year and talk about the different animals and zodiac signs. Here is a great Youtube video on Chinese New Year. Kids can find their own signs and read about them here.
*As always, make sure you watch Youtube with your children. You never know what types of ads may appear before, after, or sometimes even during your video.
History: What Was It Like To Be a Pilgrim?
Thanksgiving is the perfect time of year to talk about what life was like long ago when the Pilgrims first came to America. History can be elusive to young kids—it’s hard to understand a different space and time, however viewing it from another child’s perspective helps! I found read-alouds on Youtube of two books that I used to read to my students around Thanksgiving; Sarah Morton: A Day In the Life of a Pilgrim Girl and Samuel Eaton: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Boy. These are great ways for kids to get a glimpse into what it was like to be a child around 400 years ago.
Sarah Morton: A Day In the Life of a Pilgrim Girl
Samuel Eaton: A Day In the Life of a Pilgrim Boy
Practical Life Pilgrim Activities
This is a great week to have your children help you around the house and, given the context of Pilgrim life, it can be fun! Here are some activities you can do with your child. Remind them that Pilgrim children didn’t have modern appliances and technology, so this is how their way of life was. If they needed clothes, they needed to wash them a couple of days before they needed them to allow time to dry. If they needed bread, they had to spend hours kneading, letting it rise, and baking it- sometimes a few times a week.
Make Butter
This activity could not be easier and kids LOVE it. Pour some heavy cream or heaving whipping cream into a mason jar. Both will work to make butter. If you use heavy cream, you’ll get more of a solid shape. If you use heaving whipping cream, it will be more like whipped butter. Make sure you do not fill the jar above halfway so there is room to shake. Then have your child shake, shake, shake that mason jar! After several minutes of shaking, the cream will turn into butter! If using heavy cream, use a cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer to separate the liquid from the solids. Spread some on a piece of bread and try it out! Refrigerate the rest of the butter. While doing this, remind your child that this is how Pilgrims made their butter (or in a butter churn) but that they had to make their own; they couldn’t just go and buy it.
Make Ice Cream
Another fun activity is to make your own ice cream. Here are two options: one made with cream and another with coconut milk for those with dairy allergies or sensitivities. We made the coconut milk one and it was easy and oh so delicious!
https://barefeetinthekitchen.com/homemade-ice-cream-recipe/
https://detoxinista.com/chocolate-coconut-milk-ice-cream/
Make Baguette Bread
We found this recipe to make our very own delicious baguette bread! It was simple and easy! You just need time because this recipe calls for allowing the dough to rise twice. We used our homemade butter on our bread and even had our own French Breakfast, Petit Dejeuner, by having our baguette bread, our homemade butter, some jam, and orange juice. For the adults at home add some Cafe Au Lait and Voila! You have an easy French breakfast everyone will love!
Math Connection: Fractions
Cooking and baking provide great opportunities to explore fractions. Have your child measure out the various ingredients for the recipe you are making. When something calls for half of a cup or half of a teaspoon, talk about how many halves make a whole. Fractions are so much easier to understand when children have the hands-on experience of seeing them in action.
Another way is to make a pizza using fractions. We had an old, small pizza box from a pizza order that we kept for play. Start first by tracing a circle on construction paper or card stock. We traced a bowl four times on four different colored pieces of paper.
Next, we used a ruler to and how long our bowl was and cut that length in half to find the center.
On one piece we cut the bowl in half with a line. On a second piece of paper we found the middle twice to cut the bowl into fourths. The trickiest one was cutting into thirds. The last paper you just keep whole.
Then cut them out along the lines you drew and label them with fractions and words. Kids can even decorate the other sides with pizza toppings and then play with them! They can use the different slices to see how many parts make of a whole!
Ratatouille
If you’re feeling really ambitious and want to try something new, make Ratatouille! Since 2020 is so off anyway, we can give the turkeys a pass. Try Ratatouille as a dish for your Thanksgiving meal! Here is a recipe to try.
Wash The Dishes
I find that my kids LOVE to do the things that I find to be tedious or mundane. If your child is looking for something to do, fill the kitchen sink with water and dish soap, throw some dishes in there and let them have at it! They will have tons of fun washing dishes. I know my youngest will keep quite engaged at the sink for a while. It’s funny that when I would fill the water table at home my girls never showed much interest, but fill the sink with water and they are there! Throw in some different shaped containers so your child can practice conservation by noticing the different sizes of containers and how shorter, wider containers may hold the same as tall, think ones. You can also use measuring cups. Children can count how many quarter cups it takes to fill a cup.
Laundry Time: Do Laundry By Hand
It is a similar idea with laundry. Recently, due to a washing machine debacle, we found ourselves low on some essential items—being close enough to an appliance delivery to not go to a laundromat, but needing socks and underwear to last another couple of days. My daughters were thrilled at the idea of doing laundry the “old fashioned way”. I filled the bathroom sink with water and soap and let the girls wash the clothes. Note: I used some natural hand soap and water. If you use laundry detergent (and you will need very little), make sure you child is wearing gloves so the detergent does not irritate little hands.
*Note: with both of these activities make sure you have towels laid down around the water play area because the children WILL spill and get everything soaked!
Sweep or Mop the Floor
This is another good one. For whatever reason, my girls LOVE to sweep the floor. Let them have at it! Maybe it can be their job after every dinner for a week. Better yet, make it into a permanent chore.
Pilgrim Games:
I found this great website that goes into more details about the games Pilgrim children played when they weren’t helping their family with chores. These games include Tic Tac Toe, Hide and Seek, Keep Away, and Leap Frog (all over 400 years old!) Check out the website to see what names the Pilgrim children had for these games. When your child plays these activities, inform them that these are the same games children played hundreds of years ago.
Stone Soup- A Food Celebration of Sharing
I love the story of Stone Soup. There are many different versions of this story, but my favorite one is this one. Feel free to look up other ones. You can even compare and contrast different versions.
Stone Soup is all about a community that learns that they are better together when they all pitch in.
After reading/listening to the story, ask your children what might be some good ingredients for stone soup. Have everyone in your family pick an ingredient or two. Some ideas are carrots, celery, potatoes, mushrooms, onions, peppers, etc. Cut up the vegetables. Your kids can help! They can use kid scissors to cut carrots and celery, or you can find little kid-friendly choppers here. Pop all of the ingredients into a crockpot, add some soup broth, (and even some meat, if you want) and after 6-8 hours on low you have a soup that your children will be so proud that they made! You can even add rice or noodles toward the end of the recipe to add a little something extra.
We used to do Stone Soup every year for Thanksgiving at a school I used to work at. It was so rewarding to see the children so excited about the soup they made from their own creativity. It’s an easy dinner night and you can pair it with the bread from an above recipe. It’s fun to share a meal that everyone has made together. You can even put a stone in the soup! (Just make sure you wash it really well!)
Restaurant Critic: Review a Food
In the film Ratatouille, one of the “bad guys” is the food criticA nton Ego. He makes his living being a food critic, in fact someone who prides himself on his taste and takes great pleasure in giving restaurants poor reviews until… well, I won’t spoil then end for you, if you haven’t seen it yet.
This provided a great opportunity for my children to become food critics. At our house we are huge fans of La Croix water, or as my girls call it, “Bubble Water”. This week we tried a new flavor to us, Razz-Cranberry. We talked about how food critics would take their time, noticing all the flavors. It was funny to watch them in action; you would’ve thought they were sommeliers, swishing the bubble water around in their mouths.
One of my daughters liked the Bubble Water and gave it 4 stars. She reviewed it as “Bubbly”, “Sweet”, and “Delicious”. The other one didn't care for it and was tied between 2 and 3 stars noting, “It tastes like the grapefruit one and I don’t like the grapefruit one”.
In our house we have a saying that we borrowed from my dear friend Deb: “Don’t Yuck Somebody Else’s Yum.” It keeps my kids from saying, “Eeww, gross!” when a sister likes something that the other sister doesn’t like. Well, with food reviews, you can throw that out the window. Sometimes it can be motivating for a child to try something new if it means they can “break a rule” or do something tricky. My caveat, however, is that they have to use descriptive language while doing it! And of course food reviews don't have to be bad! They can also write glowing reviews of their favorite foods; whatever motivates them to write.
Restaurant Critic: Write a Yelp Review
Reviewing foods got my older one interested and she decided to write her own Yelp review! We had tried carryout at a burger place and burgers are my older daughter’s thing! She was really impressed with this burger and told us how much she liked it, so we encouraged her to write a Yelp review! One was to encourage children to write is by giving them a new platform for expressing themselves. Writing a review that everyone can see and read can be quite motivating. If your child finds typing daunting, they can write it and you can type it for him or her. Even though typing takes my daughter a while, she LOVES typing on the computer, so this was very motivating for her.
What Are You Thankful For?
It is great to foster an attitude of gratitude all the time with our children, but Thanksgiving gives us a natural opportunity to talk about it all month and then, hopefully, turn it into a habit. At breakfast or dinner each day, talk about one thing you are thankful for and write it on the calendar. It’s amazing to hear some of the very specific things kids comes up with. (Like my 7 year old wanting to write “Tools so we can build things”, something I hadn’t really thought to be thankful for.)
You can also write a thank you note to someone and mail it. My 7 year old wrote a thank you note to her teacher, who has been an absolute saint with this whole distance learning thing. You rock, Mr. K!
Family Game Night: Make Your Own Memory Game
When I think of Thanksgiving, I also think of playing family games. Make a memory game by taking cardstock or construction paper (make sure the paper is dark enough that you can’t see through it) and cut squares that are exactly the same size. Use a ruler and give your child some measurement practice to make all of the squares the same size.
There are so many different things you can do with these cards. If your child is young (preschool aged) make shapes or match capital letters with lowercase letters. If your child is in Kindergarten or First grade, do some sight word practice with words like “they”, “what”, and “was”. You could use vocabulary words from a book or from the movie Ratatouille. You can use Thanksgiving Words. You can do math problems and the correspond answers. You can do French words and the corresponding English translations. The options are limitless!
*A special note on flashcards: I’m not the biggest proponent of flash cards. They can be helpful in someways (like memorizing math facts, if the child understands the math behind the memorization) but sometimes flash cards only help kids memorize the word on the card; they don’t recognize it in other places. So, if you are making a memory game out of sight words or vocabulary words, I suggest putting them in context. Grab a book and show your child where these words are in the book. That way your child sees the words somewhere else and makes the connection. Now the flashcards are not an isolated activity, but real words from a real book with a real context. This will allow your child to make connections.
Well, that’s it for now! I hope you enjoy this learning experience and that you have a Happy and Healthy Thanksgiving!
~Au Revoir!