Great resouces! I printed out several coloring pages and mazes. Also, I showed my oldest the Lego pilgrim story. He's loves Legos and thought the piece was funny. Thanks!
Good luck getting your kids to eat these special foods, but here's www.specialchildren.about.com's links to recipes for Thanksgiving recipes, including GFCF recipes:
Warning about Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. You might want to watch it first. The beginning has a part about Lucy and the football with Charlie Brown. He says something like "I think I'll kill myself" after he misses the football. My then 3 year old son started repeating that. NOT funny at our family gathering, let me tell you!
I am a HUGE Peanuts fan, so it has been very disheartening to not have that be a part of our movies that we watch around Thanksgiving, but I honestly never wanted to hear those words come out of my child's mouth again...
He would understand now that he isn't allowed to say it, but I am guessing he would do it anyway to push my buttons. And, I can't have him saying that at school for sure!
To quote Charlie Brown, AAAAARRRGGHHHH!
Found another short article: "5 Tips to Help Your Child Survive Family Holiday Gatherings." It's on the main page of this site, just scroll down to find it. http://www.partnerstx.org/
Nicole
~Positively Autism~
This month's free articles: "Simple Ideas to Modify Lessons for Students with Autism" and "Language-Building Activities for Students with Autism."
http://www.positivelyautism.com/volume2issue10/
Here's my collection of Thanksgiving resources. Remember, I live in Norway, so my kids don't get any cultural training at school and I can't just go out and buy stuff either. So it's nice to find fun stuff online.
I've also included some useful links to help parents like us cope kids who balk at travelling, changes to the daily routine, etc.
As usual, links can get broken over time, so if a link doesn't work, try removing any blank spaces in the address. If it still doesn't work, let me know.
Part I: Useful information:
Social stories/visual supports:
http://www.thetherapyplace.net/newsletter/newsletter.pdf - text only
http://www.slatersoftware.com/Thanksgiving Social Story.pdf - text with "PECS"
http://www.hiyah.net/online_holidays.htm - slide shows on Thanksgiving and cooking for Thanksgiving.
Airplane travel resources:
Articles:
http://specialchildren.about.com/od/thanksgiving/qt/thanksdr essing.htm - ideas to make kids look special for the holidays when dress-up clothes cause extra stress due to sensory issues, etc.
http://specialchildren.about.com/od/inthecommunity/a/holiday .htm - "Special Needs Kids and Special Occasions"
http://autism.about.com/od/copingwithautism/bb/beforeturkey. htm?nl=1 - "Before you celebrate Thanksgiving with your autistic loved one."
http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer?pagename=holid ay_tips&JServSessionIdr009=ul32qrofp2.app26a - "Holiday Tips for Families Living with Autism" by the Autism Society of America (thanks for the tip, positiveautism/Nicole)
http://www.partnerstx.org/ - short article "5 Tips to Help Your Child Survive Family Holiday Gatherings". It's currently on the main page of this site, but may move after the holidays. (thanks for the tip, positiveautism/Nicole).
http://www.nancymucklow.com/2009/11/aspergers-tourettes-and- thanksgiving/ - Article "Aspergers, Tourettes and Thanksgiving."
See separate post below for links to gfcf Thanksgiving recipes.
Part II: Fun stuff:
There are lots of Thanksgiving activities and printables on the web, but not that much that is autism-friendly, engaging and visual. These are the best examples that I've found (so far!):
Videos:
Charlie Brown Thanksgiving on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7sWimHpVgM - Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=770znuTOKlM&feature=relat ed - Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cq9i66vm-M&feature=relat ed - Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRkqbWt13Qw - Garfield Thanksgiving, Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VV6yM5ZzTn0 - Garfield Thanksgiving, Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uF5SA5hXO-4 - Garfield Thanksgiving, Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MxovNpxvQI - Tom & Jerry Thanksgiving
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suIJpnPwzzc - Lego brick pilgrim story, humorous.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJz2zD9Qlg4&feature=relat ed - Another silly Lego bit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGoyVPoB5-s - First Thanksgiving story, with music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mw--zb0wkw - First Thanksgiving story, plus kids saying what they're thankful for.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jiLgk-B9v4 - First Thanksgiving story, animated and funny, but also focuses on God and true history.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CndP1fYC0M - short and funny stop-motion story. My youngest watched it like 5 times in a row. You can even ask some Theory of Mind questions about the story.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jW1vWgogLQ - The Gobble Song, a fun and professional quality music video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlp_9fynuHE&feature=relat ed - Underdog "Simon Says No Thanksgiving" Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7X4X8d9qpo&feature=relat ed - Underdog Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFdbb5z2HiM&feature=relat ed - Underdog Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yo9TJ7r_GLA&feature=relat ed - Underdog Part 4
You can also see the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on youtube:
http://www.kideos.com/category/characters/holidays - Here's another place to watch classic Thanksgiving holiday specials and other Thanksgiving related videos. You'll have to page through the holiday section to find them.
Printables:
Make your own turkey-shaped social story book. This printable has prompts for filling in "My family..." "We will eat..." "My favorite food is..." "I am thankful for..."
http://www.abcteach.com/free/members/21977.pdf
40 printable coloring pages, including ones showing normal family activities like eating and cooking:
http://www.coloringpages.net/thanksgiving.html
Placemat, add your own text, print and it's ready to color:
http://www.storyit.com/Borders/thdinnerbw.htm
Printable book on the first thanksgiving, with super easy text and pictures to color:
http://www.hubbardscupboard.org/Pilgrim_Pilgrim_Printable_Bo oklet.PDF
Thanksgiving mazes, from pre-school level and up:
http://holidays.kaboose.com/thanks-maze.html
Online games and activities:
Here's an online coloring activity:
http://funschool.kaboose.com/fun-blaster/games/game_thanksgi ving_coloring_pages.html?trnstl=1
More online interactive coloring pages:
http://www.thecolor.com/Category/Coloring/Thanksgiving.aspx
"Over the River and Through the Woods" text with online tune and animation:
http://www.bethanyroberts.com/OvertheRiver.htm
Online concentration game, with 18 Thanksgiving theme cards (9 pairs):
http://www.primarygames.com/holidays/thanksgiving/games/matc h_up/thanks_match.htm
YIKES! You scare me Norway...you are so RESOURCEFUL!!!
Thanks:)
Today I added "Garfield's Thanksgiving" on youtube to my list of fun stuff. I can't wait for my kids to come home from school so I can show it to them (yes, it's a school day here in Norway. We actually celebrated Thanksgiving this weekend, otherwise we wouldn't be able to invite guests).
The Autism Society of America has on their website a listing of "Holiday Tips for Families Living with Autism." Here's the link: http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer?pagename=holid ay_tips&JServSessionIdr009=ul32qrofp2.app26a
Nicole
Free Autism Resources for Parents and Teachers! http://www.PositivelyAutism.com/
Thanks, Nicole! Those tips were great. They even included shopping, which is also part of the Thanksgiving weekend experience!
It's that time of year again! Anyone have any new resources or tips to share?
The other day we stumbled upon a Ghostbusters cartoon episode about the Thanksgiving Day parade:
Tips from the author of "Raising a sensory smart child"
http://www.sensorysmarts.com/november_tips.html