Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Activities
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Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is one of my favorite Thanksgiving books for kids. It is a classic story that has been around since the 1970s. As a child of the 80s, I always looked forward to watching the show on TV every November.
When I was a kindergarten teacher, I hosted a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving dinner for my class. It was such a fun and festive way to practice language arts skills that I recreated this activity with my own children when they were early elementary age.
We can use A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving to cover key elementary language arts skills such as:
- Retelling a story
- Identifying key events in a story
- Comparing and contrasting
- Confirming understanding of a story
Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Activities
In A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, Peppermint Patty invites herself, Marcie, and Franklin to Charlie Brown’s house for Thanksgiving dinner. Unfortunately, Charlie Brown has plans to visit his grandmother. . . and he doesn’t know how to cook.
Linus convinces Charlie Brown to go ahead and host his friends by putting his own spin on the holiday. Charlie Brown, Linus, Snoopy, and Woodstock prepare a simple meal for their friends.
Not everyone is happy about the menu change at first, but being together on Thanksgiving is more important than the food. At the end of the day, Charlie Brown and his friends enjoy their time together, and then all go visit Charlie Brown’s grandmother for a turkey dinner.
Now, the adult in me always wonders where the parents were when all of this was taking place. If they were around to drive the gang to Grandmother’s house, why couldn’t they help cook?
It is still a cute story about friendship even with this weird little detail.
Last update on 2026-08-06 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Food
The meal portion of a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving dinner is not the traditional turkey dinner with all the sides that are usually served on Thanksgiving.
I would say that many kids might even prefer the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving food.
The Charlie Brown Thanksgiving food includes:
- Toast
- Pretzels
- Popcorn
- Jelly beans
See how simple it is?
It is easy enough that kids can play the role of chef (with a little supervision if they are young). The only foods that need to be cooked are toast and popcorn. The rest is ready to eat straight out of the package.
Let kids prepare this meal with as much independence as possible. Preparing the food is how kids can practice retelling the story, identifying key events in the story, and showing reading (or listening) comprehension.
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving dinner can make an easy and festive lunch in November. My kids are now 12 and 15 and still enjoy a Charlie Brown plate of toast, popcorn, pretzel sticks, and jelly beans as a snack.
Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Activities
Watch the Movie
- Factory sealed DVD
Last update on 2026-08-05 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Watching a movie after reading the book is always fun. Many years it runs on television, but this year it will be available to stream on Apple TV+.
Compare and Contrast
Kids can practice comparing and contrasting by looking for the similarities and differences between Charlie Brown’s holiday and the way their own family celebrates.
Comparing and contrasting can be done orally, written as lists, or even completed on a Venn diagram.
Give Thanks
At the beginning of the book, Sally asks why she should be thankful. That is a great prompt to encourage our own kids to think about how they can give thanks too.
Explore Charles M. Schulz Online Museum
The Charles M. Schulz Museum in California is located in California, which is not close to everyone, but the website is full of great ideas.
- Check out virtual exhibits
- Schulz Studio seek and find
- Find hidden references in comic strips
- Make a thaumatrope
- Snoopy’s physical activity challenge
- Create a superhero signal
- Learn how to draw the Peanuts gang
Color Thanksgiving Peanut Pages
Coloring Home offers a few variations of Thanksgiving-themed Peanuts coloring pages. Just print out the ones that look interesting to your kids.
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Keep reading . . .
- Thanksgiving Homeschool Activities
- A Turkey for Thanksgiving Book and Activity
- Favorite Thanksgiving Books for Kids
- Thanksgiving Homeschool Lesson Plan Ideas
- Thanksgiving Tea with Poetry
- Balloons Over Broadway Picture Book and Activities
- Homeschool Friendly Thanksgiving Science Experiments
- Charlie Brown Christmas Activities