What Is Thanksgiving?

Ages 3-5 Simple Explanation

You know how sometimes you feel really happy and want to say thank you for all the good things in your life? Thanksgiving is a special day when everyone in your family gets together and talks about what makes them thankful. It could be anything, like your favorite toy, your pet, or the people who love you.

You know how some meals feel extra fancy, like when there is a really big spread on the table? On Thanksgiving, families cook a huge dinner with turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and pie for dessert. Everyone sits around the table together, and it feels really cozy and warm.

You know how when you share your toys or snacks with a friend, it makes both of you feel good? A long, long time ago, a group of people called the Pilgrims had a big dinner and shared their food with the Wampanoag people who had helped them grow crops. Sharing that meal together was a kind and important moment.

You know how your family might have special things you do every year, like a favorite game or recipe? Thanksgiving is like that for lots of families. Some people watch parades on TV, some play football in the backyard, and some go around the table and each person says one thing they are grateful for. Every family makes it their own.

Ages 6-8 More Detail

Thanksgiving is a holiday celebrated in the United States on the fourth Thursday in November. It is a day when families and friends come together to share a big meal and think about the things they are thankful for. Schools, offices, and most businesses close so people have time to be with the people they care about.

The story most people know about Thanksgiving goes back to 1621. A group of English settlers called the Pilgrims had arrived in what is now Massachusetts the year before. Their first winter was extremely hard, and many of them got sick. The Wampanoag people, who had lived on that land for thousands of years, helped the Pilgrims learn how to grow corn, catch fish, and survive in their new home.

After a successful fall harvest, the Pilgrims held a three-day feast to celebrate. The Wampanoag leader Massasoit and about 90 of his people joined them. They ate deer, wild birds, corn, and shellfish. This gathering is often called the first Thanksgiving, but it is important to know that the Wampanoag people already had their own traditions of giving thanks for the harvest long before the Pilgrims arrived.

Today, Thanksgiving looks a little different from that original feast. Most families serve turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, green beans, and pumpkin pie. Many people watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on television or play football with family members in the yard. Some families volunteer at shelters or food banks to help others who might not have a meal that day.

It is also important to understand that Thanksgiving has a complicated history. While the 1621 feast was a peaceful event, the years that followed brought great suffering to Native American communities as more settlers arrived and took their land. Many Native Americans see Thanksgiving as a day of mourning rather than celebration. Learning the full story helps us be more thoughtful about how we honor this holiday.

Ages 9-12 Full Explanation

Thanksgiving is a national holiday in the United States, observed on the fourth Thursday of November each year. At its core, it is a day set aside for gratitude, when families and friends gather around the dinner table to share a meal and reflect on the good things in their lives. Canada also celebrates Thanksgiving, though theirs falls on the second Monday of October.

The origin story most Americans learn involves the Pilgrims, a group of English settlers who sailed across the Atlantic Ocean on the Mayflower in 1620 and landed in present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts. Their first winter was devastating. Nearly half of the settlers did not survive due to illness, cold, and a shortage of food. In the spring, members of the Wampanoag nation, including a man named Squanto, taught the Pilgrims how to plant corn, tap maple trees, and fish in the local streams. Thanks to this help, the Pilgrims had a bountiful harvest that fall.

In the autumn of 1621, the Pilgrims organized a three-day harvest celebration. Wampanoag leader Massasoit and about 90 of his people attended, contributing deer to the feast. The menu likely included wild fowl, venison, corn, shellfish, and nuts, quite different from the turkey-and-stuffing spread we picture today. While this event is commonly called the first Thanksgiving, it is worth noting that Indigenous peoples across North America had held harvest celebrations and ceremonies of gratitude for centuries before European settlers arrived.

Thanksgiving did not become an official national holiday until 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln declared it during the Civil War as a way to promote unity and healing. A woman named Sarah Josepha Hale, who was a magazine editor and the author of "Mary Had a Little Lamb," had campaigned for years to make Thanksgiving a national holiday. Lincoln chose the last Thursday of November, and in 1941, Congress officially fixed the date to the fourth Thursday of November.

The holiday today is centered on food, family, and tradition. Typical dishes include roast turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie. Many families add their own cultural touches to the menu. Events like the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City and televised football games have become part of the day's identity. The Friday after Thanksgiving, known as Black Friday, marks the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season.

It is important to recognize that Thanksgiving carries painful memories for many Native American communities. The decades following the 1621 feast brought colonization, broken agreements, forced removal from homelands, and widespread loss of life among Indigenous peoples. Since 1970, many Native Americans have observed a National Day of Mourning on Thanksgiving to honor their ancestors and raise awareness of the struggles Indigenous communities continue to face. Understanding both sides of the story allows us to approach the holiday with greater honesty and respect.