i-Immersion
- Nov 24, 2021
- 2 min read

Gooble Wooble! Thanksgiving Week at Nihao

Updated: Aug 24, 2022

We're thankful for wellness, family, safety, growth and development. Unlike last year, everyone at Nihao is looking forward to celebrating Thanksgiving outdoors with friends and family. Here's a week-end glance of how Nihao and our partner schools made Thanksgiving meaningful in our early education classrooms.

Thanksgiving Food-stival: A Sensory Experience

Instead of offering a Thanksgiving feast, we turned 'eating' into 'making' - a teachable moment to challenge children's sensory skills.

Use spices! Using strong scents mixed with pumpkin, apple, cinnamon, nutmeg... we ask children what these sense remind them of and get interesting responses such as "cinnamon = home", "apples = baby". Let your child smell different scents and have them describe it to you.
Different textures. Stuffing, apple slices, and pumpkin puree have different textures through taste and touch. Ask your child to describe the texture and taste of the food. Is the stuffing crunchy? Is the puree soft and slimy or mushy? Close your eyes and feel the foods. Can you guess what food that is?
Different temperatures of ingredients. Immersing your child's hands in water of different temperatures and ask what it feels like. Is it warm? cold? Now try the food when it's warmed up and chilled. Which one is "more hot" (hotter)?

Pumpkin Puree Artistic Food Play

Use organic pumpkin puree from Mollie Stone to paint a pumpkin pie and add some oatmeal to turn it into nutritious pumpkin oats!

Decorate Thanksgiving Cookies

Make delicious gingerbread turkey cookies from Trader Joe's Gingerbread Turkey Trot Cookie Decorating Kit!

Thanksgiving Feast

Thanksgiving is not complete without good food and good company!

Happy Thanksgiving from Little Rainbow, San Mateo
Happy Thanksgiving from Nihao Nursery, San Mateo
Mochinuts at Nihao School, San Mateo

We're thrilled to receive a box of yummy mochinuts from one of the families! Thank you! Check out Mochinut website or Mochinut on Facebook for delicious donuts.

Thanksgiving Crafts

A party is not complete without pretty thanksgiving-themed crafts!

Crafts from Mimi Daycare, San Bruno

Crafts from Little Rainbow by Erin, San Mateo

Thanksgiving Turkey Race

The turkey race is a funny and popular exercise to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday! Do you know where it originated from?

In 1896, six runners made their way down a small, dirt road, completing what would become the first-ever Turkey Trot. Over a century later, it is now a country-wide phenomenon.

This year, all across California will be having the Turkey Race so begin preparing your Turkey Trot costumes and register now! Wanna join? Check the event schedule.

Nihao School hosted our very own Turkey Race. It was a funny experience to watch young infants, toddlers, and preschoolers run and wobble in the speed of a turkey!