Have you ever wondered if people in other countries celebrate Thanksgiving? In the United States, we have lots of holidays. Some are to remember amazing people, like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and others are just for fun, like Halloween. There are even silly holidays like Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day! But Thanksgiving is special because it’s all about being thankful.
Thanksgiving is one of the most popular holidays in the United States. People celebrate it in many fun ways, like Turkey Bowling or running in turkey costumes! Most people spend time with family and friends, enjoy a big turkey dinner, and maybe watch a parade or a football game. What are some Thanksgiving traditions you know about?
People in other countries also celebrate being thankful, but they do it in their own special ways. Let’s explore some of these celebrations!
In Japan, there’s a holiday called Kinro Kansha no Hi, which means Workers Thanksgiving Day. On this day, children make gifts and thank you cards for community helpers like teachers, nurses, and firefighters. Isn’t that a nice way to say thank you?
In Ghana, a country in Africa, people celebrate Homowo, which means “hoot at hunger.” They give thanks for the yam harvest, an important crop. On this day, children can play drums, dance, and make lots of noise because the yams are ready to pick!
In Germany, they have a Thanksgiving called Erntedank Fest, which means “harvest thank festival.” People celebrate with music, parades, and crafts like making lanterns. It’s a fun time to be thankful for the harvest!
Did you know that Canada also celebrates a holiday called Thanksgiving? They celebrate it in October instead of November. There’s even a small island near Australia called Norfolk Island where they celebrate Thanksgiving. An American named Isaac Robinson brought the tradition there, and they have a feast with chicken and bananas!
Even though people around the world celebrate being thankful in different ways, they all share one thing: it’s a time to give thanks. Isn’t it amazing how thankfulness is celebrated everywhere?
That’s all for now! Remember to stay curious and keep learning about the world around you. See you next time!
Create a Thankfulness Card: Just like children in Japan make thank you cards for community helpers, you can create your own thankfulness card. Think of someone in your life who helps you, like a teacher, a family member, or a friend. Use colorful paper, crayons, and stickers to make a card. Write a message inside to tell them why you are thankful for them. Share your card with the person and see how it makes them feel!
Harvest Celebration Craft: In Germany, people make lanterns for Erntedank Fest. You can make your own simple paper lantern to celebrate thankfulness. You’ll need a piece of construction paper, scissors, and tape. Fold the paper in half lengthwise, cut slits along the fold, then unfold and roll it into a cylinder. Tape the ends together and add a handle. Decorate your lantern with drawings or stickers that represent things you are thankful for.
Thankfulness Walk: Go on a walk with your family or friends and look for things in nature that you are thankful for. It could be a beautiful flower, a tall tree, or a friendly squirrel. As you walk, talk about why you are thankful for these things and how they make you feel. You can even collect small items like leaves or rocks to create a thankfulness collage when you get home.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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(line ringing) – Hi, Doug. – Hi, Jackie. – I have a question for you. Do other countries celebrate Thanksgiving? – That is a great question. In the United States where I live, we celebrate a lot of different holidays. Some of them help us remember people who have done amazing things, like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Other holidays are celebrated just for fun, like Halloween. There are even unique holidays you might not have heard of, like Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day, which happens each year on February 6th, and National Nothing Day, where you don’t have to celebrate anything at all. But there’s only one holiday that’s all about being thankful, and that’s Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is one of the most popular holidays in the United States, and people celebrate it in all sorts of ways, like Turkey Bowling (crowd cheers) or jogging five miles in a turkey costume, like these people do every year. Now, if you celebrate Thanksgiving, you might not celebrate it by dressing up like a turkey, but you might celebrate by spending time with friends and family, enjoying a turkey dinner, or maybe even watching a parade or a football game. (band music) How about you? What are some Thanksgiving traditions you’ve seen or celebrated? Now would be a good time to pause the video and discuss. Okay, you ready? Well, no matter how you celebrate, one thing is for sure: Thanksgiving is all about being thankful, and there are plenty of things to be thankful for, like great teachers, wonderful pets, and all the amazing people that take care of us. But Americans aren’t the only ones who celebrate being thankful. Thankfulness is a universal concept. So do people in other countries have some sort of Thanksgiving too? Well, yes and no. Though they may not eat turkey or watch Thanksgiving Day parades like we do, many other countries do celebrate being thankful in their own special ways. In fact, there are Thanksgiving holidays on almost every continent on earth.
Consider Asia, for example. Each year in Japan, people celebrate a holiday called Kinro Kansha no Hi, which means Workers Thanksgiving Day. Children celebrate this day by making gifts and thank you cards to give to community helpers, like teachers, nurses, and firefighters. And in the African nation of Ghana, they celebrate a holiday called Homowo, which means “hoot at hunger.” Though the people in Ghana may not eat turkey on their day of giving thanks, they sure eat a lot of yams, as Homowo is the day they give thanks for the yam harvest, an important crop. An ancient legend says that yams won’t grow if there’s too much noise, but on Homowo, the yams are fully grown and ready to pick, so children are allowed to play drums, dance, and make all the noise they want.
These thankfulness holidays, like those in Japan and Ghana, look quite different from American Thanksgiving, but they all seem to have something in common: they happen during the harvest season, the time when crops like rice, carrots, and potatoes are finally ready to pick and eat. In Germany, they actually call their Thanksgiving Erntedank Fest, which literally means “harvest thank festival.” While Americans usually spend their Thanksgiving at home with friends and family, the Germans take their celebrations to the streets, with music, parades, and crafts like lantern-making.
The great thing about all of these holidays is that each country celebrates giving thanks differently, with their own foods, games, and traditions. You may have noticed that even the names of these Thanksgiving holidays are totally different from the word “Thanksgiving.” But are there any places besides the United States that actually call their thankfulness holiday “Thanksgiving”? Believe it or not, there are. In Canada, they celebrate a holiday called Thanksgiving, but they celebrate it in October instead of November. And there’s even a small island off the coast of Australia that celebrates a holiday called Thanksgiving. A long time ago, an American named Isaac Robinson moved to Norfolk Island and loved American Thanksgiving traditions so much that he wanted to share them with his Australian friends. There were no turkeys on the island, but there were a lot of banana trees, so he decided to make a feast with chicken and lots of bananas. The Australians on the island love Thanksgiving so much that they still celebrate it today.
So in summary, though not everyone celebrates Thanksgiving the way Americans do, people all over the world do celebrate giving thanks in their own special ways. Even though their holidays are different from those in America, they all share one thing in common: they’re a time for giving thanks. That’s all for this week’s question. Thanks, Jackie, for asking it. Now, for the next episode, I reached into my question jar and picked out three questions sent in to me that I’m thinking about answering next. When this video is done playing, you’ll get to vote on one. You can choose from “How does a calculator work?”, “What causes lightning?”, or “What do garbage trucks do with garbage?” So submit your vote when the video is over; I want to hear from all of you watching. There are mysteries all around us. Stay curious, and see you next week.
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