Hi there! Have you ever wondered why people eat turkey on Thanksgiving? Well, let’s find out together!
Turkeys are really interesting birds. They’re big, and it’s surprising that they can even fly! They make a funny sound called a gobble. Male turkeys have bright red snoods hanging over their beaks and can fan out their big tail feathers like a dance. Isn’t that cool?
Thanksgiving is a special holiday celebrated in the fall. Long ago, people would have big feasts during this time. But why fall? Well, it’s because fall is the time of harvest. This is when all the food is ready to be picked after growing all year. People would celebrate and feel thankful for the food, good weather, and their friends and family.
In England, people celebrated Thanksgiving with bread, chicken, and gravy. But they didn’t have turkeys because turkeys are special to North America. The indigenous people of North America, like the Mayans and Aztecs, knew all about turkeys. They raised them for their eggs, meat, and beautiful feathers.
When English people came to North America, they brought their Thanksgiving celebration with them. They discovered new foods like corn, cranberries, pumpkins, squash, and turkeys. Soon, these foods became part of their Thanksgiving meal.
Today, Thanksgiving is a big holiday in the United States and Canada. Turkeys have become a symbol of the day. People decorate with turkeys and sometimes even dress up their pets as turkeys! Thanksgiving is a time to gather with family and friends and be thankful for everything we have, no matter where we come from or what we eat.
That’s the story of why we eat turkey on Thanksgiving. Thanks for joining me on this adventure! Remember, there are always more mysteries to explore, so stay curious and keep asking questions!
Turkey Observation Journal: Next time you see a picture or video of a turkey, take a closer look! Draw a turkey in your journal and label its parts, like the snood, feathers, and beak. Write down one interesting fact you learned about turkeys from the video or article. Share your drawing and fact with a family member or friend and ask them what they find interesting about turkeys!
Thanksgiving Feast Role Play: Gather some friends or family members and pretend to have a Thanksgiving feast from long ago. Use toy food or draw pictures of foods like corn, pumpkins, and, of course, turkey. Take turns being the host and sharing what you are thankful for. Discuss how the foods you “serve” are similar or different from what you eat today.
Harvest Time Exploration: Go on a nature walk with an adult and look for signs of fall and harvest time. Can you find any fruits or vegetables growing? Collect some leaves or small items that remind you of fall. When you get home, create a collage with your findings and talk about why fall is an important time for harvest and Thanksgiving.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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(cellphone ringing) – Hi, it’s Doug. Turkeys, like this one I have here, are such unique-looking birds. Don’t you think? Someone named Charlotte has a question about turkeys. Let’s give her a call now. (cellphone ringing) – Hi Doug. – Hi Charlotte. – I have a question for you. Why do people eat turkey on Thanksgiving? – Oh, that’s a great question. It’s not common for holidays to have a specific bird associated with them. I mean, when you think of your birthday, you think cake, right? It’s not like people say, “Oh hey, happy birthday, here’s a birthday chicken.” But on Thanksgiving, for many Americans, it’s all about the turkey. And turkeys are quite interesting birds too, aren’t they? These birds are large. It’s surprising they can even fly. If you were a chicken farmer and had never seen a turkey before, you’d think you’d hit the jackpot. That’s a lot more meat. Then there’s how they sound. What other bird makes a sound like this? (turkeys gobbling) So unique. But perhaps most impressive of all is how they look. The males look different from the females, with a long bright red snood that hangs over their beak, and those huge tail feathers that they can fan out in a display. They really do this, a turkey dance. So what gives? Why are turkeys such a significant part of one of our major holidays? Well, whenever you want to find out why there’s a tradition that people have, I look for experts on the past. I look for a historian, someone who keeps track of the stories and events that happened before we were alive. Many historians have written about how different holidays started, including Thanksgiving. I didn’t know the answer to this question until I started looking, and I was surprised to find out that Thanksgiving is a holiday that goes way back in history. In ancient times, many cultures around the world would have a big feast in the fall season. It would be a big celebration. Now, why do you think that is? Why a big celebration in the fall? And why, especially, a feast? Before I say anything more, now would be a good time to pause the video and discuss. Okay, you ready? Well, the reason for this big feast every fall was because that is the time of harvest. The time when food would have finished growing for the year and be ready to collect. It was a time of celebration, a time to finally feel relaxed after so much hard work. And for many people, a time to feel thankful too. Thankful to friends and family for all their hard work together. Thankful for good weather. Thankful for plenty of food saved up for the winter. In England, it became popular to combine the fall harvest with the idea of giving thanks, and that day was called Thanksgiving. The word Thanksgiving is English, but in England, while these Thanksgiving feasts would have included bread, maybe some chicken and gravy, they didn’t have turkey. That’s because, by this point, the people living in England had no idea that turkeys existed. Turkeys were a bird found only on the continent of North America. They’re special to North America. While Europeans had no idea turkeys existed, the indigenous peoples of North America knew all about them. Turkeys were an incredibly valuable part of their lives. Indigenous people of Mexico, such as the Mayans and the Aztecs, were some of the very first turkey farmers. They raised and bred turkeys, and just like chickens, they used them for their eggs. Yes, you can eat turkey eggs. They also ate the meat of the turkey and used the turkeys’ beautiful feathers for decorations and ceremonies. The kind of turkey found in Mexico, called the ocellated turkey, has especially shiny and colorful feathers. When the English started coming to North America, they brought their celebration of Thanksgiving with them. Their feast included foods they were used to, but when they arrived in North America, they were in the land of the indigenous peoples. These people grew and ate foods the English had never seen: corn, cranberries, pumpkins, squash, and turkeys. The English living in North America soon started to include these indigenous foods in their Thanksgiving meal. Now here’s the interesting thing. Even though Thanksgiving, with that name, started out as a holiday celebrated by the English, it isn’t really celebrated much in England anymore. But in the United States and Canada, where many English people moved, it remained a holiday. In fact, it’s become a major holiday, with turkeys becoming a symbol of the entire day. People hang up turkey decorations and sometimes dress their pets in turkey costumes. And even though it was the English who may have named it Thanksgiving, it’s not a holiday that’s about celebrating a certain people or a certain country. Anyone can celebrate Thanksgiving. For many people living in North America today, this is a holiday about getting together with close friends or family and taking time out of our busy lives to be thankful for all that we have, no matter where you come from and no matter what you eat. That’s all for this week’s question. Thanks, Charlotte, 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: why do we have 12 months in a year, how do phones ring, or why are some babies born as twins? 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. See you next week.
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