What does Thanksgiving Day celebrate?
Thanksgiving was originally a holiday to give thanks to God for the harvest. Today it is an opportunity to give thanks for all the good things we have got. It is also a day to celebrate family.
When is Thanksgiving celebrated?
In the United States Thanksgiving is observed on the fourth Thursday in November. In Canada it occurs on the second Monday of October.
Who celebrates this day?
The day is widely celebrated throughout the United States and Canada.
What do people do to celebrate?
The day is a national federal holiday in the United States. Most people have the day off as well as the Friday following, making a long weekend for travel and holiday.
The way most people celebrate this day is by getting together with family and having a large meal. Many people travel all over the country for large family gatherings on this day.
Many cities have large parades on Thanksgiving Day. Perhaps the largest and most famous parade is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. It is widely televised and has been running since 1924. Other cities with big parades on this day include Detroit, Philadelphia, and Chicago.
Another popular way to spend the day is watching NFL football. There are generally a number of football games on even though it is Thursday. The Detroit Lions are a traditional team that plays a game nearly every Thanksgiving.
Traditional Food
The traditional food for the Thanksgiving meal includes a turkey, cranberry sauce, potatoes, sweet potato casserole, stuffing, vegetables, and pumpkin pie.
History of Thanksgiving
The tradition of Thanksgiving started with the Pilgrims who settled at Plymouth, Massachusetts. They first held a celebration of their harvest in 1621. The feast was organized by Governor William Bradford who also invited the local Wampanoag Indians to join in the meal. The first time they called the feast "Thanksgiving" was in 1623, after rain had ended a long drought.
The first national Thanksgiving Day was proclaimed by President George Washington in 1789. However, it did not become a regular holiday in the United States until 1863 when Abraham Lincoln declared that the last Thursday in November should be celebrated as Thanksgiving. Since then it has been celebrated every year in the United States. The day was made an official federal holiday and moved to the fourth Thursday of November in 1941 by President Theodore Roosevelt.
Fun Facts About Thanksgiving

• Each year a live turkey is presented to the President of the United States who then "pardons" the     turkey and it gets to live out its life on a farm.
• Around 46 million turkeys were eaten in the US on Thanksgiving in 2010. That's around one fifth of all the turkeys eaten for the entire year.
• Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be the national bird instead of the bald eagle.
• 88 percent of Americans eat turkey on Thanksgiving.
• The Pilgrims sailed to America from Great Britain on a ship called the Mayflower.
• The day after Thanksgiving is called Black Friday. It is the biggest shopping day of the year.

 Thanksgiving Day Dates

• November 27, 2014
• November 26, 2015
• November 24, 2016
• November 23, 2017
• November 22, 2018
• November 28, 2019

Thanksgiving symbols

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

TURKEY

The celebration of Thanksgiving will be incomplete without the legendary Turkey. The Turkey derives its name from the 'turk turk' sounds it makes when scared. The famous 'Turkey' adorns the table of every household as a main course during the celebration. The customary dinner is a reminder of the 'Four Wild Turkeys' served at the 'First Thanksgiving Feast'. The festivity completes with the customary 'Turkey Song'.

CORNUCOPIA
Cornucopia, also known as the 'horn of plenty' is the most common symbol of a harvest festival. A Horn shaped container, it is filled with abundance of harvest. The traditional cornucopia was a curved goat's horn filled to brim with fruits and grains. According to Greek legend, Amalthea (a goat) broke one of her horns and offered it to Greek God Zeus as a sign of reverence. As a sign of gratitude, Zeus later set the goat's image in the sky also known as constellation Capricorn


CORN
One of the most popular symbols of Thanksgiving is the Corn. With It's varieties of colors it makes for a very interesting symbol. Some Americans considered blue and white corn to be sacred. It is believed that native Americans had been growing corn a long time before the pilgrims arrived in their country. The Americans taught pilgrims how to grow corn and help them survive the bitter winter. The Corn eventually became a part of the first thanksgiving dinner and the tradition continues till date where the corn finds its place on every dinner table the world over and specially during the Thanksgiving dinner. Ornamental Corncobs are a favourite with the masses during the festival. The dining tables are decorated with harvest wreaths which is also a very popular gift item among Americans. Ornamental popcorns are also widely used. Corn reminds us of the importance and heritage of the famous harvest festival. It also remains America's foundation of 'Modern-Agriculture

PUMPKIN
The 'Pumkin pie' is another modern staple at almost every Thanksgiving table. It is customary. Pumpkin leaves were also used as salads. According to historians, the pumpkin is one of the important symbols of the harvest festival and has been an All American-favourite for over 400 years now.


BEANS
Beans are a special symbol of thanksgiving. Native Americans are believed to have taught the pilgrims to grow beans next to cornstalks. So that beans could grow and use cornstalks as their pole. Thus American beans are also known as 'Pole Beans'. Famously known as one of the 'Three sisters', beans are a part of thanksgiving feast.


CRANBERRY
Cranberry, Originally called crane berry, has derived its name from its pink blossoms and drooping head which reminded the pilgrim of a crane. It is a symbol and a modern diet staple of thanksgiving. Pilgrims soon found out a way to sweeten the bitten cranberries with maple sugar. Ever since cranberry sauce is a permanent companion of turkey during thanksgiving feast.  

Black Friday

Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving Day in the USA and falls on the Friday after the fourth Thursday in November. It is a busy shopping day and is a holiday in some states.
What do people do?
Many people have a day off work or choose to take a day from their quota of annual leave on Black Friday. Some people use this to make trips to see family members or friends who live in other areas or to go on vacation. Others use it to start shopping for the Christmas season.
Shopping for Christmas presents is also popular on Black Friday. Many stores have special offers and lower their prices on some goods, such as toys.
Public life
Black Friday is not a federal holiday, but is a public holiday in some states. Many people take a day of their annual leave on the day after Thanksgiving Day. Many organizations also close for the Thanksgiving weekend.
Public transit systems may run on their normal schedule or may have changes. Some stores extend their opening hours on Black Friday. There can also be congestion on roads to popular shopping destinations.
Background
Black Friday is one of the busiest shopping days in the USA. There are two popular theories as to why the day after Thanksgiving Day is called Black Friday. One theory is that the wheels of vehicles in heavy traffic on the day after Thanksgiving Day left many black markings on the road surface, leading to the term Black Friday.
The other theory is that the term Black Friday comes from an old way of recording business accounts. Losses were recorded in red ink and profits in black ink. Many businesses, particularly small businesses, started making profits prior to Christmas. Many hoped to start showing a profit, marked in black ink, on the day after Thanksgiving Day.

 

Macy´s Thanksgiving Day Parade

The most popular holiday parade in America, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade NY has been a tradition since 1924.It attracts more than 3.5 million people to the streets of New York City each year and  50 million people watch it on TV nationwide The first Macy´s Day Parade took place on Christmas 1924 when Macy´s employees (Macy´s is a very  big department store with shops al around USA, but the most important is in New York) dressed as clowns, cowboys and other fun costumes and accompanied by Central Park zoo animals and creative floats marched about 10km.

Nowadays, spectators can see  about 10.000 participants - including the nation´s best marching bands, performance groups, giant helium balloons, breathtaking floats and ending the parade, a float with the one - and - only Santa Claus upon his sleigh, marking the start of the Christmas season. 

In these 90 years, only three times the parade was not held due to World War II.
In 1927, Felix the Cat became the first giant balloon to ever take part in the Macy´s Day Parade. Next years lots of favourite children´s characters have marched in the parade, for instance:
Mickey Mouse
Superman
Uncle Sam
Harold the fireman
Toy soldier
Popeye
Donald Duck
Hello Kitty
Kermit the frog
Yogi Bear
Garfield
Spiderman
Bugs Bunny
Babe the pig
Snoopy
Pikachu
Bart Simpson
Sponge Bob
Dora the explorer
Shrek
Scooby - doo
Mr. Potato head
Charlie Brown
Pink Panther
Kung Fu panda
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Thanksgiving. How it all started

The American Thanksgiving story

Ten little turkeys song

Little pilgrim song

To grandmother´s house we go

Thank you,Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving memory game

Universal children´s day

Each November 20th., the world celebrates Universal Children´s Day.

It´s a day to appreciate children for just being themselves and to recognize them as important and valued members of society, now and in the future.

The day was first suggested in 1954 by the UN General Assembly, to encourage fraternity and understanding between children around the world.

Since then, the General Assembly has adopted two landmark documents - the Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1959 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989.
They cover everything from a child´s right to be free from exploitation, to the right to his or her own opinion, and the right to education, health care, and economic opportunity.
Of the 195 sovereign and independent states represented in the United Nations, 192 member nations have signed and ratified the Convention, and only three have not ratified it (the United States, Somalia and South Sudan).
In the case of the United States, this can be due to the fact that some states want to be able to execute minors.
The case of Somalia is due to its political instability and the absence of administative and political structures.
South Sudan is different. It became an independent state on July 9th 2011 so it is a very new country and it has not signed or ratified the Convention yet.

Convention on the rights of the child

Children´s rights according to U.N. (United Nations)

Children´s and young people´s rights

We´ve all got rights song

A beautiful day song

We are the world, we are the children song

The more we get together song (the value of collaboration)