Thanksgiving Trivia and History for Kids

Tomorrow is the big day! I know I can't wait for the whole family to gather around the table and carve up the turkey. Here is so fun trivia and history to share with your kids (and adults too!) to get them in the excitement of the day.

Thanksgiving trivia:

-The National Turkey Federation estimated that 46 million turkeys—one fifth of the annual total of 235 million consumed in the United States in 2007—were eaten at Thanksgiving.

-According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest pumpkin pie ever baked weighed 2,020 pounds and measured just over 12 feet long. It was baked on October 8, 2005 by the New Bremen Giant Pumpkin Growers in Ohio, and included 900 pounds of pumpkin, 62 gallons of evaporated milk, 155 dozen eggs, 300 pounds of sugar, 3.5 pounds of salt, 7 pounds of cinnamon, 2 pounds of pumpkin spice and 250 pounds of crust.

- A cranberry must bounce 4 inches before it is harvested

- Though the pilgrims had them, potatoes were not eaten at the original Thanksgiving because they thought they were poisonous! Which of course is true, if eaten raw.

That last trivia factoid brings me to the little bit of history I want to share. What exactly did they eat? Obviously, the original feast must have looked very different than the one we enjoy today. The only two items that historians are positive about are venison and wild fowl.

What else might have been on the menu for the first Thanksgiving? The answer is pretty surprising: eel, clams, cod fish, lobster, seal!!, eagles, swan, pumpkin, carrots, grapes, chestnuts, acorns, leeks, parsnips, and dried currents.

Even more interesting was what was not on the menu. Besides potatoes, there was a lot missing that we normally associate with essential Thanksgiving recipes. Since the colonists did not have sugar, there was no pumpkin or apple pie, or cranberry sauce. All of the corn harvest was dried at this point, so fresh corn on cob was unavailable. There was also no ham or milk. But after all, Thanksgiving has always been about being thankful for what you have, not what you lack.

Hope this Thanksgiving trivia and history will be fun for you and your kids!