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Around the season of Thanksgiving parents can compare this time to the first Thanksgiving in Plymouth in 1621 and ask their school age children to compare. They will be studying this historical event in school. As the pumpkins and the gourds and the colorful fall decorations arrive in the stores, turn the conversation to the Pilgrims at every chance. Follow along and add to what they are learning in schools. Depending on where you live, visiting the recreated Plymouth sites at Plymouth, Massachusetts is a good vacation choice. It need not be at Thanksgiving but can be during the summer.

For the religious oriented teachers or for Sunday school bring the plight of the Pilgrims' hardships and their desire to worship God in their own way into the lessons. As preparation for learning more about their religious beliefs follow your own religious guidebooks and stress those points that all religions share. These are loving God and believing that He has a plan for everyone. Their choice is finding out what it is.

This may take much trial and error. As examples you can bring the Pilgrims' examples of caring for the sick that first harsh winter where half of the one hundred and one coming to Plymouth in 1621 died the first year. Those well enough tended the sick and dying among the believers and unbelievers alike. There was no discretion. Where religion is concerned, since there is one God, a thread of truth runs through all. \

There is no way of getting around these facts. In the Christian Religion it began in thirty-three AD with the crucifixion. Then protestors starting other religions, and these protested and formed other religions. Yet God watches over all. There is simply no place to hide!

Writers who write for children will find lots of material with which to better acquaint their readers about the Pilgrims. Read the Primary sources and the biographies of the leaders and search for ideas and incidents that can be written up into teaching stories. Whatever type of story you want to write, whether adventure, religious oriented, or holiday fare, can be slanted toward teaching about the Pilgrims. Children and adults alike like stories that have some tie in to today, and the Pilgrim's story has that. The actual soil they landed on is still in Plymouth, Massachusetts although it may not be as fertile today as it was then.

Non-the-less some artifacts from that time still can be seen and recreations of many of the events take place. The Pilgrim's history is a living history because of the bravery of those daring enough to venture out for such journey into a whole new world. To get the flavor of the times read the poetry of Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor. Both exude love for their God and their willingness to give Him all the credit for their lives.

Another good exercise to teach children about the Pilgrims is to get the names of the passengers on the list. How many of the names do they recognize as belonging to friends of theirs. Possibly some of them have ancestors who came over on the Mayflower. Bradford, Winslow, Standish are prominent names as are many other common names with long lists in the phone directory.

The history and importance of the Pilgrims is not likely to go away soon. They made viable contributions to our country and led the way for expansion. Of course, they too, with the arrival of the Puritans - same Church but different sects - broadened their territory and this in time led to members breaking away and leaving to other places. The reason being the right to worship God as they chose! Roger Williams who settled Rhode Island is one such dissenter.

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