Discover the Top 10 Thanksgiving Fun Facts for Kids: Exciting Trivia to Share and Enjoy!

1. 15-Pound Turkeys

Gobble up that knowledge: The average weight of a turkey purchased for Thanksgiving is 15 pounds, and it usually has about 70% white meat and 30% dark meat, making turkey the fourth most beloved protein choice for American consumers, nestled right behind chicken, beef, and pork!
Source => web.extension.illinois.edu

2. No Turkey at First Feast

Talk about a Thanksgiving plot twist: The first feast was missing the key guest of honor, Mr. Gobble-Gobble! In 1621, instead of chowing down on turkey, the Pilgrims feasted on deer, seafood such as lobster and bass, and tasty harvest treats like pumpkins and corn – there's no historical record of turkey being on the menu!
Source => history.com

Did you know that Abraham Lincoln played a key role in making Thanksgiving a national holiday? Discover how a determined editor's persuasion led to this cherished American tradition. 🦃🇺🇸

=> Fun Facts about Thanksgiving

3. Fourth Thursday Law

Gather 'round, pilgrims, for a brief history lesson that'll have you pardoning a turkey or two: Thanksgiving wasn't always celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November! In fact, FDR put pen to parchment in 1941 to sign a bill into law, making sure everyone feasted together on the same day across the nation.
Source => whitehousehistory.org

4. Thanksgiving Football

Feeling stuffed like a turkey on Thanksgiving and couch bound for some gridiron action? Well, you’re in luck: The Detroit Lions have been part of the Thanksgiving Day football tradition since 1934, selling out their first game and playing every year since alongside the Dallas Cowboys who joined the fun in 1978, with a prime-time matchup added in 2006 to make your turkey day feast even sportier!
Source => sportingnews.com

5. Wild Macy's Parade

Before the age of gigantic flying Garfields, Thanksgiving parades strutted to a wilder tune, complete with a zoo-niversal cast and one jolly monarch of the miniature masses: The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, back in 1924, saw employees donning colorful costumes, floats, and even live animals borrowed from the Central Park Zoo, with the event culminating in Santa Claus being hailed as the "King of the Kiddies" in Herald Square – a tradition that has since evolved to include beloved character balloons replacing their real-life counterparts.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

6. Hale's Turkey-Lobbying

Talk about a hard-headed hostess: It took a determined lady 36 years of turkey-lobbying to make sure we can all pass the gravy and the presidential seal of approval at the same time! The serious reveal: Sarah Josepha Hale finally convinced Abraham Lincoln to issue a proclamation in 1863, designating the last Thursday of November as a day of Thanksgiving, and it later took another prez, Franklin Roosevelt, 60 more years to declare it a federal holiday on the fourth Thursday of November.
Source => time.com

7. Three-Day First Feast

Hold onto your pilgrim hats, folks, home cooking has come a long way since 1621: The first Thanksgiving feast didn't have a fixed date and was a three-day event to celebrate a bountiful harvest season, with the idea of a designated national day of Thanksgiving emerging only in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Source => info.whipmix.com

8. No Pies or Cakes

Hold onto your forks, dessert lovers: The first Thanksgiving feast had no pies or cakes at all! Instead, our Pilgrim pals and Wampanoag buddies munched on wildfowl like geese and ducks, venison, eels, and a scrumptious shellfish selection of lobster, clams, and mussels. They also feasted on crops like maize, beans, pumpkins, and squash, while the Wampanoag added in nuts and berries for good measure. As for drinks, beer might have made a cameo, but it's believed that both Engl-ish and Wampanoag had good ol' fashioned H2O as their main beverage.
Source => smithsonianmag.com

9. Franklin's Turkey Praise

Turkey Twist: Benjamin Franklin was no stranger to clapbacks, especially when it came to birds with bad attitudes! He had some beef with the bald eagle, accusing it of dining and dashing at the fish buffet, and was more of a fan of the turkey: Although Franklin praised turkeys for their courage and respectability, he never actually suggested replacing the bald eagle as America's national bird.
Source => fi.edu

10. Fashionable Fowls

You'd think turkeys got dressed in the dark, given their mismatched ensemble of red, blue, green, white, and brown feathers: These fashionable fowls not only flaunt a spectacularly iridescent wardrobe, but also accessorize with a dangling snood over their bill and a statement wattle sprouting from their neck. Who knew nature had such a keen eye for avant-garde style?
Source => a-z-animals.com