Thanksgiving Fun Facts for Kids -- 40 WOW Moments

The first Thanksgiving lasted three whole days! True! The Pilgrims and Wampanoag played games, ate food, and had fun for three days.

Turkeys can run faster than most kids can bike! True! Wild turkeys can run up to 25 miles per hour.

The Pilgrims did not eat pumpkin pie at the first Thanksgiving. True! They did not have butter or flour to make pie crust.

Baby turkeys are called poults and can walk right after hatching. True! Baby turkeys are very independent from the start.

Jingle Bells was originally written for Thanksgiving, not Christmas! True! It was first sung at a Thanksgiving concert in 1857.

Turkeys sleep in trees at night to stay safe. True! Wild turkeys fly up into tree branches to sleep.

The Macy's Parade has giant balloons that are as tall as buildings! True! Some balloons are over 50 feet tall.

Cranberries bounce when they are ripe. True! Farmers test cranberries by bouncing them to see if they are ready.

A turkey has about 6,000 feathers. True! That is a LOT of feathers for one bird.

The wishbone tradition is thousands of years old. True! Ancient people thought bones could predict the future.

Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be America's national bird. True! He thought turkeys were smarter and more honest than eagles.

Canada celebrates Thanksgiving in October, not November. True! Canadian Thanksgiving is on the second Monday in October.

The first TV dinner was made from leftover Thanksgiving turkey! True! A company had too much turkey and invented TV dinners in 1953.

Turkeys can change colors — their heads turn red, blue, and white! True! A turkey's head changes color when it gets excited.

Green bean casserole was invented in a kitchen test lab. True! A lady named Dorcas Reilly invented it for Campbell's Soup in 1955.

There is a world record for the biggest pumpkin pie ever made. True! It weighed 3,699 pounds and was 20 feet across!

Sweet potatoes and yams are NOT the same thing. True! They are completely different plants that just look similar.

The Pilgrims brought beer on their ship because water was not always safe to drink. True! Beer was safer than water back then.

Turkeys have better eyesight than people. True! They can see in color and even see ultraviolet light.

Corn is the only grain that cannot grow without human help. True! Corn needs people to plant it every year.

Thanksgiving was celebrated in space by astronauts! True! NASA makes special Thanksgiving meals for astronauts in orbit.

The word 'cornucopia' means 'horn of plenty.' True! It is a horn-shaped basket filled with fruits and vegetables.

The President of the United States pardons a turkey every year. True! Since 1989, the president saves one turkey from becoming dinner.

Pilgrims did not wear buckled hats like you see in pictures. True! Artists made up the buckled hat look long after the Pilgrims were gone.

There are over 2,500 kinds of apples grown in America! True! But only about 100 are sold in grocery stores.

The Detroit Lions have played football on Thanksgiving since 1934. True! Except for a few years during World War II.

A turkey's gobble can be heard from a mile away. True! Boy turkeys gobble very loudly to call girl turkeys.

Leftover turkey sandwiches are almost as famous as the dinner itself! True! People love making sandwiches with turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce.

Some people eat pizza or tacos instead of turkey on Thanksgiving. True! Not everyone likes turkey, and some families have their own special traditions.

The first Thanksgiving did not have forks. True! The Pilgrims ate with spoons, knives, and their hands.

Native Americans taught the Pilgrims how to grow corn using fish! True! Squanto taught them to put dead fish in the soil to help corn grow.

Charlie Brown's first Thanksgiving special aired in 1973. True! 'A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving' has been on TV every year since then.

The busiest day for airports is the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. True! Millions of people fly to visit family.

Black Friday is called that because stores start making money (in the black). Mostly true! The name came from Philadelphia traffic first, but the money meaning stuck.

Turkeys can recognize each other by their voices. True! Turkeys have over 20 different sounds they use to talk to each other.

Some families play board games or card games after Thanksgiving dinner. True! Spending time together is the best part of the holiday.

Pumpkins are technically fruits, not vegetables. True! They are fruits because they have seeds inside.

The Mayflower was originally a cargo ship, not a passenger ship. True! It usually carried wine before it carried the Pilgrims.

Thanksgiving is also celebrated in the African country of Liberia! True! People there learned about Thanksgiving from Americans who moved there.

The heaviest turkey ever weighed 86 pounds! True! That is about as heavy as a third grader! Most turkeys are much smaller.