Easy Thanksgiving Activity: A Virtual Field Trip About Plymouth Colony

The days leading up to Thanksgiving break can be hectic for teachers. Between shortened schedules, assemblies, and excited students, finding something meaningful yet low-prep can feel like a challenge.

I've created a ready-to-go virtual field trip experience that lets students travel back in time to the early 1600s to learn the history and significance of Plymouth colony from multiple perspectives.

In this Plymouth Colony virtual field trip, your students will visit historical and reconstructed sites through the built-in Google Earth 360-degree links. Your students will tour a Mayflower ship replica, view a reconstructed Wampanaog wigwam, and learn about the daily life of colonists through a tour of a reconstructed village.

How it Works:

This activity is completely digital and self-paced, making it a lifesaver during the busy week before Thanksgiving. This activity is also versatile. It can be conducted teacher-led or shared with students through Google Classroom (or a different LMS) as an independent assignment.

Everything is set up for you in Google Slides with built-in links to Google Earth 360-views, short video links, informational text, and response questions.

If you’re planning to be out or just need something simple to run smoothly, this virtual field trip is perfect. Substitutes can easily guide it, or students can complete it independently.

Student directions are found within the lesson, and direct links are included to specific Google Earth™ locations and videos. All work is completed digitally. No printing is necessary.

Structure:

Students aren’t just watching a video—they’re exploring, reading, and writing about what they see. It’s a fun way to keep learning meaningful even when attention spans are short.

This virtual field trip is structured. This means that the informational text and links are meaningful and meant to lead students to think critically as they respond to the questions throughout the virtual field trip. This is also a great way to keep students accountable as they learn and explore.

All response questions are EDITABLE, so you can tailor to your class needs. Students complete this activity in edit mode of Google Slides.

This virtual field trip covers:

• Indigenous peoples

• Native lands recognition

• Plymouth geographic location

• Wampanoag (reconstructed wigwam)

• Separating Puritans

• Mayflower (tour of ship reconstruction)

• Mayflower Compact

• Choosing a building site

• Plymouth Rock

• Home construction (reconstructed village tour)

• The first winter

• Samoset

• Tisquantum

• Massasoit Sachem (view Profile Rock)

• Colonial marriage & family

• Wampanoag children & colonial children

• Growth of wealth and class

• Role of women (Wampanoag & colonial women)

• Economic growth and impacts on humans

• Thanksgiving mourning

What Teachers are Saying:

"My students love these virtual field trips. These really give them a chance to experience history in a new way." - Jeanne R.

"My students had a lot of fun doing this activity. It was a good introduction to some of the life and hardship at Plymouth. I also loved that it was no prep and students could work on it independently." - Lindsey N.

Students gain a deeper understanding of what life was like for both the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag people, helping them see Thanksgiving as more than just a holiday—it’s a story of cooperation, struggle, and history.

Grab this ready-to-go virtual field trip here!

Plymouth Colony Virtual Field Trip