Harvest festivals are annual celebrations held to celebrate agriculture, usually held around, or soon after the main harvest of the year. Different countries around the world of course have different climates and grow different crops, so traditional harvest festivals are held at different times of the year. In Britain for example, harvest festivals are usually celebrated in churches around October, in Canada, Thanksgiving is celebrated in October, and in the United States, Thanksgiving is celebrated in early November - American Thanksgiving usually combines elements of celebrating the harvest with celebrating stories about American history.

Harvest festivals are also a wonderful opportunity for schools and kindergarten. Children can learn about nature, agriculture and farming, and when food or items are collected for charity, they can also learn about giving to those less fortunate than themselves.

One fun activity that is well-suited for a kids' celebration of harvest festival or Thanksgiving is an enjoyable themed game of bingo - "Harvest Bingo" or "Thanksgiving Bingo". The game is played just like normal bingo, but instead of using bingo cards printed with numbers, the kids are each given a bingo card containing a set of words or phrases relating to harvest time, or to Thanksgiving. The teacher or parent takes the role of bingo caller, calls out items in random order, and the kids must try to find the matching item on their bingo card. The winner is the first person to cross off a row of 5 items on their bingo card and call out "Bingo!"

As you can imagine this game can be quick, and is a lot of fun for kids to play. In can also them practise reading, recognition and concentration skills, and there even ways to vary the game play for a longer game, for example. The main requirement is of course a set of bingo cards containing words or phrases relating to the event, but a teacher or parent can easily prepare these yourself using a computer and some bingo card maker software.