Thanksgiving Activities
Thanksgiving Activities
Thanksgiving activities for many families focus on food and recreation. Yet Thanksgiving is a perfect time to focus on family, faith and fraternity.
• Have children create lists of everything for which they are thankful. Young children can draw pictures. The intent is to capture the spirit of the holiday.
• Ask children to describe the story of the first Thanksgiving.
• Create a cornucopia. This can be done with a paper cone, wicker basket or other items in the home. For decorative purposes, you can use real or fake fruit. You can also use canned goods with attractive labels. The day after Thanksgiving, take the food to the nearest food bank or to a needy relative. Food banks tend to gear up and receive donations before the Thanksgiving holiday but need replenishment afterward.
• Assign each child and young adult a task to help making the Thanksgiving meal along with a clean up task. This keeps children involved and prevents adults from being overloaded.
• Instead of a betting pool for the Thanksgiving football game, tag the pool for donation to a charity the winner gets to select.
• When conversation around the meal peters out, ask each person to list one thing they are thankful for. Make it a challenge by asking each person to name something they are thankful for that has not already been said by someone else. A thinking persons Thanksgiving Activity.
• When the list of “thanksfuls” seems short, describe challenges that you are grateful to have overcome. Talking about lessons learned can help everyone learn lessons in life and be thankful for their own lives.
• Have children look up thanksgiving activities for other cultures. Prayers of thanksgiving are not limited to one religion.
• The history of the first Thanksgiving is taught in school. Ask children to identify foods at the table that could have been served at the first Thanksgiving. For extra credit, ask them the origins of other foods on the table.
• Plan for what to do with the leftovers before you make the meal. Create lists of leftover recipes. When the leftovers are placed in the refrigerator or freezer, give leftover recipes to everyone. Then ask everyone to decide which recipes they will use and divide up leftovers to be given to each person.
Thanksgiving activities should include activities that can only take place when several generations are gathered together.
• Collect family stories. Older children can write them down. Alternatively, have a technically savvy teen record the stories as they are told and create a video to share with everyone.
• Record family recipes. The recipes do not have to be made for Thanksgiving. After writing them down, type them up and create copies to give to everyone after the meal. If time is an issue, create a family recipe book and send it to family members at Christmas.
• Update your family tree with any weddings, funerals and births that have taken place in the preceding year.
• Children can make colorful handprints on paper and turn the image into a turkey. Have each member of the family put a handprint on a sheet of paper to create a family of turkeys. As an extra challenge, have each member in turn put their handprint on the paper, then ask everyone to guess which turkey hand belongs to whom.
and as is often missed from lists of this type. Have Fun!!
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Related Reading:
Thanksgiving RulesPercy Isaac Gifford's Official Thanksgiving Decree: I officially command you to eat EVERYTHING you see! Percy knows just what to do to get the most out of this delicious holiday. And so will you if you follow his ten simple rules. From "the early bird gets the turkey" to "life is sweeter when you eat sweets," his rules will help you eat your way through the big meal. But is there more to Thanksgiving than stuffed turkey and sweet potatoes with marshmallows? See how Percy discovers the true recipe for a perfect Thanksgiving holiday.
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