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Inside: Discover a list of 7 wonderful Thanksgiving traditions to enjoy with your family this year and for many years to come!
Every holiday is a great opportunity to enjoy happy moments with the family, and I love to make the most of each of these occasions!
One of the easiest ways to build more connection during holiday time is to create lovely traditions to follow every year.
Kids love these special moments, and family traditions are a wonderful way to create those precious family memories!
As our son is now old enough to truly understand the meaning of the holidays, we decided to focus more on finding nice traditions to enjoy together.
This is how I discovered 5 lovely Thanksgiving traditions that I want to share with you!
They are great for both kids and grown-ups, and I’m pretty sure that your family will love them!
1. Thanksgiving traditions: Create a Gratitude Jar for the whole family
Thanksgiving is a great opportunity to teach kids about gratitude! One easy way to do this is by creating a Gratitude Jar.
You can either start it at the beginning of November and use it for the whole month or start it on Thanksgiving Day and use it until Christmas or New Year.
Here is how to do this:
1. Pick any type of jar (or box) and label it. You can use a name label and write “Our Gratitude Jar” on it.
2. Choose some nice colored paper and cut it into small paper slips. I like to use different colors for every family member to make the jar more colorful.
3. Place the jar and the colored paper slips in the living room. Invite each family member to write a reason why they are grateful every day and put the paper in the jar. (You can also write the notes for the younger family members who can’t write yet.)
After one month of doing this daily, you’ll have a jar full of colored notes! Get together and read all the notes.
This activity will bring you closer and give you the chance to remember all the good things in your life.
Doing this for a whole month is a perfect way to practice gratitude and inspire kids to do it too!
⭐ You can download a printable template for your gratitude jar here: 3 simple and fun ways to teach kids about gratitude {+ printable}.
photo credit: Natalya Lysenko / shutterstock.com
2. Thanksgiving traditions: Plan a Thanksgiving Turkey Hunt
I loved this idea from the Dating Divas blog! They offer a cute printable file to help you prepare a fun scavenger hunt before the Thanksgiving dinner.
You can get all the details and download the printable here: Thanksgiving Turkey Hunt.
3. Thanksgiving traditions: Create a Thankful Tree and display it in your home
This idea is similar to the Gratitude Jar, but it’s a little bit more crafty, and kids love it! At the Thanksgiving dinner, provide each family member (and guest) with a paper leaf and a pen to write down what they are thankful for.
You can create the Thankful Tree from branches and place it on your dining table, or you can create it from paper and display it on the wall.
Here is a list of great ideas to choose from: Top 10 Thankful Trees for Thanksgiving (created by Rhythms of Play).
4. Thanksgiving traditions: Watch the parade
The Macy’s Thanksgiving’s Day parade is such an awesome event! The whole family will enjoy watching it, so bring some tasty snacks and watch the parade together!
For us, the parade has a special place in our heart because a few years ago we went to New York to see it and we loved every moment of it! My son was only 3 years old at that time, but he enjoyed seeing all the giant balloons, and I hope that we’ll get to see the parade live one more time when he gets a little older.
photo credit: FamVeldman / depositphotos.com
5. Decorate a special tablecloth
This is such a wonderful idea and one of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions!
To start this tradition, you will need a white tablecloth and some pens and markers.
Before the Thanksgiving dinner, ask every family member (and guest) to write something on the tablecloth that they are thankful for. The young children can do small drawings instead.
After the dinner, store the tablecloth and use it again next year. Gathering so many nice messages on the tablecloth is a wonderful way to celebrate together and build memories that you will cherish for many years to come.
6. Thanksgiving traditions: Create a gratitude list every year
Every year invite every family member to share the most important things that they were grateful for in the previous year. Write down all the important milestones or special events in the family that made you feel thankful.
Invite each family member to contribute with their own ideas! Write every list in the same notebook and store it next to the Thanksgiving decorations.
Every year you’ll have the chance to read old lists and remember the special things that each family member shared and add a new list in the notebook.
7. Do an act of kindness on Thanksgiving morning
Teaching kids to be grateful for what they have also means teaching them to give back and think about those who can’t enjoy the same things they have. A good way to do this is involving them in volunteering.
You can prepare meals for the less fortunate or blessing bags for the homeless. This is a wonderful way to give back to the community and teach children to be caring and compassionate with other people.
A nice tradition to start with your family is to deliver meals or gifts for the less fortunate on Thanksgiving morning. There is no better way to start a special day than by doing something kind and getting the kids involved in this!
photo credit: Alexandra Siu / shutterstock.com
I hope that you enjoyed these ideas and that they inspired you to start some great family traditions to enjoy on Thanksgiving for many years to come! If you have any other traditions that you want to share with me, I would be very glad to find them out!
I wish you a wonderful celebration with many happy moments with your family!
photo credit preview photo: ArturVerkhovetskiy / depositphotos.com
