When you think about Thanksgiving, a lot of things probably come to mind…family gatherings, savory turkey, holiday parades, football, and full tummies. Sometimes the true essence of Thanksgiving can get lost in all the hullabaloo. The meaning of the holiday is in the word itself – “thanks” giving. Thanksgiving is a time to celebrate gratitude; to celebrate all the things you are thankful for. This year you can bring the focus back to giving thanks by incorporating some “gratitude activities” into your celebration.
Here are some “gratitude activities” ideas for your family to include this Thanksgiving:
- Have Everyone Participate in Saying Grace
Even if you always say grace before meals in your family, often it’s just one person who speaks. A beautiful way to create a gratitude-based tradition is to allow every person to participate in grace by verbally expressing one thing they are grateful for.
- Share Thanksgiving Memories
Have each person write down a favorite Thanksgiving memory and place the paper in a basket provided. After the meal have someone read the memories out loud so that everyone can reminisce about treasured family memories together.
- Have a Thanksgiving Show and Tell
Ask each guest to bring an item that represents something they are grateful for from the past year. It can be a photo, a souvenir, a song, or anything that represents a special thing or event that you are thankful for.
- Read a Thanksgiving Story
Find a Thanksgiving story to share with your family and guests. You can read a historically accurate story of the first Thanksgiving, or you can choose any story of gratitude and thanks. Sometimes we can all get bogged down by all the bad things that happen in our world, but there are a lot of happy stories out there too. Thanksgiving is the perfect day to focus on the positive. Thanksgiving Short Stories to Warm Your Heart
- Play a Thanksgiving Memory Game
Make expressions of gratitude a little more fun and interesting by playing a game. Have each person say what they are grateful for, but each person has to say not only what they are grateful for, but what each person who went before them has said as well! To be fair you can have everyone draw numbers to see what order they will go in. This is a great way to keep everyone engaged in this gratitude activity.
- Share Positive Affirmations
With a Thanksgiving table filled with family and close friends, it is the perfect opportunity to let everyone know how grateful you are for each other. Go around the table and ask each person to say what they are thankful for about the person next to them.
Here are some more ideas specifically for young children:
- Gratitude Drawings
Have paper, crayons, markers etc. available for the kids in attendance. Ask them to draw pictures of what they are grateful for. Once they are done, hang their artwork around where all can enjoy it.
- Create a Thanksgiving Mural
Cover a wall or long table with a large piece of craft paper and have the children decorate it to create a Thanksgiving Mural. Provide crayons, markers and paints and let their creative juices flow! Ask them to draw or paint things that they are grateful for. Adults can participate as well!
- Make Gratitude Turkeys
Trace each child’s hand to create “hand turkeys”. Once the turkeys are cut out, have the children write something they are grateful for on each “feather” of the turkey. When you are going around the table having each person say what they are grateful for, the children can read what they have written on their turkeys. How to Make a Hand Turkey in 7 Easy Steps
However you decide to spend Thanksgiving this year, be sure to include gratitude in your celebration!
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Photo Credits: shondaland.com, southernliving.com, simplymodernmom.com