I Am Thankful for- Thanksgiving Printables & Activities
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I am thankful for Thanksgiving! Â If you want some wonderful ways to make your Thanksgiving holiday more special, read on. Â I also have some printable “I am Thankful For” Thanksgiving worksheets to use with your kids or students.
Thanksgiving day is a time to gather all of your family members together and celebrate the bounteous blessing we have in life. It’s a time of year when out-of-town guests come and we make a great big meal to celebrate together.
But, it’s not just about the Thanksgiving meal and good food. Â I love to focus on an attitude of gratitude during this holiday season and remember the most important things in our life. And related to that, I love to think of ways to give to others.
Following are activities for the whole family to do during the month of November to make your Thanksgiving season a little more meaningful.
Create & Celebrate Family Thanksgiving Traditions:
Some of the best times with my Mom were in the kitchen cooking. Sometimes the small things really are the best things when it comes to family. Â This turkey day, try some new traditions and activities to bring your family together and create new memories.
Cook your Thanksgiving dinner together. While baking watch the big Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade together! Â Baking together is some of the best quality time. Cook the pumpkin pie together, peel potatoes together, or whatever family favorite recipe it may be. Delicious food just brings us all together!
Play board games or card games together in the living room while waiting for the turkey to cook, or after the meal.
Run a turkey trot race together, or organize a neighborhood one. Spending time together getting our hearts and lungs working is a great activity at this time of year.
Play a game of flag football in the yard or at a nearby park. A little friendly competition is great for families, right?
Try out our Turkey Tag game with your kids.
Take an annual family photo. The grandparents will certainly treasure this!
Plan out and execute your Black Friday shopping adventures together.
If you can’t all be together, plan a video chat. We did a pie night together on video with family members who couldn’t be there.
Get creative setting up the Thanksgiving table in the dining room with place cards and fancy place settings. This is when our great-grandma’s china comes out! My kids love to make a place card for all of the guests and family members.
Printable “Thankful for Thanksgiving” Activities:
Use my Free Thankful For Thanksgiving Printables to get your kids thinking about gratitude. These are great for high school students, middle school students and elementary aged students. This printable pack includes 5 styles of Thankful for Thanksgiving printables.
Download them now!
Following are some simple ways to bring more gratitude into your Thanksgiving celebration.
Offer a Thanksgiving prayer over the meal emphasizing all of the many things your family is thankful for this year.
Keep a Gratitude Journal during the month of November. I’ve started a regular gratitude practice with this One Line a Day 5-year Journal. I love it!
Play our Gratitude Game– it’s a fun one for a classroom or for the whole family!
Make a Thankful Tree or Gratitude Tree: cut out paper leaf shapes in fall colors and tape the paper leaves onto the branches of the tree. Or, use the pre-made one in my printable pack!
Make a Gratitude Garland with paper strips. Write the things you are thankful for on each strip.
Create a Thankful Tablecloth: Get a white or cream tablecloth and let family and guests sign, trace handprints, and write dates on it during the meal. Â Make sure to use permanent markers so they won’t wash out. This is a meaningful way to remember who was at your Thanksgiving meal each year!
Volunteer at a Soup Kitchen. It is always a good time to give back to those in need.
Collect for a food drive to donate to your local pantry. We often do this with our church members.
Make a Gratitude Jar– write what you are thankful for on slips of paper and put them into a jar. We like to use colored construction paper for this.
Write handwritten note of thanks and appreciation to someone who has shown kindness and love to you in the past year.
Do some random acts of kindness to give back to others.
I hope all of these ideas help you and your family to have a happy Thanksgiving!
Download the Thankful for Thanksgiving Activities Now!
See More Thanksgiving Activities:
Thanksgiving Color By Number Worksheets
Thanksgiving Tradition: Five Kernels of Corn
