ADVENT LUTHERAN CHURCH
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THANKSGIVING IDEAS
 

18 Thanksgiving Ideas for Families
Author: Barney Kinard

This collection of ideas is intended to give your family some ideas on how to enhance your family traditions at Thanksgiving time. If your family is already doing many of these ideas, you are well on your way to making your celebration of thanks special. However, if you can try a couple of these ideas, you might find that a little “spice” can add some new flavor to what could be a routine annual feast.

Please note that each idea has a graded code at the end. P is for Preschool children, E is for Elementary children, T is for Teenagers, and A is for Adults.
  1. Take the children to the library and pick a book(s) about the history of the first Thanksgiving dinner. Discover what it was like for the early pilgrims. (PE)
     
  2. Try to serve some food items that people only prepare at this time each year. Perhaps you could try some favorite family recipe or even something new that everyone likes and you discover it could become that special item. We suggest that you even try another main dish besides turkey. How about lamb, ham, duck, or even pheasant? (TA)
     
  3. Involve the children in decorating the living room and /or the dining room. Of course, decorating the table can be really fun. There may be several good party stores in your area. Visit one of these with the children and get some ideas for a centerpiece and placemat. (PET)
     
  4. Encourage each person to bring some special object to the table that represents what they are thankful for this year. Let each take a turn to share their object and how it represents their thankfulness. (ETA)
     
  5. Grandparents and relatives can be encouraged to share memories of other Thanksgiving gatherings they remember. The best times, the hardest times, the one that meant the most to you, do you remember when…etc. (PETA)
     
  6. Create a "Thanksgiving basket" for a friend or relative who is not with you on Thanksgiving. The basket should be prepared by your family with some thought and planning, being sure to put something of yourselves in the basket…like a picture, or something homemade, or something characteristic of each of you. Maybe it could be prepared for someone needy without a turkey…or maybe for a friend, neighbor, for the poor, or even someone from church. (PETA)
     
  7. Invite someone else to celebrate Thanksgiving with you. This is a very lonely time for families with no relatives in the area, single parents or for singles. Try to include foreign students who attend the local schools and colleges in the area. Call the schools or church for ideas and inquire, or better yet, go to the school and ask around. There usually is someone all alone on campus. (ETA)
     
  8. While the food is cooking is a good time for a family gathering. We have a worship time, a story time, singing together, sharing what we are thankful for with others, and Scripture reading. This is the time for some traditions to be instituted. We use the Thanksgiving Turkey Visual here…giving each one a chance to share why they are thankful to God. Praise choruses and Thanksgiving hymns are really fun too. The nature of this time may depend upon the ages of the children and how many people are present. (PETA)
     
  9. Select some Thanksgiving verses from the Bible and write the reference on a card and place card near each plate. Each person reads their verse and explains how the verse relates to what they are thankful for. (ETA)
     
  10. Table talk could include the sharing of something that you are most thankful for this last year. Another way to approach the subject of thankfulness is to ask everyone to share something that was a personal problem when it happened, but now they are thankful for this experience. (ETA)
     
  11. "I appreciate you because…" Everyone is encouraged to express their appreciation or thankfulness for each person or a person around the table by verbally sharing something about the person that causes them to be thankful or appreciative. Another project is to encourage each person to write a card to someone that they are especially thankful for that is not present. Be sure to allow time, material and stamps so this project will work. (PET)
     
  12. As the children become older, they will want to share themselves more in the presence of adults. We have had some interesting discussions around the table. One time, we asked the difference between "being thankful" and "feeling thankful." (ETA)
     
  13. Encourage everyone to make a ten-minute appointment with everyone present. Try to suggest that they each talk about why they appreciate each other…or why they are special to each other or why they are thankful for the other person. (ETA)
     
  14. Have a good supply of games, books, snack food and things to do. We have noticed that reading, walking, eating, talking, and assigning groups for clean up and meal preparation have been special times that build memories for these times away. Everyone tries to kick back, but seem to have the need to relate to those present. A project that we enjoy is having a five hundred-piece jigsaw puzzle out on a table for everyone to come by and help put together. (PETA)
     
  15. Another very successful idea we have used is the “Just Because I Love You” heart. This is a wooden heart that has these words painted on it. The idea is to perform a loving deed for someone else and leave the heart with the message for the person to find. It could be anything that the other person would appreciate…like making their bed, buying them some gum, helping with a chore. Once a person receives the heart, they have to do something nice for someone else. The idea is to keep the heart moving around the group. You could continue this all year in the family. (PETA)
     
  16. We usually make our Christmas lists during Thanksgiving. Each person has the chance to share what they would like this year. We all take notes. Just because it is on the list does not mean they will get those items, but it is really helpful when shopping in the weeks ahead. We also draw names for stockings. Each person is responsible for gathering small, inexpensive “stocking stuffer” items for one member of the family (i.e., fruit, nuts, and homemade items are encouraged). (PETA)
     
  17. Thanksgiving is a good time to have the children clean their room and select items to donate, give away, throw away, or give to school because Christmas is coming and we need to make more room for the new. (PE)
     
  18. Another idea we have tried to promote being more thankful is the Thanksgiving Chart. Everyone present has their name put on the chart on the left side going down. Then everyone’s name is put at the top going across and along the left side. Then grid lines are added separating the names. Each person tries to express "thanks" to everyone present at some time during your time together. The person who receives the "thanks" puts a star on the chart indicating that the other person indeed expressed "thanks." If the "thanks" is genuinely expressed and the recipient feels "thanks," then he can put the star on the chart. This idea really worked well and everyone could check to chart to see how it was going. (ETA)
 
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