There’s always a buzz in the air as thanksgiving rolls around. What’s not to love? Something about preparing a bountiful smorgasbord of comfort food for our families and making time to be with our favorite people — especially the folks you only get to see once or twice a year — makes Thanksgiving a day that everyone anticipates all year long
Indeed, Thanksgiving can be a wonderful time of year for families, but sometimes we get so busy preparing for Thanksgiving day that we miss the heart of the season. It takes intentionality on our parts as parents to be sure that Thanksgiving is truly a time to give thanks to God for our blessings.
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There are lots of cute Thanksgiving turkeys and cornucopias for our kids to make, but what about Thanksgiving activities that help cultivate thankfulness in your family members?
In searching for Thanksgiving activities for my family, I came across several fantastic ideas that focus on thankfulness all month long. Some activities can be done a day at a time throughout the month. (These can even be shared at the Thanksgiving table with families.) Some of these Thanksgiving activities can be done over a couple of days and combined with other activities as needed. Either way, I hope you’ll find some great matches for your family among these ideas.
Favorite Thanksgiving Activities
- Thankful ABCs Printable from Written Reality
- Live a Life of Gratitide: Free Printable 31 Day Gratitude Journal from Enjoy the Learning Journey
- Thankful Tree from The Simple Moms
- 30 Days of Thanksgiving from Meet Penny
- Thanksgiving Banner from Carina Gardner
- Gratitude Garland from Somewhat Simple
- Thankful Pumpkin from The Moffatt Girls
- Family Thankfulness Jar from The Realistic Mama and Thankful Jars from Teach Beside Me
- Thanksgiving Wreath from Bubbly Nature Creations
- My Thankfulness Rocks, pictured below. This was our family Thanksgving project last year and we still talk about these rocks one year later!
Looking for help in making thanksgiving — as in giving thanks — a way of life for your children beyond November? Stacie Nelson’s Thanksgiving Heart focuses on growing gratitude in the hearts of your children all year long. Through encouragement, service projects, discussion, and practical application, Thanksgiving Heart provides ideas to guide children in gratefulness in practical ways.
You can learn more about Thanksgiving Heart and purchase the e-Book at Motherhood on a Dime or head to Amazon to buy the Kindle version.