Living with an attitude of gratitude is encouraged by many leaders in the spiritual and personal success realms. In honor of Thanksgiving next week, I’ll share some favorite quotes on living with thanksgiving, but today I want to point out that Thanksgiving is couched between two of kids’ favorite holidays: Halloween and Christmas. How can we make Thanksgiving shine over the tops of costumes, candy, lights on trees, grinches, and gifts?
Tina’s Tips
- Think like a kid. What do kids like? Why do they like Halloween and Christmas? How can you incorporate some of those things into your Thanksgiving week this year? My kids especially like candy, gifts, dressing up, playing, doing something as a whole family, word games, arts and crafts, and Twister. What do yours like?
- Make it simple. If Thanksgiving feels complicated to you, how can you simplify? And what simple things can you add in that would give more fun and meaning for your family? I’ve simplified. To the max. My mother-in-law likes to do a certain dinner and she likes to do it herself. So, I bring some fruit and veggie turkey platters and a pie … that I made ahead of time and froze. After the family meal, I focus on playing outside with the kids – tag, basketball, volleyball, frisbee, or whatever else. I love it, my kids love it, and I love getting some play time with my nieces and nephews.
- Prep ahead. If you decide to do something a little different this year, make it easy by prepping ahead of time. Buy the candy, get out wrapping paper, find the frisbee, and then get them in a box or bag and set them by your bed (or somewhere you’ll know right where it is). If you wait, you’ll be in the thick of the normal things you do and your new plans will either become stressors in your life or they’ll slips through the cracks.
So, why do kids love Halloween and Christmas? Costumes! Candy! Decorations! Presents! That all equals fun, fun, fun for kids. And what’s Thanksgiving for a lot of people? Cooooooking and Eeeeeaaating. I mean, kids can only get so excited over one meal, especially if they have to do a bunch of work they don’t want to do and Mom and/or Dad are stressed about having everything just so at some particular time (especially if they are hosting and expecting company).
Now, maybe you already do other things you’re family likes. Great! Please share! If not, take a look at the suggestions below and see if they spark some ideas that make your eyes and your family’s eyes shine with excitement.
- Write a gratitude list all through the week and see if you can get to a specific number, like 1000. Just leave a notebook and a pen on a conspicuous table and let everyone know about it. When people walk by, they can think of things and write them in. As a family, review and discuss what people have written during dinner. If candy makes your family happy, you can share some after dinner and talk about how gratitude makes life sweet.
- Make a Thanksgiving Tree or two. You can do this a variety of ways. When we did it last year, I got a large piece of paper and drew a tree trunk, had the kids color it brown, and then I cut it out and taped it to the wall behind our kitchen table. I printed a bunch of leaves that they could write things on, and I had them cut out the leaves. We had two trees: a “thanks” tree and a “giving” tree, so the kids would write things they were thankful for on a leaf, color it, and tape it on the “thanks tree” and then they’d write something someone had done to serve them, color the leaf, and tape it on the “giving” leaf. Here is a tree template and a leaf template for printing and a post on how to make Thanksgiving trees. Another idea I found made the tree by tracing someone’s arm for the trunk and their hand for the branches. Then the leaves were all out of traced hands. Just some ideas for you to springboard off of!
- Buy some things for a Thanks-Giving box (think dollar store for this). Have kids write a pre-determined number of things they are grateful for. Younger kids who can’t write well might go to 50 or 100, with an older child or adult doing the writing for them. Older kids can go to 250-500. When they reach the number you set, they can pick something out of the “giving” box for someone else. Help them or let them wrap the gift and give it the person on Thanksgiving Day whenever it works for your family. My kids would definitely want them in the morning! If you do a Thanksgiving Tree, you could put the presents near the tree like you would for Christmas. If your kids really get into this, you can let them write another set of things they’re grateful for and then you decide: they can pick something for themselves or give something to another person. FYI – My sister-in-law shared and oversaw this activity at a family reunion and it was a big hit!
I wanted to send this blog post out early so you have time to think about things and prep ahead. Next week, I’ll share some favorite gratitude quotes that you can share for FHE or throughout our Thanksgiving week.
As always …
Happy Home Evenings!
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