25 Thrilling Thanksgiving Traditions!

Thanksgiving is such a great holiday where you can gather with friends and family. The goal of many of our traditions on this holiday is to bring us together to reflect and connect. It’s important that we connect as loved ones especially as the weather gets colder. Being connected with family and thinking about all the things we are grateful for is a wonderful way to combat seasonal depression. Our traditions help to keep us connected to each other in meaningful ways. While traditions can take time to prepare or can add pressure to our lives it’s still worth it in the long run to create memories that will last forever. Here are 25 fun traditions that can come in handy when celebrating Thanksgiving!

1. The Smell of Turkey in the morning is one of my favorite traditions. Having the turkey slow roast all night long is my favorite part of Thanksgiving. I might not have the picture-perfect turkey but I for sure have the most tender. One of my favorite things when prepping the turkey is setting it in the roasting pan and getting it all ready to bake. There’s nothing like a delicious smell of turkey wafting through the air to get you in the festive mood.

2. Family Gathering– This time of year can be hard and good all at the same time. You might laugh at uncle Bob’s jokes but many times family can bring up mixed emotions. When you choose to gather with your family remember how to keep your boundaries. It’s ok to not invite someone who will violate those boundaries. Here’s a great book to read to prepare for your family interactions.

3. Watch Macys Day Parade– When I was a child my grandmother would put the Macys Day parade on as they were all cooking and getting ready for the Thanksgiving day meal. It is a bit of a national tradition and it’s always fun to see the huge balloons that they bring down the road. A fun game to play during the viewing is how many turkies can you spot!

4. Donate to a Local Charity– When you are poor and don’t have access to a lot of resources holidays can be hard. Helping to support local charities by donating food is a great way to not only teach your children about giving but it can help someone else have a great holiday experience. Think about what kind of food would make you feel the holiday joy and donate that or money to a place that can provide that for families in need.

5. Feed the Homeless- While we should be doing this regularly it’s important to at least doing it once especially as a family. If you want you can choose a day close to the holiday that’s not the actual day that will help put your kids in a position to serve and underserved population. It’s a great way to have your children become aware of a world that they might not experience every day.

6. Take Food to an Elderly Neighbor- Not always do the people in our neighborhoods have places to go or family around them. Be aware of the neighbors you have in your world and figure out who will not be with family. Either invite them into your family to join your celebration or if they are house bound bring food to them. It doesn’t take much to reach out and make someones holiday a little better. To keep their meal hot while transporting you can use this!

7. Invite Single Friends to Your Celebration- Holidays can be hard for people who don’t have family or live far away from family. If you have a single friend who has no where to go invite them over to celebrate with you. This could also go for single mothers. Think of co-workers or people in your social circle that may have family who live far away. No one wants to be alone around the holidays.

8. Kids Table– There’s always been a tradition in all the households I’ve been in of having a kids table. It’s usually smaller and it’s great to have the kids gather around a table where they can start building community and connection with their family and friends. I remember when it was a big deal to move to the adult table and that tradition can have great significance in your growing up process. I always add a table cloth the kids can color and enjoy. Here’s a great choice!

9. Creative Side Dishes- Along with all the traditional foods like stuffing, turkey, and mashed potatoes this is a great time of year to whip out the recipes that aren’t always made. It’s fun to experiment in the kitchen with new side dishes that you can test out on your audience to see if it makes the cut or not. Here’s a great blog about some strange sides you could possibly use. One of the biggest pains in my butt is finding enough serving utensils for everyones dishes during the holidays so I’m planning ahead this year and I’ve grabbed this to help me out!

10. Collecting Leaves and Pinecones to Decorate- This is always fun to do with kids. Collecting fall items outside and bringing them inside to decorate can be a festive way to include kids in the preperations. Be creative with your kids on how to incorporate their creativity into the decor. Let them run with some fun ideas it will be a moment of pride to see their creations throughout the holiday.

11. Kids Holiday Crafts– It’s so cute to see kids wearing thier thanksgiving hats or painting thanksgiving hand turkies. Having a craft while cooking can help the kids stay out of the kitchen and distracted as long as there’s someone who is able to manage all of it. It’s fun just to put a few crafts out and keep them entertained. Here’s a great craft that’s not as messy as painting and it’s all cut out and ready to go!

12. Family Dinner Talk- Part of Thanksgiving is the talk around the table though politics and religion might be avoided to keep the peace it’s still an imporant part of bonding over the holidays. Many family matters like catching up with each others lives and talking about traditions happen around the table. Focusing on connecting and sharing moments that are going to be remembered is a great way to teach traditions to the kids in the room. Those little ear hear everything and see how we interact with each other and they learn what and how to connect to family by watching us.

13. Story Telling– This goes along with dinner talk but allowing the elders in your family to tell stories of their lives helps us to learn about where we come from. Thanksgiving is a great place to hear the stories from our family that helps to build family identity. Kids will connect with their elders when they can hear their stories. There’s a great sense of being heard and honored when the elders in our family get to share their experiences in life. It’s also a great way to stave off loneliness when people know our stories what a great time to tell them!

14. Thanksgiving Coloring Pages- When my child was a toddler I loved printing out coloring pages to keep her entertained. She did a great job at being entertained with the other littles at the kids table. Every Thanksgiving I put several coloring pages out for the toddlers in the family with a hand full of crayons. It’s a fun way to entertain them and you can hang them up somewhere to add to the decorations.

15. Family Word Search Thanksgiving Style- Along with the kids coloring pages I love printing out some word searches for the adults. It’s a fun way to keep them entertained while dinner is being cooked. You can even make it fun by giving a prize to whoever completes the task first. Having a pre-game before dinner is a fun activity to get the family connected. Here’s a fun book with some choices in them!

16. Say What You are Thankful For- Such a great tradition that we enjoy in our family is to say what we are thankful for. It’s a great way to keep this holiday in the right spirit. Usually right before we eat we go around and express one thing that we are thankful for from the past year. It helps to bond people and keeps thankfulness in the forefront of our thoughts.

17. Football Game Watching- If you are in a football family this is a big football day. It’s usually tradition to have the game going while dinner is being prepared. Football can be a fun way to celebrate a day full of food and hanging with family. Usually there are multiple games playing at the same time so good chances are that you can find a team you would like to cheer for. If you are like me and have a huge family it’s important to have a large TV so that no one is left out of the play by play. Here’s a great TV that you can play the big game on!

18. Dessert and Coffee- After a huge dinner it takes some time to be able to eat dessert. We usually wait a couple hours before we cut the pie because it’s so much food to get through. It’s a fun tradtion to have a slice of pie but there are all sorts of desserts you can make that isn’t just pie. Having a good cup of coffee with a sweet dessert helps to bring the eating to a close. There’s nothing like having good conversation, coffee, and dessert.

19. Family After Dinner Walk- We all know that it’s so hard to move after eat all that food however a good walk through the fall leave helps to burn some calories. Walking is not only good exercise but it’s also a great way to bond as a family. If you have eaten early enough having an early evening walk is a great refreshing way to celebrate.

20. Family Games– I love family games it’s a great way to laugh and have fun with your family. A wonderful time to enjoy games is when everyone is in the same house. This is a fun way for older adults to teach the younger generation some good games they played when they were younger. Also if you are brave youcan purchase a few new games to all learn together. One of my favorite game to play with family is this! Check it out.

21. Family Nap– With a delicious dinner can come a great feeling of tired. If you took your walk you still might feel tired so taking a short snooze on the couch or in a chair is not uncommon. Uncle Bob and grandpa Joe are not the only ones who can be found snoring away it’s ok to let your body rest and recover. Having a family nap is a great way to recover from the holidays.

22. Family Photos- Memories are so important for so many reasons. When you get all the family together it’s important to take pictures to remember the good times. Also as the elders get older they might not be around as long so it’s good to catch those moments so that you will have something to give to your children. Here’s a great way to keep all your pictures in one place and pull them out the following Thanksgiving so that you can remember the good times.

23. Watching a Holiday Movie- When you are all done with the food festivities it’s a fun time to rest while watching a holiday movie. Usually we start watching Christmas movies Thanksgiving evening. It’s a fun way to start the Christmas season and finish up the Thanksgiving one. One of the best holiday movie that we love to watch as a family is Home Alone. Even though it’s old our kids love this movie it’s fun and light hearted and can show how family works even if it’s disfunctional at times.

24. Left Overs for Dinner- Usually if you eat early in the afternoon family will be hungry around evening time. Having left overs is a pretty staple tradition on Thanksgiving. We usually eat a version of Thanksgiving dinner all week long. With so much food you will have lots of left over and it’s great to have it through out the week to help extend the holiday. I even take the bones from the turkey and boil them to make bone broth as a base for soups for the winter. Here’s a some great containers for all that food!

25. Christmas Tree Hunt- I love the Christmas season and part of my Thanksgiving week tradition is to go get our tree. Usually we do it the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend. It’s a fun tradition to go either chop down or buy a fresh tree. I love the smell of the holiday season in my home. If you have any fun family traditions please leave a comment below and share them I’d love to hear what they are!

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