Thanksgiving Day, traditions, and family.
It can sometimes feel overwhelming to create a perfect day. Instead, this year, why not simply make Thanksgiving Day a day to show gratitude, be thankful for family, and begin some new Family Thanksgiving Traditions!
Our family has several Thanksgiving family traditions that we have come to look forward to each year in our family.
We love the fall and the changing of the leaves. Shorter and cooler nights lead to backyard s’mores around the fire and some hot apple cider.
Beginning to teach the tradition of being thankful can start at an early age. Kids are capable and really enjoy showing how they are thankful for family.
THANKFUL TREES
There are many fabulous ways to write down how many things you and your family are thankful for, which makes for a simple Family Thanksgiving Tradition.
We once cut out paper leaves, wrote on it the things we were thankful for collectively, and hung them on some branches from the yard.
Get more details over at this post – Thankfulness Trees.
This was a perfect reminder of all God’s Blessings.
One year we decided to put up our Christmas tree a bit early. We turned it into our Family Thankful Tree.
Each night all of us would write one thing we were thankful for on a slip of paper. I would then put all six notes into the plastic ornament and hang it on the tree. At the end of the month, we had some pretty amazing things we all learned that we were thankful for.
We read them at Thanksgiving Dinner.
Related: Fall Fun – Time to Connect Bucket List
THE FIRST THANKSGIVING
We live in Massachusetts, so pretty much every year we travel to Plymouth, MA for a visit.
The Mayflower replica is first on our list and the kids get to sign the Mayflower Compact. We check out “Plymouth Rock” with the year 1620 engraved on it. There is a William Bradford Monument we do a photo op with.
Plimouth Plantation is an amazing living history museum to visit anytime to get the Colonial feel from the 1600’s.
These are great experiences that I get to share with my kids as we watch the “Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” DVD on the ride.
Learning about the First Thanksgiving is a key to our American history that the kids and I love to hear. So, leading up to our Plymouth visit, I will pull out all of our pilgrims-themed books and we will review our historical accounts.
 |
Thanksgiving on Plymouth Plantation |
 |
Mary’s First Thanksgiving: An Inspirational Story of Gratefulness |
 |
Charlie Brown Thanksgiving |
 |
Squanto’s Journey: The Story of the First Thanksgiving |
 |
What Was The First Thanksgiving |
 |
The Story Of Thanksgiving, Repackaged |
THANKSGIVING DAY
Having Family Thanksgiving Traditions makes me more grateful for my family. But I still like simple.
Focus on the good. Listen to the love. Enjoy serving everyone’s favorite dish.
Here are a few of our Family “must-have” Traditions
- Watch the Annual Macy’s Day Thanksgiving Parade
- Enjoy deliciously sweet cinnamon rolls dripping with sugary icing
- Cooking the bacon covered turkey (for the hubs )
- Thanksgiving Gobble Gobble Mad Libs loved by my kids
- Legend of 5 Kernels of Corn on the table – a simple way for kids to give thanks
- A homemade orange-cranberry sauce that the girls help me make now
- Homemade Applesauce that will fill your how with cinnamon apple aromas.
We usually play some games and tell jokes too. Of course, we have the aroma of all the fixin’s filling the home with that warm country kitchen scent.
My husband has also started a tradition where he writes a card to each one of us sharing the many ways that he is thankful for us individually.
Need a craft? Here is a fun and simple one making Painted Fall Trees.
Before we sit around the decked-out table to enjoy our meal and share why we are thankful this year, we grab some photos to capture memories.
THEN WE PRAY!
Giving thanks to God for an amazing little family, food, and provisions, and the many, many gifts we have.
We remind ourselves of God’s truth with these Thankful Themed Coloring pages too!
There is so much to be grateful for and taking this time, a whole day, to reflect on the goodness of God seems too small.
Related: The Blessing of Giving
Praying that you have a Thanksgiving season full of new traditions and all that makes you thankful for family.
Even when we have little, we have Jesus.
What types of Family Thanksgiving Traditions do you have? Share it in the comments below!
With Gratitude,
