Family Traditions: Giving Thanks

Ten Thanksgiving Traditions

    Turkeys to baste, bread to bake, parades to watch, football teams to cheer for, Black Friday lists to make and many relatives to visit… Thanksgiving can quickly become a hectic flurry of “To Do Lists” and the reason for the holiday can easily get lost in the shuffle.

    This November, start a new Thanksgiving tradition and remember to take time to give thanks for your family’s blessings!

Five Things:

• Ask each family member to fill a small bag with five objects to represent five blessings of the year. For example: a picture of family (representing the family we love), baby rattle (celebrating a new baby), coin (commemorating a new job), small toy (the fun of playtime or friends), or a rock (Jesus is the Rock). One at a time, pass around each of the objects and explain its meaning. Encourage creativity when choosing objects and create your own symbols. Keep the collected items a secret so it is a surprise for everyone.

Ongoing Blessing Tablecloth:

• Purchase a cloth tablecloth and fabric markers. Every year, have each member of the family write down one thing he or she is thankful for and sign and date it. When you add to your tablecloth the following year, reflect on blessings from past years. Let small children use handprints for their signature. 

Golden List:

• As a reminder to focus on blessings, ask each family member to write 10 things they are grateful for on their own personal Golden List (you may use pretty paper or stationary). Help young children by writing for them or letting them draw pictures. Hang the Golden Lists in places where you are sure to see them, such as the bathroom mirror, kitchen bulletin board or in the car. You could also write these on construction paper leaves and decorate a “paper tree” with blessings when complete.

Two Kernels:

• Place two kernels of corn on each plate. Before dinner is served, remind everyone of the first Thanksgiving, the hardship the Pilgrims endured and how they gave thanks to God for the new bounty. Then, have each member name two things they are thankful for as they deposit their kernels in a basket.

Blessings 20 Questions:

• Play 20 Questions (asking yes or no questions) to guess what family members are thankful for today. In addition to blessings, it would be fun to guess everyone’s favorite Thanksgiving food or what they want for Christmas.

Letter of Gratitude:

• Leave a blank note card and pen at each person’s place setting. Ask them to write a note of thanks before dessert is served. The note may be written to anyone they would like to thank for blessing them over the year (family members, friends, teachers, ministers, neighbors). Young children may draw a picture instead of writing. Provide stamped envelopes so they may be mailed easily.

Homemade Placemats:

• Make placemats, napkin rings or centerpieces for the meal. For young children, weave construction paper placemats or buy large sheets of craft foam to be decorated with foam stickers for Thanksgiving. Children can also paint handprint turkeys on construction paper placemats. Older children and teens can sponge paint or stencil fabric placemats from the local fabric store or decorate the fringe of placemats with beads.

Wishbone:

• From the time of the Etruscans, people have been pulling apart the forked bone from a turkey, chicken or other fowl and making a wish. The Romans brought the tradition with them when they conquered England and the English brought it to America. Make a wish when snapping the dried bone, with each person pulling on an end. The person with the larger end of the bone gets their wish, otherwise known as the “lucky break.” Each year pick two family members to battle it out for the bigger half. Take a picture of each pair holding the wishbone before and after it’s pulled. Then place the photos in your album with a description of the winning wish.

Thanksgiving Eve Meal:

• The night before “The Big Feast,” most moms would prefer “no cooking” to gear up for the following day. Celebrate “Thanksgiving Eve” with fun take out or delivered food. Eat together as a family in PJs or comfy clothes and enjoy board games or a movie. Relax and enjoy family time as much as possible before the extended family traditions of the next day.

Wake Up Call:

• For young children, begin the morning by having them imitate turkeys complete with struts and gobbling to wake the household. For older kids, wake them with the aroma of hot cocoa and warm coffee cake or cinnamon rolls. Watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade together and enjoy a simple breakfast.

    Whatever traditions you choose, remember to make it a priority to give thanks and remember the real meaning of the holiday. I can’t put it any better than Abraham Lincoln, who declared Thanksgiving a National Holiday on Oct. 3, 1863, writing, “I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.”

Kansas City Mom Kristina Light is thankful to be welcoming a new baby girl to her family this holiday season.