You can also find these Thanksgiving Traditions for Families on our podcast, Parenting in Real Life. We’d love to see you there!
Thanksgiving traditions for families
November is one of my favorite months! I love that we focus on gratitude, it jump starts the holidays, the fall weather, and it’s our anniversary this month. So I wanted to share some of our favorite Thanksgiving traditions for families if you’re looking for some new ones to incorporate into your home this month.
Thankful turkey
One of our favorite family traditions is a thankful turkey. Every day we write something we are each grateful for on a turkey feather. Then we tape it to our turkey. By Thanksgiving, we have a turkey full of gratitude feathers. I love hearing what my kids are thankful for. The littlest ones get especially creative.
This activity helps your family remember to have an attitude of gratitude. Did you know that grateful kids tend to be happier, are more satisfied with their lives, and tend to give more social support to others? What an amazing gift to give your child when you can teach them how to be grateful. Download my free template here to make your own thankful turkey and help your kids start learning how to be grateful.
Turkey trot
A turkey trot is a common activity for many people, but 2 years ago we created one for our family and it was so much fun! We picked a route that was doable for the whole family. We had children on their scooters and bikes and the adults walked and ran. We even made matching shirts! My brother-in-law made a design and then we cut out the iron on vinyl with our Cricut and ironed them on to the shirts. It was so fun! And we’re looking forward to doing it again this year.
Pie night
A tradition that my sister-in-law’s family does (and something my family is going to start doing) is pie night. Thanksgiving pies are classic, but it’s hard to eat all those yummy pies after a big Thanksgiving dinner. So you can create a separate night that’s focused just on pies! I love pie and it’s so hard to choose a favorite that I usually make a few different ones. And then I have to take a slice of each one. 🙂 Making pies is also a great way to get your kids in the kitchen with you. Be as simple as you want with pre-made crusts, go all out with homemade, or head to your local bakery and pick up their best pie. If you’re looking for an AMAZING chocolate pie recipe, this one is a must!
Thanksgiving books
I love children’s books and reading to my kids, but the same old books can often get a little repetitive. I love adding holiday themed books to our library and mixing them in with the bedtime stories. If you look on the “Books” tab of my website, you’ll see our favorite children’s books for every holiday. Each link will lead to where you can find them on Amazon. If you add a book or two each year, in a few years you’ll have an amazing library of holiday books to read to your kids.
Service project
Another way to teach your kids gratitude is to do a service project with them. There are so may service opportunities you can do. One of our favorites is Project Linus where you tie blankets. I love this one because my younger kids can do it too. A great resource is Just Serve where you can see what volunteer opportunities are in your area. You can also volunteer at a soup kitchen or at a community activity.
Thanksgiving weekend
Once Thanksgiving is over, we like to buy a live Christmas tree the Friday or Saturday after Thanksgiving. We found that the cheapest Christmas trees in Utah are at Costco. But when we lived in Wisconsin, the Christmas Tree Farms were very comparable to the Costco prices. Don’t forget to take advantage of holiday sales and get those Christmas cards ready! For other tips on prepping early for Christmas, make sure to read my article about 3 Ways to Prep for Christmas in October. Happy Thanksgiving!