I love November and Thanksgiving. The weather is beautiful (at least here in California), we get a whole week off from school to be together, soups and pumpkin and spiciness are on the menu (not to mention the actual holiday fare – mmm!) and of course, the purpose of the holiday itself … filling our hearts with gratitude. What could be more tender?
I also love decorating for Thanksgiving—acorns, pumpkins, colored leaves, and even a cute turkey or two. I have a felt PBK copy-cat banner I made with a talented group of friends back in our Michigan days, and an actual PBK countdown calendar which I adore …
And that is the purpose of this post. Last year I used my Cricut to cut a bunch of 2x3 leaf shapes which fit in the pockets of my calendar nicely. Then I racked my brain for some fun and meaningful “thankful” activities my kids could complete each day. They pull out a leaf, follow the directions, and have a lot of fun in the process. Admittedly, they enjoy some of my ideas more than others.
You don’t need a countdown calendar or a cricut to do this—Make a paper tree and cut out your own leaves—or a turkey with feathers to pluck. Even a big branch from outside and some artificial leaves from Joann’s would be cool. I’m just posting the activities I came up with so you could get some ideas to start you off. Feel free to send me any new ones you come up with!
Oh, and I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, so some of our activities are focused around our beliefs. They may be adaptable to other faiths as well.
Enjoy!
(In no particular order … in fact, I plot ahead and put certain ones on certain days. Like a family home evening on a Monday. The tithing and sacrament one on a Sunday, The garbage one on garbage day, etc.)
- We are thankful for food! Try something new today OR help Mom make a meal
- Call one of your aunts or uncles to express your love
- We are so blessed to have temple blessings. Sing “I love to see the temple”
- Go do a kind service for a family member to show your love.
- Make a list of 10 things you are thankful for
- Read (or have Mom or Dad read) a story from the November Friend magazine. We are blessed to have prophets.
- Read your scriptures today. Remember how blessed we are to have them.
- Are you thankful for your bed? Show that you are by making it!
- The sacrament is a wonderful reminder of Jesus’s life, death and resurrection. Be extra reverent during it. (Sunday-specific)
- Send a card to your grandparents telling them thank you.
- Show your mom that you are thankful for her … go pick up 20 things!
- Show you are thankful for our home by cleaning up the back patio.
- Pay your tithing today. This is one way to show God you are thankful. (Sunday-specific)
- We’re thankful for books! Let’s read some. Go pick 2 each.
- Show Dad you love him. Gather the garbage before he gets home!
- Look it up! Luke 17:11-19. Being thankful to God and Jesus shows we have _________ .
- Music is a blessing! Play your 5 favorite songs on the piano.
- Read D&C 136:28. Go say a special prayer of Thanksgiving. Think of at least 5 things to say thank you for.
- We are so thankful for our clothes!! Take your dirty laundry to the bins and sort it.
- Clean water is a blessing. Drink a cup and think how lucky we are to have it.
- Learn and sing the song “For Health and Strength” in the Primary songbook.
- Think of one thing you are most thankful for. Write it down. **We did this for FHE**
- HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
- We are thankful for our prophet! Listen to him speak on lds.org and find 1 thing he asks us to do. **Also did this for FHE**
- Repentance is an important blessing. Think about something you can change or do better. Pray for help to do it.
- We show our thanks by showing love. Give a hug and a kiss to each of your family members and say “I love you”.
- Draw a picture of a place you are thankful for. We will hang it up.
- Write a thank you note to your Primary teacher.
- We have a beautiful planet to live on. Let’s watch Planet Earth!
- Help Mom make something yummy and deliver it to the neighbors. We are lucky to have great neighbors.
8 comments:
excellent.
This is great! We make a turkey and add feathers to it, each feather adorned with something (that they've written down) that they're thankful for. I love this better, though. They not only recognize their blessings, but they are given a way to SHOW their gratitude. Bravo!
I love it! Mostly because it seems like a lot of fun, but also a lot of help with chores. Also, it is not even halloween yet, you are so on top of it and I don't know how. Don't you have a new baby and one more kid than me?
what an excellent idea. :) Can I pin it? ;)
Crystal--I made the leaves and ideas last year! I just typed them up this year. I have been using so many other people's ideas lately (I LOVE pinterest) I thought I'd throw one out there.
Em--Pin away. :)
Susie,
One year I did that with the turkey and feathers, but we cut feathers and mailed them to all of the kids' uncles, aunts, cousins, grandparents and asked them to write something on the feather and mail it back (We did this at the beginning of November). Of course we each also wrote something. Most of the feathers did come back. Then on THanksgiving day, I had a big turkey and we took all the feathers out of the envelopes and read them and stuck them on the turkey. Those present read their own feathers and stuck them on the turkey. I LOVED this, but it definitely took some serious prep time. It made for a very meaningful Thanksgiving day, though.
Yet another great idea. Consider yourself pinned! :)
Love it! I need something fun, crafty, and grateful oriented to do with my kids this year. I love that everyone made that banner back in MI. It is still one of my most treasured Thanksgiving decorations.
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