Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a national holiday with a focus on Gratefulness. This Thanksgiving, post a whiteboard, chalkboard, or poster board where those gathered for Thanksgiving can write public statements of what they are grateful for this year. Leave it where anyone can write on when they are ready. At some point, gather the group and review what has been written. Is there a theme to the items? How has the pandemic, the economy, or racial tensions affected the items on the list? If your holiday is virtual this year or has virtual guests, find a digital way (Google Doc, Facebook Group, etc) to collect and share the Gratitudes. An alternate activity is to encourage all family members to write thank you notes to people for whom they are Grateful. These can be digital or physical or verbal, depending on restrictions and preferences. Those being thanked do not need to be limited to family members.

Another way to do this is to use a cup (My cup runneth over) or a jar (Gratitude Jar) to hold your gratitude. The size should be relative to the size of your family or the size of the celebration on Thanksgiving Day. Decorate it for the holiday. Have small slips of paper and pens available so family members and guests can write down what they are thankful for. You can choose to have them sign it or not. At the end of the meal, have the children read the slips. You could make it a game by guessing who said it or just read the name if you chose to do that. Make sure that those writing slips know they will be read aloud. If you decide to do this as a family, you can display the cup or jar at the beginning of the month and then read all the slips on Thanksgiving.