Fun Thanksgiving Traditions??

We bring games to play - that's fun for the adults and kids. Apples to Apples, Uno, Bunco are all favorites for us. Maybe you can bring along some kind of art project to do.

My mom used to have us make the table decorations for dinner. Some of them were pretty... interesting, I guess you could say! Lots of construction paper, glue and feathers but they were always a conversation starter! Some years she had us make placecards, but the table decor was always by us~

One year when we had a particularly large dinner crowd, she had us make fall leaves and we greeted each guest at the door and asked them to tell us what they were thankful for. We used those to decorate the table and the buffet.

I have done this for the last few years with my young nieces... they are too little to really like chatting and frankly chatting with my in-laws gets old after an hour. The girls know that I always bring craft supplies to make decorations and they love it! This year, my son is old enough to join in and the girls can't wait to trace his little "baby hands".

This is not something I have done but a few families recently told me they do this every year and it sounds like such fun I am hoping to start doing this next year. Their families do a Thanksgiving skit every year. This can include only kids if you have enough or adults and kids. You can dress up someone can be a turkey or a pilgrim or indian. You can do something different every year and it can be simple or more complex. I think the kids were remember this and look forward to it each year.

This isn't really a thing to do on the day of Thanksgiving but you can promise your boys that they get to challenge each other to win the wish from the wishbone. You have to let it dry out over night and then each kid takes one end of the bone and pulls. The winner is the one with the longest piece. My kids (2 & 5 year old girls) LOVE the wishbone and it always gives them something to look forward to.

We always play board games or card games. The last few years we have also played the Wii (there are 2 TVs so the men are still able to watch football). Are they interested in cooking at all? Maybe they could make something that is "fun" for them to do that could become a family tradition - decorating cookies like turkeys, etc. I know it is hard - we don't have many children either so they can get bored, especially at someone else's house. They really do seem to enjoy the games though, especially when an older relative who doesn't typically play with them, will play for awhile. Last year my daughter got a kick out of my 91 year old Grandma actually remembering how to play a lot of the games. Good Luck & Happy Thanksgiving!!

I have the same dilema, so this year I thought I would let the kids make gingerbread houses. I know it is more a Christmas theme, but with all the family there to participate with each other, I thought it would make nice memories, and give people something to do while I am making the food or cleaning up. Our house is an open floor plan, so I can still participate in the conversation and take pictures, hop in from time to time, etc. Than I thought we could display the houses during the month of December :) Good luck, I am looking forward to hearing what others are going to post too :)

My aunt and uncle used to host our giant family Thanksgivings, and every year we kids went down to the basement and composed a prayer together. We used that as our official "grace before meals" prayer on Thanksgiving. It was a really nice way to get the kids involved. Since your kids are a bit young, an adult could help them craft it.

We would also decorate potatoes. My aunt would give us toothpicks, raisins, marshmallows, yarn, etc and we'd dress them up. It kept us out of the way while the adults were getting the spread laid out.

But, the BEST was the years when it would snow, and then we'd go outside and play in the snow and build snowmen while the adults loitered indoors.

It could also be used as an opportunity to decorate, if the hosts have a Christmas tree they'd like to start putting up.

My then 5 year old and his 6 and 4 year old cousins LOVED making the Turkey Cookies that Nick Jr advertises every Thanksgiving. You trace the child's hand and cut it out, then trace it onto sugar cookie dough. The child's hand then becomes the turkey that he can decorate with frosting, candy corn (for the beak), etc. It turned out really cute and took the kids' minds off the fact that preparing Thanksgiving dinner takes so long. Before they knew it, it was time to eat...then they got to eat their cookies for dessert!

Something that I remember doing in preparation for Thanksgiving was making turkeys out of construction paper to be put on the table and elsewhere in the house. I don't remember exactly how we made them.

My grandchildren have made turkeys using their open hand as a guide. I've also seen them made in other ways. You can find ideas in a Craft book or on the Internet. You could have them be small turkeys used as place cards and the kids could be responsible for helping the adults find their places. It might be fun to allow the kids, with adult supervision, decide where people will sit.

I like to get the whole family involved with the kids whenevery possible. Last year I paired the kids with some adults at a different table and let them make a centerpiece. It was a turkey made with a melon for the body, a pear for it's head, green peppers and red peppers for feathers. It was really a lot of fun, kept the kids involved and happy to participate. I also give the kids jobs to do like get chairs, set the silverware out, set out the napkins etc.
I thought I got the directions at www.familyfun.com You can find lots of Thanksgiving ideas there.