In the spirit of full disclosure, I am officially calling myself out for typically celebrating Halloween and then bumping straight to Christmas. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good Thanksgiving meal, but aside from Thanksgiving day, I hadn’t put much thought into how to be fully present and live into this month of gratitude. That November could be more than just a holding place between spooky szn and Christmas szn hadn’t been something I considered until now. 2020. The year when gratitude is hard to come by. And after a long discussion about the season on Instagram, I became convinced that I needed more opportunities to choose thankfulness, and hopefully thereby shape my heart to be less inclined to complain.

So, why not take a month and count our blessings? Below are 10 ways that you and your family can live into the Thanksgiving season and celebrate the gifts (big and small) that the Lord has given.

10 Ways to Live into the Thanksgiving Season:

1. Make a gratitude turkey – my friend Haley introduced me to this idea and I think my boys will love it. A cute and fun way to write down one thing that my 3 year old is thankful for each day? Yes please.
2. Use a dinner time thankful jar – Shoutout to my friend, Tina, for this one! Around the dinner table, write down one thing that each person is thankful for and put it in the jar. Do this for the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving and then save the responses in a family album or by laying them all out and taking a picture. Years from now, I’d love to laugh and reflect upon what we appreciated back in 2020.
3. Get some themed Library books – my friend Beth searches for Thanksgiving themed books and then puts them on hold at the library. I didn’t know that libraries were now doing contactless book pickup and quarantining books for 2 weeks after use, making them quite safe as we navigate the pandemic. I’m excited to now put a few Thanksgiving titles on hold!
4. Make a Thanksgiving craft – there are so many good craft ideas and now that the weather is getting cooler, I am looking for easy crafts to do indoors with my 3 year old to keep him engaged. A few of the ones I’m interested in trying from Pinterest are here, here and here.
5. Bake a Thanksgiving treat – again, so many good ones. Check out 25 different treats you could make here.
6. Prep for the Thanksgiving meal and get the fam involved with it – I love to do a little Thanksgiving R&D by looking through old November magazines. Pull out a stack (or buy a new one) and have your littles search for recipes with you. Aiden just likes to find pictures of cookies while I look, which is not exactly helpful but still entertaining for him nonetheless.
7. Run (or walk) a Turkey trot – Family fun, endorphins + blessing those in need are just a few of the reasons why a turkey trot is a good idea! if you google “Turkey trot” in your area, you are likely to find one happening. Given covid, many have gone virtual this year but the proceeds are still benefiting those in need. We will be doing one to benefit Aiden’s preschool, but we’re also very interested in this Fairfax turkey trot.
8. Have a family Turkey bowl – I have fond memories of Turkey bowls past from my Youth Group days, and have big hopes for when our boys are just a little older and can catch a football. Get outside after your big meal and play a little football for exercise!
9. Watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade – 9am-12pm on Thanksgiving Day! It’ll be different this year with covid but definitely still happening! It is my favorite thing to watch while doing day-of meal prep.
10. Get your family playing a game after Thanksgiving dinner to continue the merriment – whether it’s board games, or Thanksgiving Trivia, or the “Left-Right” Passing Game, do something to spark a little family competition.

So that’s it! 10 ways to live into Thankful szn this year. Any Thanksgiving traditions you’d add to the list?