Giving thanks around an oblong dinner table cluttered with turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and rolls can be tricky when you’re hosting or attending a large gathering with many, many people with hungry, hungry bellies.
While Thanksgiving is an opportunity to fill our stomaches, it’s also an opportunity to acknowledge that all souls have a deep hunger that can only be filled by faith, hope, and gratitude.
To emphasize the backbone of the holiday which is sometimes lost in the chaos of the moment, here are some fun and humbling family friendly activities that will emphasize the value of gratitude this Thanksgiving.
1) If you are hosting thanksgiving dinner, you can respectfully ask your guests that they not bring any gifts and instead maybe bring some cans of food that can be donated to a local food shelter, or some blankets that your family can distribute to the homeless in preparation for the cold winter.
2) Create or purchase a little “Thanksgiving Guest Book” in which guests can anonymously write one thing they are grateful for. This list can be shared with everyone at the gathering later to emphasize the abundance of things to be thankful for.
Alternatively, you can make a “Guest Pumpkin” where you get a fake pumpkin, paint it a solid and opaque color, and leave out sharpies so that every guest can write out something they are grateful for on the pumpkin.
Photo: Something Turquoise
It’s a great decorative piece that you can put out each year! Here’s an example that was actually used for a wedding guest book.
3) Gratitude Pumpkins are a really fun craft for kids and they require little more than construction paper, scissors, markers, and glue. Here’s a printable template for these pumpkins from:
4) Having a Gratitude Scavenger Hunt is a great activity for both kids and adults that teaches us to be more mindful and present. This one from is super kid-friendly and fun!
5) If you are free Thanksgiving Day morning, afternoon, checkout any Thanksgiving Feasts being thrown by a nonprofit or NGO in your city for low income and homeless families/individuals.
My family and I do this every year and it is an amazing and humbling experience.
Below is a list of such events in major cities that are still accepting volunteers. It’s a wonderful tradition that we look forward to every year and allows us to bond as a family.
Thanksgiving Volunteer Locations
There are also tons of events held in the weeks preceding Thanksgiving that your family can volunteer at as well.
If your city isn’t shown here, just do a google search for it and hopefully you will stumble upon it!
Here are some search engines that are specifically for volunteering:
Contact your local or state food bank as well to inquire about any Thanksgiving volunteer opportunities!
West
- Los Angeles, CA
- Santa Barbara, CA
- Palo Alto, CA
- San Fransisco, CA
- This event is held by Bridgewatch Angels, a group dedicated to reducing suicide frequency at the Golden Gate Bridge. Volunteering will entail talking to people who are walking alone on the bridge on Thanksgiving Day and being a friendly face. Due to the nature of this activity and subject, you must be 18 or older to volunteer.
- Salt Lake City, UT
Southwest
Midwest
Northeast/Mid-Atlantic
Southeast
Hope you all enjoy a wonderful thanksgiving surrounded by the ones you love!
