A Thanksgiving day to remember: 9 fun and special activities

January 31, 2022

We are confident that you have the food picked out and the turkey ordered, whether you are having a large Thanksgiving gathering or a small one. Even while the meal is the focus of the day, Thanksgiving is about more than just reuniting with family for a hearty feast. We've put up a list of things to do so that you, your family, and your friends won't get bored. Before the turkey comes out of the oven and even after you've finished washing the last dish, here are some activities to do on Thanksgiving.

Carve a family tree

In 2004, it was declared that Thanksgiving was National Family History Day. So it’s only logical that this special date brings a great opportunity to trace your ancestral roots and record your family history.

There are many reasons to make your own family tree:

- You feel more connected to your ancestry.

- You can use it to track genetic issues and family health issues.

- Learning your family history in relation to historical events is a useful practice.

- It is an excellent method to ignite your kids' curiosity and encourage them to research their relatives and keep family heritage alive.

- It can even be fun!

You can wood-burn a tree on a wood plank and engrave your family names with an engraving pen.

Play Pumpkin tic-tac-toe

Using some mini pumpkins you can create a DIY tic-tac-toe game. There are many surfaces that can act as your board, but you and your family can have some fun wood-burning a piece of wood. Engrave little Os and Xs in your mini pumpkins and that’s it. This game is a simple way to entertain guests (especially children) as they wait for the feast to begin.

Craft a wooden turkey

Why turkeys? A little uncertainty surrounds the origins of the Thanksgiving turkey. No one is precisely sure how this specific bird came to hold a special place at the Thanksgiving table every year, but historians have a few alternative possibilities.

We know that meat and poultry were on the menu when the colonists sat down to eat with the Wampanoag Indians thanks to letters and documents kept by early American settlers. The first Thanksgiving is the name given to this historic supper.

And well, although we don’t know for sure whether they ate turkey or not, there are lots of them in America and that’s probably the reason why we eat this bird every year.

Anyway, before eating one, you can build a nice friend like the one in the picture with some leftover wood and some paint. It will look inviting and lovely in your front yard.

Personalize a family photo album

Of course food and fun are important parts of this special holiday, but its main objective is to get together and give thanks for what we have. Making and carving a family photo album, and then filling it with pictures of our loved ones is a fantastic way to be thankful. It will remind us of people we care for and the ones that are not around anymore. This can be a fun but also bonding activity for the whole family.

Play a Thanksgiving Pictionary Game

source: www.somewhatsimple.com

Who doesn’t love a good old Pictionary game? It’s probably the favorite of children and adults alike. It's a fantastic method to keep the youngsters busy while dinner is being prepared. With only a jar and some wood craft sticks, you can make a Thanksgiving version of this fun game. Bring the kids together and give them each a stick to draw on a chalkboard, whiteboard, notepad, etc. You can engrave a cute turkey on a jar to make it more beautiful. Have fun!

Engrave turkey eggshells

source: www.etsy.com

Engraving on eggshells is a marvelous technique that produces works of art. Adults can have a lot of fun trying to engrave turkey eggs with an engraving pen. They can even have a competition. The best-engraved turkey eggshell wins!

Make wood pallet pilgrims

Governor William Bradford hosted a feast in celebration of the Pilgrims' first successful corn harvest in November 1621 and invited a number of the colony's Native American friends, including Wampanoag leader Massasoit. The three-day event is now recognized as the "first Thanksgiving" in American history, despite the fact that the Pilgrims themselves might not have coined the phrase at the time.

Every year we celebrate our colonial roots, so why not display these lovely Pilgrims at our front door? You only need some old wood pallets, paint and basic woodworking skills.

Engrave the winning wishbone

Bird divination, or utilizing birds as oracles to foretell the future, was a practice of the Etruscan civilization in ancient Italy (at least from 800 BCE). It was customary to let chickens read the future by pecking at the ground-laying Etruscan letters. The wishbone, or furcula, of a dead chicken was placed in the sun so that people may touch it and continue to use the fowl's oracular ability long after it had died. The wishbone got its name because those who touched it made wishes while they did so.

Romans adopted parts of the Etruscans' cultural practices, such as wishbone wishing and bird divination. The Romans eventually stopped making wishes on bones in the ground and instead fought over the wishbone to break it; the winner was whoever broke off the largest part of the bone. The wishbone custom spread to the British Isles once the Romans introduced their culture and traditions there.

A traditional Thanksgiving tradition involves two people holding onto the wishbone's opposite ends and pulling until it snaps. Whoever has the larger piece at the end gets to make a wish! But we had a great idea. Using an engraving pen, carve the name of the winner on it, and keep it as a reminder of how lucky you were!

Gratitude Jar

source: ourhappyhive.com

A great way to remember to be thankful is a gratitude jar. Engrave some phrases on glass jars, ask each family member to write down one thing they are grateful for on a piece of paper, then fold it up and put it in the jar. You can start this activity some days before the holiday, adding something new each day.

On Thaksgiving, allow your children to take turns opening the jar and reading aloud each of the Thankfulness Papers. Discuss as a family how you might continue to cultivate gratitude over the rest of the year, and continue with this tradition until next Thanksgiving. You will be amazed at how much you should be thankful for.