These Fun Thanksgiving Activities and entertainment will help you fill your holiday with fun as you Explore From Home: Thanksgiving. This Thanksgiving will not be a traditional Thanksgiving for many. As we got closer to the holiday I realize the likely hood of travel had diminished. And the reality was that it would be just the 4 of us for Thanksgiving. My sadness soon faded as I saw the joy on my daughter’s face as she asked if we could make a big Thanksgiving Dinner together. How could I say no? Since we will be home and have the time I thought I would put together otherways you can Explore From Home: Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving Activities: Food
While the holiday is a time to reflect on everything we are thankful for it also happens to focus a lot on the food. And the best part of this is that we can get the kids involved too.
- Make a menu together. What will you have for breakfast lunch and dinner that day? My family loves a big breakfast so we usually have that and Thanksgiving dinner with appetizers in-between. Everyone gets to decide at least one app and one side dish for dinner they would like. You can even have the kids write the menu so they practice their writing.
- Make a shopping list together. Have them checked the pantry to see what you have and check it off the list. If you need help This Ultimate Thanksgiving Shopping list may help you prepare.
- Prep and Cook together. Thanksgiving can be as simple as you want it to be. The day before we will be doing some meal prep. The kids will be baking pies with Dad. Then Thanksgiving I will have my daughter help with the stuffing and we will get the bird in the over. then it’s time for them to help with pancakes as part of our big breakfast.
- Even if you opt to order out you can always pick 1 thing to make together whether it’s a dessert or a side dish or fun fancy drinks. You can check out these Thanksgiving drinks for kids for some ideas.
- Thanksgiving leftovers are my favorite. You can spend days later making fun new creations with leftovers using these Thanksgiving Leftover Recipes. I really enjoyed the curry turkey neck we had in Jamaica last year the day after Thanksgiving.
Fun Thanksgiving Books
There are some really fun Thanksgiving-themed books you can read with kids.
- Turkey Trouble
- How to Catch a Turkey
- T is For Turkey
- Check out this list of Great Thanksgviing books for Adults and Kids
Fun Thanksgiving Movies / TV
So I think it goes back to when we only had public TV growing up but we would always watch Home Alone on Thanksgiving. So the tradition continues.
- Football
- The Macy’s Day Parade
- Home Alone
- Friendsgiving
- Planes, Trains and Automobiles
- Check out these other great Thanksgiving movies
Fun Thanksgiving Music and Dancing
Well, We usually turn on our local Christmas music station or play our typical dance music but upon a little research, it seems that some have dubbed jazz as Thanksgiving music. So if you feel a little stressed bout the Holiday try enjoying some Jazz music to help you relax.
Fun Thanksgiving Activities for Families
Fun Thanksgiving Activities for families and Thanksgiving Crafts for kids is a great way to spend time as a family and keep the kids entertained.
- Thanksgiving Crafts: Make beautiful artwork or useful decorations to brighten up the room. From napkin rings to place card holders these Thanksgiving crafts are a blast for kids and they will love having them on display.
- Thanksgiving Games. You can check out these 30 Thanksgiving Games or adults and kids. In addition here are some of our favorite games to play as a family
- Macy Day parade bingo
- Football Bingo
- pieface
- Family Feud or Pictionary
- You can also check out these Free Printable Thanksgiving Games and Activities for Adults and Kids
- Can’t be with all your loved ones this Thanksgiving? Check out these Zoom games you can play with family near and far.
- Battleship is great for one on one if you both have a set
- Pictionary
- here’s a list of zoom other zoom games you can play.
- Shopping (or on-line Shopping)
- Who doesn’t love shopping for deals? or simply online shopping and filling your cart with items you don’t end up buying. Well, this has become a new activity my daughter loves to do with me. We will look through doll clothes and lego kits. At them to the cart and then go through the cart and decide which ones she really wants. It helped so much with making her Christmas list too!
On-line Educational and Exploration
Last year we spent our US Thanksgiving in Jamaica. Staff acknowledges the holiday followed by “Jamaicans do not celebrate Thanksgiving because we give Thanks every day”. Find out how some other countries celebrate Thanksgiving around the world. Here are 8 Thanksgiving Celebrations Around the World or check out how these 7 countries celebrate Thanksgiving.
Learn about the history and traditions of Thanksgiving in America. Or check out this kid-friendly version from national geographic about the history of Thanksgiving.
Here’s how 15 countries celebrate Thanksgiving around the world. If your up for the challenge see if you can recreate some of these traditions.
Exploring From Home Series
I started the Exploring From Home Series as a way to continue the joy of traveling while we were stuck in Quarantine. Our family loved the experience and while we stopped over the summer as we became busy with outdoor activities, my daughter would ask to do some of the things we had previously done through these experiences.
It’s been a wonderful way for us to stay busy, learn, and spend time together making wonderful memories. I will be adding many more destinations to the series over the next few months. The series is also a great way to get excited and help children learn about a destination before you plan to visit or a way to share the memory of a destination you have previously visited.
Imagine whisking your family away to Hawaii or Japan While in the safety of your home. It’s a good idea to check out a few of the series you are interested in so that you can order any of the supplies you may want and have them arrive before you begin.
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