10 Thanksgiving Traditions to Start this Year

Thanksgiving is a time for gathering with family, eating your favorite dishes, and remembering everything you’re grateful for each year. Here are ten activities to add to your Thanksgiving traditions to make the most of your day.

1. Get Moving

Before or after your Thanksgiving meal, take some time to get active. Thanksgiving Day is the most popular day to go running. Maybe your family can sign up for a Turkey run or take a brisk morning walk together this year.

If you aren’t a runner, you can substitute other activities like football, volleyball, or a casual game of horseshoe.

2. Record What You’re Thankful for

Going around the room and saying what you’re thankful for is a popular Thanksgiving tradition. You can preserve what people said in a thankfulness book and reflect on it over the year as a positive reminder.

In addition to saying what you’re thankful for, each person can write a short note. After the holiday, scan those notes into the computer and compile them into a small photo book. You can make it more personal by using a chalkboard for each person to write their message. Then take a picture of each family member holding the board and use those pictures in your thankfulness book.

3. Write Thank You Cards

Is there someone that had a significant impact on your life?

Take time out of your Thanksgiving to write cards to those you’re thankful for. For example, you might write a card to a parent, public service worker, teacher, or friend who helped you over the year.

4. Look Through Old Photos Books

Looking through family photo albums from the past few years will remind you how far you’ve come and all you have to be thankful for. You can reminisce over what you accomplished that year or look over significant milestones.

After looking through pictures, you can create a new album to commemorate the day or holiday season that you can look through at future Thanksgiving events.

5. Save your Recipes

If you have a traditional potluck Thanksgiving dinner, consider creating a recipe book. This allows you to save and share your favorite recipes along with a personal message.

For example, is your apple pie your grandma’s prize-winning recipe? Maybe you learned how to make green bean casserole from a neighbor who grew green beans in his garden? Add these stories to your recipes to make it a sentimental gift for your family after each holiday.

6. Eat Outside

Thanksgiving is the perfect time to sit outside comfortably in an oversized sweater and woolen socks. Why not eat your meal outside? It gives a new scenery and gets you out of the house after spending all day cooking food inside.

If it’s too chilly for a full meal, you can build a bonfire after dinner and eat your pie around the fire as you watch the stars begin to peek out.

7. Start Your Meal at Breakfast

Start your Thanksgiving meal in the morning with a large Thanksgiving-themed breakfast. For example, you can make these delicious pumpkin pie pancakes.

You can eat something light in the afternoon, like a charcuterie board filled with your favorite snacks. That way, you leave room for your large dinner.

8. Decorate Pumpkins

Gather around your table to decorate pumpkins together if you want a relaxing after-dinner tradition. You can bring out paint, glue, and markers and let your imagination run wild.

For example, you can use this fun fingerprint pumpkin idea for your kids.

9. Donate Food

If you’re making a large Thanksgiving dinner, why not make extra ahead of time and gift it to a neighbor in need?

If you don’t know someone specific who would appreciate the extra help during the holiday season, consider gathering canned goods to donate to your local donation center or shelter.

10. Ring in the Christmas Season

About 43% of families decorate for Christmas during the three days after Thanksgiving.

You can tie your Christmas decorating as part of your Thanksgiving celebrations. After dinner, you can start pulling out your Christmas décor, tree, and ornaments.

If you aren’t ready to put up the tree, you can spend your afternoon making Christmas ornaments and seasonal decorations you can put up later.

Save Your Thanksgiving Memories

Each year, create a photo book that saves the holiday memories to reflect on in future years.

Create your personalized Thanksgiving photo book using one of our holiday templates.