By Mary Jane Bogle
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Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and while 2020 has been a year like no other, now is the perfect time to engage in thankfulness activities with your kids. Here’s why. Studies show that thankfulness can have a huge positive impact on physical health. Gratitude also reduces stress, improves sleep and increases self-esteem— something we all want for our children…and ourselves! Thankfulness, like many positive qualities we want to instill in our children, is more caught than taught. You can’t teach your children to be thankful if you aren’t thankful yourself. In order to serve up a heaping, healthy dose of gratitude for everyone this Thanksgiving, here are five activities each member of the family can enjoy.
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GIVE EVERYONE A THANKFUL JOURNAL This journal can be as simple as a few pages stapled together or as expensive as a leather-bound journal purchased from a stationary store. The main idea is to journal about all that you are thankful for. Small children can draw pictures, while older kids and parents can write longer entries. Pass out the journals the first of November, encourage everyone to make at least two entries per week, and then read your favorite entries on Thanksgiving Day.
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MAKE A “THANKFUL TURKEY” CRAFT
Trace everyone’s hand on colorful construction paper. Then decorate the turkey face and then have family members write one thing they are thankful for on each feather. Be sure to write names and dates on the back of the turkeys and bring them out in a few years to remind everyone what was “gratitude worthy” this year.
FEATURE | Motherhood
Thankful!
We Are
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PLAY THE GRATITUDE GAME
All you need to play this game is a timer and a small stuffed animal you can pass from player to player. Give the first player the stuffed animal. That player has five seconds to share something he or she is thankful for before passing the stuffed toy to the person to the left, who in turn shares something, and so on. The key is to make it all the way around the circle as many times as possible without repeating or pausing between players.
CREATE A THANKFUL JAR
The week before Thanksgiving, leave out a jar or basket with a notepad and pens. Throughout the week, encourage people to write a brief note or draw a picture of something they appreciate and put it in the jar. Have the kids read the items on Thanksgiving Day.
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ENGAGE IN ACTS OF SERVICE AS A FAMILY
Make cookies for someone who has blessed your family, donate used clothes or toys to the local shelter, or write letters to service members overseas. Typically, the more you seek to bless others, the more thankful you are for the blessings in your own life. It’s a great perspective—and a lesson that won’t be lost on even the smallest members of the family. a | NOVEMBER GLO 2020 |
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