1. Create a paper chain to countdown to Thanksgiving. As the links are daily removed, kids can write something new for which they’re thankful. Keep the slips in a jar, and have them read random selections at Thanksgiving dinner.
2. Craft thank-you cards together to send to meaningful people in their lives. Use a 3-D material, like felt or craft foam, to add excitement and sensory interest for children. Or, use vibrant colors clipped from magazines to form the feathers of a funky turkey on the card front.
3. Create this fun “Give Thanks Banner” and hang it in your home to remind your whole family to give thanks during this season. You could even encourage each family member to write specific things they are grateful for on the back of each letter. Click here for a free download.
4. Use construction paper to cut brightly colored turkey feathers large enough for children to write on. Then, let your children write things for which they’re thankful (help younger children write their thanks), or Bible verses on thankfulness they find from the Psalms. Finally, let them hide the feathers all over the house for a few days of extended gratitude as the feathers are found and read aloud.
5. One harsh winter, early pilgrims had to survive on only five kernels of corn a day! Hand a child five kernels of corn, and discuss what this must have been like. Gently explain how easy it is for us all to complain—but that simple reminders can encourage us to turn complaining into thanks, trusting God even when it is hard to see good things. Let your child glue the kernels in a row on plain cardstock. If you want, provide a few verses from which they can choose, writing one beneath the kernels. Then frame the dried creation simply and display it in their room.
Check out more fun Thanksgiving activities at Ever Thine Home.
Click on the word “here” for the banner.
Is there a link for the banner? I can’t seem to find it in the article.
Great idea, especially with the corn kernel to show gratitude and being thankful. Thank you.