Thankful Traditions
Start a Thanksgiving Gratitude Tree! In a vase, arrange a few branches. Cut leaves out of colorful construction paper. Throughout the month, encourage your family to write what they are thankful for on the leaves. Attach the leaves to the branches. When Thanksgiving Day arrives, your tree will be full of gratitude, and you can read aloud everything your family is grateful for. This same tradition can be done with a Gratitude Turkey, where kids write what they’re thankful for on paper feathers to adorn a turkey. – tips from St. Louis moms, Angie Mitchell + Christina Johans
Make ahead a scrumptious breakfast (cinnamon rolls, breakfast casserole) to eat as you watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Set out a hot cocoa bar with marshmallows, whipped cream, sprinkles, candy canes for stirring, toffee bits, mini chocolate chips, Pirouette cookies, and chocolate + caramel syrup.
Individualize a fun placement for each of the kids with Canva, or buy a template from Etsy! – tip from St. Louis mom, Caitlin Ladd
When gathering for your Thanksgiving dinner, let everyone share what they’re thankful for. Don’t put too much stress over what you eat or what you do; remind your kids that the greatest blessing is being together as a family. – tip from St. Louis mom, Christina Johans
Create a Gratitude Pumpkin. Place a midsized pumpkin on a counter or tabletop along with a marker. Encourage your family to write what they are thankful for on the pumpkin whenever they are inspired throughout November. On Thanksgiving day, place the pumpkin out as part of your seasonal decor, and share everyone’s blessings. – tip from St. Louis mom, Jessica Hendricks
For families with older kids / family members, play the dice game Left, Center, Right. Have all participants bring three $5 bills instead of using chips. This is a winner-takes-all game, and the winner will have a nice stack of cash for Black Friday shopping!
Make an edible turkey! Use apple slices as the base and cereal for the feathers! – tip from St. Louis mom, Candice Meyer
Make a tradition running one of the many fun Turkey Day Races across the STL area. It’s a great way to work up an appetite as a family before the big feast! Most races have shorter, kid-friendly races so everyone can join in. Plan ahead and decorate family t-shirts or make fall colored no-sew tutus to wear.
Make crafts! Cut a turkey body out of poster board and encourage kids to put their turkeys in disguise so that no one recognizes them and they stay safe from the Thanksgiving feast! The possibilities are endless. There are many books you can read before doing this activity, such as How to Hide a Turkey by Sue Fliess and Simona Sanfilippo. – Tip from STL mom, Candice Meyer
If the weather is nice, plan a Thanksgiving Day family hike before the big meal, or plan some outdoor games. Find a new hiking trail here!
Do you have an extra burner on the stovetop? Create a simmering stovetop scent to tantalize the senses of everyone who walks through the door. It will blend beautifully with the other smells of the feast. – tip from STL mom, Anna Beck
For families with older kids / family members, play Left, Center, Right. Have all participants bring three $5 bills instead of using chips. This is a winner takes all game, and the winner will have a nice stack of cash for Black Friday shopping!
Thankful Tips
Families with older kids or empty nesters, if you don’t feel like cooking a huge feast for a few, find a local restaurant from our Mom’s Guide to Dining Out on Thanksgiving and make reservations to have your Thanksgiving feast out this year! – tip from St. Louis mom empty nester, Meg Smidt
Prep as much as you can in advance to make Thanksgiving Day easier. Make your turkey the day before. Slice it and put it in a disposable foil pan (for easy clean up) with chicken or vegetable broth. On Thanksgiving, pop the pan in the oven to warm.
If you’re inviting a large crew, have everyone bring a different homemade pie and have a contest where everyone judges, and the best pie wins a prize.
Make a timeline for cooking all of the elements of your Thanksgiving feast. Work backward from when you want the meal to be served and plot out everything from initial prep to a break to watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade. Read this post for a breakdown of making the timeline. Remember that not everything needs to be made from scratch! – tips from St. Louis mom, Marlena Renner.
If you want a homemade meal but not all of the hassle, buy a precooked turkey (see our guide to Thanksgiving Feasts To-Go) so that you don’t have to cook one yourself, and focus on making all of the sides and desserts from scratch.
Run butcher block paper down the middle of the table as a table runner, and provide cups filled with crayons and markers, along with fun seasonal stickers, so the kids can decorate the table runner for the big meal.
If you have a large group of family members gathering, create your own Family Trivia game! Have each adult contribute a few lesser known fun facts about the family. Take each fun fact and phrase it in question form on a power point slideshow and cast it onto the TV. Break up into teams and see which team knows the family best! Prizes optional.
Buy a bunch of small pumpkins, apples, and cinnamon scented pinecones and stagger them down the center of your table, complete with fall leaves and candles, for a simple table scape. For a centerpiece, you can scoop out a larger pumpkin and fill it with fall flowers and leaves.
If you don’t have family in town to celebrate with, find friends / neighbors who are also celebrating solo. Invite them to join you on Thanksgiving, and over the years, build your own Thanksgiving family.
Challenge the slightly older kids to untangle all of the Christmas lights! The team who untangles their pile of lights first gets double dessert (or some other prize to incentivize them to knock this off of your to-do list!)
Thankful Recipes
This Pumpkin Dip is delish with cookies, apple slices, or just about anything else you’d like to dip!
For the adults at the table, a signature cocktail is always a fun addition to the meal. Try Apple Cider Sangria or this Spiked Bourbon Cider that STL Mom, Amy Sanders, swears will bring out the holiday spirit! if you’re serving up non-alcoholic mocktails, a Spiced Pear Mocktail that our STL Mom, Jennifer Karrasch, loves, or this Mint Ginger Ale.
Use your crock pot to make mashed potatoes to save room on your stovetop for other sides! Here is a tried and true recipe. Or make a batch of mashed potatoes earlier in the week and store them in a crock pot liner bag, sealed with a twist tie, in the refrigerator. On Thanksgiving day, pop the liner bag in the crock pot and heat them up on low while the other food cooks. Be sure to add a little extra liquid as they add moisture that will cook off. Stir often as they heat up.
Tired of the traditional pumpkin pie? Try this popular Pumpkin Crunch Cake!
This isn’t a recipe, but a fun tradition for kids is to add Baskin Robbins’ Iconic Turkey Cake. They also have a flavor of the month for November, Brie My Guest!
What to do with all of the leftovers? Try this ultimate Thanksgiving Leftovers Hot Pocket recipe!
Click here for some STL Mom favorite Thanksgiving recipes from years past!
Thanksgiving Themed Books and Movies
Thanksgiving picture books:
The Crayons Give Thanks by Drew Daywalt (author of The Day the Crayons Quit)
Llama Llama Give Thanks by Anna Dewdney
Pete the Cat: The First Thanksgiving by James Dean
How to Catch a Turkey by Adam Wallace
Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano
Gratitude is My Superpower by Alicia Ortega
There Was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Turkey by Lucille Colander
Family-Friendly Thanksgiving Movies
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973)
Addams Family Values (1993)
Home for the Holidays (1995) – a movie for older kids / families
Garfield’s Thanksgiving (1996)
FreeBirds (2013)
Jim Henson’s Turkey Hollow (2015)
