10 Thanksgiving Day Activities

Things to do as a family on Thanksgiving day.

Even before Halloween ends, Christmas already starts taking over. But what about Thanksgiving? This usually-overlooked holiday should be an important one for most families. It’s a time to be thankful, express gratitude and to give generously to others [even though we should be doing that all year round!]. It’s also a time to gather around the dinner table as a family.

Here are some additional Thanksgiving activities to do with your kids.

Run or Walk a Turkey Trot

Many towns in the area have a Turkey Trot event the morning of Thanksgiving and often times, the race organization is also raising money for charity. Consider registering your family for one and enjoy the [hopefully] fall weather while getting some exercise in before getting stuffed on Thanksgiving dinner!

---

Give back to the community

Thanksgiving is a great time to look into volunteering somewhere in your community. Check out your local food pantries or soup kitchens, deliver meals to those in need through an organization like Meals on Wheels, offer to go grocery shopping for an elderly relative or friend, donate to a clothing drive or fulfill a wishlist through an Adopt a Family program. Or maybe you know someone who is spending the holiday alone and you can invite them to your Thanksgiving celebration.

---

Bake a yummy treat

I like to keep things fairly simple and will often stick to baking and decorating cookies with my kids. I have a delicious sugar cookie recipe I use and also like to make buttercream frosting for the icing. But there are so many other yummy desserts to bake with your kids: pies, brownies, cheesecake, cake pops..… I’m getting hungry now just thinking about it!

---

Organize a fall scavenger hunt

A scavenger hunt is probably one of the easiest DIY activities to do with your kids- get creative with it! Have them find different color leaves, an acorn or pinecone, a bird’s nest. Too cold for an outdoor hunt? Take it indoors and spice it up with clues leading them to the ultimate treasure. This printable on Etsy is a great option to use: Autumn Indoor Scavenger Hunt.

---

Write and send Gratitude Cards

Have your kids design and send their thanks and gratitude to someone via a cute card. They can be sent to anyone: grandparents, teachers, friends. Or maybe they want to send some to a nursing home or a foster organization- it would surely put a smile on a stranger’s face.

---

Set up arts & crafts

Be that Pinterest Parent and set up some fun arts & crafts activities for your kids! I’ll be honest, I’m not one to have the patience for this kind of stuff, but during the height of the pandemic, I came up with some great ideas for my kids while we were stuck celebrating by ourselves at home and they had so much fun with all of it! Some of their favorites were creating turkey or pilgrim hats out of construction paper, a turkey craft on a popsicle stick, or probably the easiest of all: Thanksgiving coloring sheets that were easily downloadable for free off the internet!

Check out my Thanksgiving Arts & Crafts Pinterest Board for more ideas.

---

Play games

Pull out the classic board and card games, or you can even come up with some more unique ideas like Thanksgiving Bingo, Thanksgiving Pictionary, The Gratitude Game, Turkey Bowling, or as already mentioned, a scavenger hunt..… or for a similar twist on that, Thanksgiving I-Spy.

Check out my Thanksgiving Games Pinterest board for more ideas.

---

Play touch football outside

Or really, play any activity outside! Especially when it’s a beautiful fall, crisp day. Get out of the stuffy house that’s overpowering with heat from the oven and enjoy the fresh air. Football not your thing? How about kickball? Or soccer? Or maybe just let the kids ride their bikes or scooters around. It will probably be one of the last times they can before the frigid winter comes!

---

Take a post-dinner walk

If you haven’t noticed, I’m all about spending time outside! Take a stroll around the neighborhood or maybe there’s a nice hiking trail nearby that you can go to. Either way, what better time to do it, than after you’re stuffed from a huge Thanksgiving meal! Walk off all that food and maybe when you get back home, you’ll have more room to sneak in another bite of dessert ;)

---

Grab those Black Friday ads

Ok, ok. So you don’t want to exercise after eating a huge Thanksgiving dinner. Well, a long-time tradition with my husband’s side of the family is to sit back and relax, and pull out those Black Friday ads. More often than not, no one really buys anything [ha!] but it brings back some nostalgia to the day. There’s something about sitting down with your child, ad in hand, and watching them choose what fun toys and games they want to put on their holiday gift list!

All photos via vecteezy.com

---

Where are your favorite Thanksgiving traditions? Let me know in the comments!