8 Tips to Help Focus on the “Thanks” in Thanksgiving this Year

Many people recognize Thanksgiving as their favorite holiday of the year because it is a simple celebration usually spent with family and friends enjoying good company and good food... and sometimes a little football. We encourage you to make it a special day in your own family style and in doing so, teach your little ones what it means to have gratitude.

See our eight ideas and tips to help your kids understand the important value of being thankful and why we have a holiday that focuses on gratitude:

1. Don’t wait for Thanksgiving Thursday to start talking about what it means to be thankful and to have gratitude. Try doing this:

   • Share something you are thankful for each morning at breakfast or each evening at dinner and have your children do it too. For example, it can be something as simple as “Today I am thankful that the weather is cooler and I can wear my favorite sweater.”

   • Leading up to Thanksgiving, write down something everyone is thankful for and then read them all on Thanksgiving. Check out this video from Kid President on the “25 Reasons to Be Thankful”

   • Create a Thanksgiving “Thankfulness Tree”: Tape some real or construction tree branches to the wall. Cut out leaves from construction paper and have your children write something they are thankful for on them. Tape them to the wall as if they are growing on branches.

   • Here’s some conversation starters from HandsOnAsWeGrow you can use to start your focus on gratitude or save up to do/talk about on Thanksgiving.

     Remember to express gratitude on a daily basis in front of and to your children.

2. We encourage you to turn TV and other distractions off during dinner and family time so that you can focus on each other. But there are some fun and interesting media that support learning more about Thanksgiving and being grateful that you can watch with your children. Some that we like are:

   • Sesame Street – Elmo’s World: Thanksgiving

   • Sesame Street: Gratitude

   • You’re Welcome (from Moana)

   • Read Aloud of “A Little Thankful Spot” by Diane Alber

   • RocketKids: Practicing Gratitude

3. Include your children in the planning of family time, special holidays such as Thanksgiving, and other activities. They can help with crafting ideas, cooking or preparation of the meals, and coming up with fun activities you can all do together.

4. Talk about your family traditions or tell stories about growing up and explain why these memories and traditions are important to you. Be sure to tell them why you are thankful to have these memories that help explain your own personal history. And, collaborate to start a new tradition just for your family.

5. The Thanksgiving meal is a big part of the Thanksgiving story and is what many plan the holiday around. Broaden this piece of the holiday by talking with your children about where food comes from, and give thanks to the farmers who grow food, the workers who harvest it, transport it, and make it available in our stores. Ask everyone to share their favorite food and Thanksgiving dish and why.

6. Model your thankfulness by sharing and volunteering. It’s important that our children learn to give of themselves, through their time and service or by sharing items with those who have less. Many nonprofits value family service and offer activities such as park clean up days, stocking food at a food shelter, delivering food to seniors, and writing letters to people who are in nursing homes or in the military. For instance, the Department of Human Services Division of Aging Services “Light Up the Holidays” campaign seeks small gifts for adults with disabilities that are in state care with no other assistance.

7. Explain how Thanksgiving became a holiday. To help you explain the origins of Thanksgiving, we found two resources to help you construct age-appropriate conversations around the holiday. The Uncivil History video speaks specifically of the interactions between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag tribe that led up to the three-day harvest feast we now celebrate as Thanksgiving and the events afterwards, and should be previewed by parents before showing to your children. Additionally, History.com provides more facts and a timeline of how the holiday has been celebrated for centuries and became a federal holiday.

8. Seek help when you need it. Parenting can be challenging and holidays often add a layer of stress that parents find tough to navigate. Part of showing your children how to be thankful is not only giving of yourself when you can, but also

   • United Way list of agencies providing help to GA families during the holidays

   • Feeding GA Families – Thanksgiving meals supplies on Monday, Nov. 22

   • Never Alone Food Pantry for residents of Bartow, Cherokee, Cobb, and Pickens Counties

   • Salvation Army Savannah Angel Tree

   • The Giving Kitchen list of GA resources for meals and foodteaching them to ask for help when they need it and being thankful for the available resources. Here are just a few organizations aiding families this holiday season.