Make the Most Out of Thanksgiving with the Ones You Love

Thanksgiving is traditionally a day when family and friends get together for lunch or dinner and celebrate what they are thankful for. The stress of pulling a big meal together and entertaining everyone can often be overwhelming, but it’s a great day to pause, forget about stress and worries, focus on the family and create some long-lasting traditions that will make it a day your family will never forget.

We hope your family already has a few fun Thanksgiving traditions in place, but we’ve gathered a few more ideas for you to try this year.

1. Go for a bike ride. Wake the kids up early and go for a ride around the trails and the beautiful Sahuarita Lake. Then head home to enjoy watching the Thanksgiving parade together with cinnamon rolls and hot cocoa.
2. Take a nature walk as a family. Head out to the Safari Trail at Parque Del Rio or the Wilderness Trail after your meal for a nature walk, and get some exercise with the whole family! Enjoy looking at the changing colors in the trees and let the kids collect a variety of different shapes of leaves along the way. Once you are home, pull out crayons and paper and create beautiful works of fall-colored art by placing the leaves under the paper and rubbing the side of the crayon lightly over the paper. Then, display your colorful creations throughout your home for a touch of fall inside!
3. Participate in a neighborhood Turkey Bowl or Turkey Trot. Invite your neighbors and friends to one of the local parks for a mid-morning football game or fun run. Make it extra exciting by sporting your teams’ colors for the football game or wearing themed costumes in a fun run.
4. Create a Thanksgiving Tree. Bring in some branches from outside and place them in a jar or anchor them in a pot with pinecones or rocks at the base. Ask the kids to cut out leaves from colored paper. As guests arrive have everyone write down what they are thankful for on a few of the leaves. The kids can then punch holes in the leaves and tie them on to the branches with yarn. After dinner go around and ask everyone to share what they wrote on their leaves. Expressing gratitude is a great lesson for kids to hear and take part in.
5. Volunteer Together. Provide a meal or help serve those in need through your local Salvation Army or another deserving organization. Families can team up to serve dinner and invite the less fortunate to a warm holiday meal, or maybe you know an elderly person that would enjoy some extra cheer and a special visit. Pack up a plate of Thanksgiving goodness for them and deliver it as a family.
6. Take a family photo. Take advantage of the whole family getting together and take a group photo. Invite everyone to wear coordinating colors or coordinate a theme for the picture. And as a bonus, you can use the photo for your Christmas cards or gifts for grandparents!