Tell me if this sounds familiar to you.
Everyone is gathered around the dinner table, hungrily eyeing the turkey in their semi-formal Thanksgiving attire.
But before you all dig into the meal, it is necessary to follow the Thanksgiving tradition of sharing what we are thankful for. You only need to think of one thing, so it’s not very stressful. You wait patiently while people share their answers. Some speeches bring tears to your eyes while others bring laughter. Most of the answers are something about family or health.
When it gets to be your turn, you share your answer and move on. Everyone’s eager for dinner, so you all say a prayer together and get started!
I always find this a warm tradition, and I am glad that this is something we prioritize from year to year.
But what if we did it differently this year?
What if instead of a quick pre-dinner activity, we express gratitude this Thanksgiving a little differently?
I’ve got ten unique ways to express gratitude that can serve as replacements for your typical Thanksgiving tradition. Some of them can still be done at the dinner table, while others are done days before the holiday starts. Whatever activity you choose will definitely encourage you to feel gratitude for the things you have around you.
And if you want to do it at any other time of the year, that’s fine, too!
10 Unique Ways to Express Gratitude
Activity #1: Thanksgiving Communal Display
Activity Type: Table activity
Length: 5-20 minutes (depending on the style of the display)
Main Goal: Make a visual display of all of the things you are thankful for
How to Play: First, you have to decide what type of display you want to make. It could be a centrepiece, a canvas, a banner, or any other form of artistic display. Needs to think of things that they are thankful for and find a way to display it (write it, draw it, etc.) Once everyone’s answers are finished, you will have a beautiful display that you can keep up for the entire dinner, and maybe even longer!
Activity #2: Pass It On
Activity Type: Table activity
Length: 10-20 minutes
Main Goal: Share the specific ways you are thankful for the people around the table
How to Play: With everyone sitting in a circle, choose who will start.. When it is a person’s turn, they do two things. First, they choose a person in the circle that they are thankful for and explain a specific thing that they like about that person. Second, they choose someone that they want to receive a compliment from. Once they choose someone, that person has to say what they like about that person. Then it is their turn. They follow the first step as usual, and when they have to choose a person to give them a compliment, they must choose someone who hasn’t had a turn yet. The activity is over when everyone has had a turn.
Quick Sidenote: I first saw this game in a school. A teacher I was working with does this every Friday with her students, and honestly, it is one of the most heartwarming things I’ve ever seen!
Activity #3: Nature Thankfulness Hunt
Activity Type: Outdoor activity
Length: 20-60 minutes
Main Goal: Search for items you see that you are thankful for
How to Play: Find a place where you can get lots of inspiration. That might be a trail in the forest or a town square surrounded by shops- it is okay either way! While you are walking, search for items that you see that remind you of the simple pleasures you are thankful for. Here are some examples:
- This bee makes me thankful for sweet honey and all the treats I can enjoy with it
- This tree makes me thankful for shade from the sun or for beautiful log cabins
- This clothing store reminds me of all the clothes I have at home that I love
- This cafe makes me grateful for warm beverages on a cold day
If you think hard enough, everything can remind you of something to be thankful for. You can choose to write these things down, take a picture of it, or share it aloud while you walk together. If you want to play competitively, you can count how many items of thankfulness each person thought of. The one who thought of the most items wins!
Activity #4: Crazy Talk
Activity Type: Table Activity
Length: 10-30 minutes
Main Goal: Answer as many conversation starters as you can
How to Play: This activity can be done before your Thanksgiving meal, but it is recommended that you do it while you are eating, as you will be able to have longer conversations about each question. There are two options for play:
Option 1
The first person picks a random card from the conversation starters. They read the card out loud and answer for everyone to hear. Then, the cards get passed to the next person and you go on from there.
Option 2
The first person picks a random card from the conversation starters and reads the card out loud. Everyone takes turns answering the question. Then the cards get passed on and a new person reads the new question.
Activity #5: Charity Fun
Activity Type: Community Activity
Length: Ranges from one hour to one day
Main Goal: Help someone with less as a group
How to Play: This activity varies a lot, so it’s up to you to decide how to do it. Together, decide on a charity event or action you want to take part in. After you finish the volunteer work, gather together and talk about the things you are thankful for in your own life. After helping others with less, you will have no trouble thinking of things you are grateful for.
Activity #6: Miniature Lent
Activity Type: Table Activity (Personal Preparation is Required)
Length: 5 minutes at the table, one week of preparation
Main Goal: Give up something for which you are grateful for a whole week.
How to Play: Everyone chooses an item they are thankful for. The week before Thanksgiving, everyone needs to give up the thing they said they were thankful for. When everyone gathers for Thanksgiving dinner, share your experiences while you eat.
Activity #7: Pay it Forward
Activity Type: Table Activity (Personal Preparation is Required)
Length: 5 minutes at the table, one week of preparation
Main Goal: Think of the most creative way to make someone’s day
How to Play: A week before Thanksgiving, everyone needs to individually think of a way that they can be especially kind to a stranger this week. Once they’ve thought of an idea, they need to go and do that thing. At Thanksgiving dinner, everyone shares their experience. If you want the game to be competitive, then vote on which idea was the most creative!
Activity #8: BYOD (Bring Your Own Donations)
Activity Type: Table Activity (Personal Preparation is Required)
Length: 10 minutes at the table, one hour of preparation
Main Goal: Bring something you can donate to Thanksgiving dinner
How to Play: When everyone gathers for Thanksgiving dinner, they bring one item that they want to donate with them. Before dinner, everyone shares what they brought to donate and why they are thankful for having it. The next day, someone from the group will take all of the items to a donation bin or a thrift store.
Activity #9: No-Negativity Challenge
Activity Type: Table Activity
Length: The entire Thanksgiving meal or longer (you set the length!)
Main Goal: Go the entire game without saying anything negative
How to Play: First, everyone needs to set a length of time that they will play the game. If you don’t want to set a time frame, you can also play elimination style and end the game when all but one person have been eliminated. The aim is to go as long as possible without saying anything negative. That means no complaining, no groaning, no mean comments, etc. If you think you heard someone say something negative, you repeat to them what they said and everyone can argue whether or not they think it counts as a negative statement. If the majority of the players agree that it was negative, then that person is eliminated. Eliminated players can still try to catch other players saying negative things.
Activity #10: Thanksgiving Scattergories
Activity Type: Table Activity
Length: 10-60 minutes, depending on how many rounds you play
Main Goal: Think of the highest amount of things you’re thankful for
How to Play: This game is made up of as many rounds as you want, but every round works the same. First, you roll for a letter. Then, you set a two-minute timer. Players have to write down up to 20 things that they are thankful for that start with that letter. At the end of the round, they read the items. If someone wrote the same thing as you, the word gets crossed off for both players. After the words are shared, you count your points. You get one point for every word you thought of that wasn’t thought of by someone else. Whoever has the most points by the end of the game wins!
Conclusion
These unique ways to express gratitude vary in difficulty and prep time, but you are bound to find something that works for you and your family!
It doesn’t matter so much whether the game is picture-perfect. What matters is that it encouraged you to notice what you have to be thankful for in life and express gratitude for that thing.
A grateful heart is one of the greatest things you can have in this world, and we need to take every opportunity we can to foster that expression of gratitude.
What About You?
What Thanksgiving traditions do you love to do? Do you have any unique ways to express gratitude? Tell us about it in the comments below!
These are such cool ideas. I especially love number 2. it would make so many peoples’ day just by going around the table like that and saying what you’re each thankful for.
I definitely found that it was more meaningful to do it that way than to just have a general comment about what you’re thankful for. I’m glad you liked it! Thanks for commenting! 🙂
These are absolutely amazing ideas!! I love the mini lent one—I like to do that throughout the year instead of just at lent
That’s so cool that you do this throughout the year! It’s such a good way to remind yourself of the things we take for granted. Thanks for the comment! 🙂
I like the idea of the thanksgiving day hunt! How fun!
I’m glad you liked the idea! It’s nice to do something a little different for Thanksgiving. Thanks for commenting! 🙂
These are all such thoughtful and beautiful ideas! I think these days it’s harder to see the things we’re thankful for, so this is a very nice way to change that. 🙂
I agree completely! But even though it’s been a rough year, we can find things to be thankful for if we look for it! Thanks for commenting! 🙂
What unique ideas for thanksgiving! I love all of the ideas but probably my favorite was #10 since I’m a huge game lover. We also already own the conversation starters – i just never would have thought to get them out for a holiday family get together so that’s a great idea!
I’m really into games, too! If I can turn something into a game, I’m going to do it every time. Thanks for your comment! 🙂
Talk about some seriously creative thankfulness ideas! I know my family has always worked hard to express gratitude on Thanksgiving – but also at other times of the year. We put special effort into making sure that our fellow family members are aware of how grateful we are for them, and we also talk about what we’re thankful for outside of just family as well. It’s definitely something we’ve always prioritized, so I could see these ideas going over really well with my main group!
That’s awesome, Stephanie! It’s really great when you have a group of friends or family who are eager to show gratefulness to each other. I hope you find any idea here that adds value to your wonderful tradition! Thanks for sharing this heartwarming message! 🙂