If you’re reading this, you might be feeling that it’s time to shake up your Turkey Day. If you’re weary of the same old Thanksgiving routine that has your kids reaching for their phones faster than you can say, “Pass the cranberry sauce,” you’re in the right place. We’ve got 25 Thanksgiving traditions that will help take your Turkey Day from ordinary to a memory you’ll want to replicate for years to come.
Whether you’re planning a large family gathering, an intimate Thanksgiving celebration, or hosting Friendsgiving for all your pals, these traditions are perfect for either occasion. So let’s dive in and check out these 25 Thanksgiving activities that will bring your family together and nurture an atmosphere of fun, love, and gratitude.
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Free Thanksgiving Traditions Downloads
You can find our free printable gratitude tree leaves and kid-friendly Turkey Day Scavenger Hunt, as well as our editable template for your family cookbook down below in our post. Or simply click the buttons to jump ahead to them:
Why Mix It Up This Thanksgiving?
Just like any special holiday, Thanksgiving is often full of busyness and pressure. The shopping, cleaning, cooking, hosting, family drama, and expectations can take a special day and pile on the pressure and stress until you feel more burnt out than an over-cooked turkey.
Planning some intentional Thanksgiving traditions aside from the usual cooking marathon and Thanksgiving dinner can allow you to take a break from the busy and monotonous and focus on the important.
These ideas are all about bringing the family together, creating lasting memories, relaxing and actually enjoying each other’s company. No cringe, less fuss—just time together with a focus on what’s really important.
We’ve grouped these ideas into categories, so you can easily pick and choose fall activities to curate a special Turkey Day that’s unique to your family’s personalities and likes. Feel free to skip over what doesn’t work for you and opt for traditions that your whole family will enjoy.
Practice Gratitude: Thanksgiving Traditions that Cultivate Thankfulness
1. Gratitude Tree
Set up a small “tree” with blank ornaments. You could use a tabletop-sized artificial tree. But I like to put several thin tree branches in a large vase to use as my thankful tree. It makes a beautiful centerpiece for your Thanksgiving holiday table or sideboard! Throughout November, family members write what they’re thankful for on the leaf-shaped paper ornaments and hang them up.
I’ve created printable leaf-shaped cut-outs for your thankful tree. This is also a great activity for practicing cutting skills, so let the kiddos get involved!
2. Thanksgiving Time Capsule
Each year, have everyone write down something they’re grateful for and a goal for the next year. Seal it up and open it the following Thanksgiving. This is a great tradition to start with young kids, but don’t be afraid to start it when they’re older!
3. Gratitude Photo Montage
Challenge family members to take photos or videos of things and moments they’re grateful for leading up to Thanksgiving. Combine to create a slideshow or video to share on Thanksgiving. You can easily create and edit videos using CapCut’s free online video editor. Or if you have some artsy types in your family, create a photo collage that can be framed. It’s a piece of art you’ll forever cherish.
4. Thankful Jar
If you’re looking for a simple activity to give thanks that requires minimal prep, create a thankful jar. This can be done throughout the year or just in the month of November. Have your family members jot down or draw pictures of things they’re thankful for and put them in a jar. Go through them together on Thanksgiving.
Beyond the Basic Bird: Delicious Food Traditions
5. Family Cookbook Creation
Collect and compile everyone’s favorite family recipes into a shared cookbook. This is perfect if you have extended family or friends who regularly get together for the holidays!
Give yourself some time, because this one takes a little prep. Ask everyone to type up and send you 2-3 (or more!) of their favorite Thanksgiving recipes.
You can easily copy and paste and format them all in Canva for free. While you’re there, create or use one of their templates for a cookbook cover and table of contents. If you don’t have Canva, you need it! It’s a game changer and allows you to create incredible projects so much easier than Word, PowerPoint, or other programs. With their free templates, you’ll create designs in a fraction of the time it would normally take you.
I’ve created a free Cookbook Cover and Table of Contents Template that you can edit and customize on Canva to make it your own. You can check out my free template here!
Grab some cheap 1″ 3 ring binders and dividers with pockets (for saving Grandma’s handwritten recipes, aka treasures), print it all out, and compile those recipe books. You could even save this step for Thanksgiving Day and turn it into a post-dinner project.
5. Signature Dish Competition
Each family brings their signature dish. Vote on favorites in different categories like “Most Creative” or “Best Presentation.” This is a little friendly competition that might be safer than fighting over the wishbone.
6. Kids’ Cooking Class
A few days before Thanksgiving, invite older family members to teach the kids how to make a simple Thanksgiving dish or dessert. It’s a special way to pass on Granny’s famous gravy recipe and share family traditions while creating treasured memories.
7. Thanksgiving Cocktails
Each year, try or create a new Thanksgiving cocktail to enjoy before or after the meal. Think fall flavors, like cranberry, apple, cinnamon, pomegranate, or vanilla. And for the kids and non-drinkers, whip up some mocktails! This is a tasty tradition that will make you the star of the Thanksgiving table.
Create the Best Thanksgiving Vibe: Thanksgiving Table Decor Traditions
8. Nature-Inspired Decor
Take a family walk to collect pinecones, acorns, dried flowers, nuts, and leaves to create natural, eco-friendly decorations. You can fill jars with acorns and nuts, Mod Podge dried leaves and flowers to glass candle holders or vases, create garlands with pine cones and twine, etc. Use your creativity and enjoy free, festive and natural decor.
9. Memory Tablecloth
Creating a memory table is such a simple tradition that you’ll absolutely love. Use a plain tablecloth and fabric markers. Each year, everyone adds a note or drawing. Over time, it becomes a treasured family record that you can pull out on every holiday.
10. Photo Centerpieces
Create centerpieces featuring photos of family members from past Thanksgivings. This photo tree or these little wired holders for place cards are perfect for dressing up the table while displaying photos. And don’t forget to take a group photo before everyone leaves that can be added to next year’s Thanksgiving table.
11. Handprint Turkey Placemats
A classic for a reason! Kids make handprint turkeys on placemats, date them, and laminate them to be used year after year.
Get Moving: Fun and Active Thanksgiving Traditions
12. Run a Turkey Trot
Sign up for (or organize your own) family fun-run or walk on Thanksgiving morning for a heart-pumping way to start your Thanksgiving day. No pressure, just movement and some outdoor time together. Plus you’ll feel a lot better about yourself after that 3rd piece of pumpkin pie that afternoon.
13. Post-Dinner Walk
If the morning is too much, make it a tradition to take a post-Thanksgiving meal stroll after the big meal. If you’re like us, all you can think of is taking a nap after engorging all those carbs. Taking a walk will wake you up and help you get some of that turkey tryptophan out of your system.
14. Turkey Bowl
It’s the classic Thanksgiving touch football game. Make it annual, with a silly trophy for the winning team. Invite friends and neighbors to round out the teams. And don’t forget to tell the losing team that they get dishes duty. Instead of a coin toss at the beginning of the game, opt for splitting the wishbone. Whoever ends up with the longer piece gets the ball first.
15. Thanksgiving-Themed Scavenger Hunt
Create a Thanksgiving-themed scavenger hunt. For younger kids, you can opt for our at-home Turkey Day Scavenger Hunt. You download it by clicking the button below. If you have older kids and teens, they’ll love this scavenger hunt by Fun Squared, that takes them around town and the neighborhood. The first team back wins a prize! This was one one of my favorite things to do as a teenager (and it’s fun for adults, too!)
Helping Others: Giving Back as a Family Tradition
16. Volunteer Together
Find a local charity or soup kitchen and volunteer to serve as a family on Thanksgiving morning or the weekend before. It’s a great time to give back to your community and is one of the most fulfilling Thanksgiving traditions I can think of.
17. Write Thank You Cards
This is a perfect pre-Thanksgiving activity to get everyone in the spirit of gratitude. Have everyone write thank-you notes to someone special and mail or deliver it to them. This could be anyone from your mail carrier, a teacher, a grandparent, or the clerk at the dry cleaner. A thoughtful card is something everyone appreciates.
18. Canned Food Drive
Plan a family or neighborhood food drive. Collect canned food or non-perishable items the entire month of February and deliver them to a food pantry before Thanksgiving.
19. Charity Choice
Each year, research and choose a charity as a family to support during the holiday season. I love the Salvation Army Angel Tree or “adopting” a student from a local school. Black Friday is the perfect time to shop for gifts for these deserving kids.
Relax and Enjoy: Favorite Festive Entertainment Thanksgiving Traditions
20. Watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade:
If you don’t already watch this, I’d like to know which rock you’ve been living under. Kidding, kidding. But seriously, this is a Thanksgiving classic tradition for a reason and the first thing we do on Thanksgiving morning. From the Broadway Dance performances to the marching bands and larger-than-life floats, it’s a magical experience even from the sofa. It’s also one of my favorite ways to kick off the holiday season with the grand entrance of Santa on his sleigh!
21. National Dog Show
Right after the parade ends, the real star of Thanksgiving Day entertainment comes on: the National Dog Show. I might be a die-hard cat lady, but these prim and proper puppy dogs with their show-stopping tricks and haircuts are the real stars on Thanksgiving Day. This is definitely in the top 3 of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions!
22. Football
Being a Texas girl, it would be sacrilegious to not tune into the Dallas Cowboys game on Thanksgiving afternoon. The post-dinner football game is the perfect time to unwind later in the day and enjoy that second piece of pecan pie for dessert.
23. Play Thanksgiving Games
Set up a series of board games, dominoes, or card games. Some of our favorites are Telestrations, Yahtzee, Uno, hand and foot, tens and twos, and chicken foot. You could also opt for pool, ping pong, tennis, or pickleball if you have access to them!
The Fun Doesn’t Stop Here: Day After Thanksgiving Traditions:
24. Leftover Remix Contest
The day after Thanksgiving, have a friendly competition to see who can create the best dish using leftovers. It’s a creative way to use up all that turkey, stuffing, and green bean casserole left in the fridge.
25. Shop ’til You Drop
Plan out your Black Friday Shopping on Thursday and then hit the stores together on Friday. Nab some of those incredible deals and take turns waiting in those mile-long lines. Reward yourself with a latte and slice of leftover pumpkin pie. And if you hate shopping, feel free to skip this one. 😉
Wrapping Up: 25 Thanksgiving Traditions
These 25 ideas are just the starting point. The best Thanksgiving traditions are the ones that grow naturally with your family over time. Maybe you’ll try one or two this year, and who knows? In a few years, you might have a whole new set of traditions that are uniquely yours.
Remember, the heart of Thanksgiving isn’t about the perfect pie crust or Pinterest-worthy decor. It’s about coming together around the table, sharing laughs, and gratitude, and creating moments that you’ll treasure and look forward to recreating in the coming year.
So, why not try some new Thanksgiving traditions? You might just start a tradition that has your family looking forward to Turkey Day more than ever before. And if all else fails, there’s always pie. Pie makes everything better.
Happy Thanksgiving and cheers to beautiful memories!
