NEW THANKSGIVING TRADITIONS

Thanksgiving is such a special time for the whole family to get together and spend some quality time eating enough turkey and stuffing to make you feel like you may burst. This is fun and all, but you have the whole family together! Spice up your typical Thanksgiving by adding some fun family traditions for everyone to enjoy that will create memories for you to talk about at next year’s Thanksgiving!

DESSERT COMPETITION     

Each year, tell all of your guests to bring a specific dessert (pumpkin pie, apple pie, sweet potato cobbler, etc.) and have everyone who wants to participate try each dessert while blindfolded. They will then write down which one was their favorite and you tally up the votes at the end to see who made the best dessert. The winner could get a gift card or a gift basket!

THANK YOU CARDS

Want to make everyone feel extra special this Thanksgiving? Tell each other why you’re thankful for one another! You could do something like this: Write everyone’s name down on a small sheet of paper and put it in a bowl. Pass the bowl around – as well as a blank thank you card – and have each person draw a name. The name they draw will be who they write a thank you card to. Use this activity to spread the love this Thanksgiving!

GAME NIGHT

Game Nights are a great way to add some excitement to any family gathering! There are plenty of options out there for fun games and activities that your family can do every year. You can even change it up each year! Play one game this year and another the next! Here are some fun options to try out:

• Puzzle Race
• Board Games
• Ring Toss
• Family Feud
• Minute To Win It

TRY A NEW DISH

Typical dishes we see on the table at Thanksgiving are turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, etc. A fun way to keep things interesting is to add a new dish to the meal that you wouldn’t typically add. Some dishes you could try are…

• Roasted Cauliflower
• Sautéed Carrots
• Chili-Sesame Butternut Squash
• Brussels Sprouts Gratin
• Baked Yams

DECORATE COOKIES

Buy some fun Thanksgiving-themed cookie cutters and provide plenty of different icing colors for the family to get decorating. You could turn this into a competition or leave it as a simple family activity! This would be a great way to pass time while you’re waiting on the turkey to get done!

TAKE A POST-MEAL WALK

You all may be tempted to take a good nap, but switch out that nap for a walk! This will give the family an opportunity to chat more and work off some of that turkey and pie!

FAMILY QUIZ

How well do you know your family members? A family quiz will be an exciting way to get to know each other a little better. One way you could do this is have a sheet of questions for everyone to fill out. Once everyone has filled out their questions, cut the sheets into strips with each question/answer on its own strip. Then put all the strips into a bowl and pass it around for everyone to draw a question/answer and guess whose answer it is.

ATA Martial Arts is thankful for every single one of you and we hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving this year!

Author: McKenna Stephens