Several years ago, I was on a talk show, sharing some of these ideas to show our thankfulness.

During the break, one of the hosts shared with me their family Thanksgiving tradition.

With tears in her eyes she said, My mother taught us that many of the early settlers of our country starved to death because there was not enough food. Sometimes all they got to eat each day was five kernels of corn. When we start our Thanksgiving dinner, each person is served five kernels of corn on their plate. Then we each share five blessings we are grateful for as we move those five kernels of corn across our plate.

This story touched me. It is such an effective and dramatic way to actually visualize how much we have as we first witness the scarceness of food so many people have to endure before we eat our feast and enjoy our bounty.

Ways to Count Your Blessings & Show Your Gratitude
After prayer on the food, hold hands and take turns telling what you re thankful for.

Make a Thanksgiving Box–Have your family write notes about what they are thankful for and stick them in a box beginning a week before Thanksgiving. At Thanksgiving dinner open the box and read the notes.

On small cards or paper, write down the following categories on each paper:
person, day, place, experience, food, item
Go around the table and have each person draw out a card. Then that person tells of something they are grateful for from that category and why they are grateful for it.

On Thanksgiving Day hang a piece of posterboard where it will be accessible to everyone. Have everyone in your family write things on it that they are thankful for. See how many you can come up with by the end of the day. (Or write these on a roll of cash register receipt paper and tape it up around the room.)

Have thank-you notes and stationary readily available to everyone in your home on Thanksgiving day. Encourage your family to write a letter or thank-you note to someone they are thankful for: a teacher, a grandparent, a friend.

Invite a new family in your neighborhood or a lonely person to dinner

Go to a homeless shelter to help cook and serve Thanksgiving dinner

Gather food to take to a local food bank

About the Author

About the Author Teresa Hansen is the creator of www.momsmakingit.com sharing creative ideas to save time,
save money, and enrich your life! Visit http://savemoney.momsmakingit.com for your free e-guide Moms Making It! 111 Great Money Saving Ideas!
She is a wife and mother of five children.

Last year our family tried out a new way to preserve Thanksgiving memories, and the result was truly a treasured keepsake.

A day or two before Thanksgiving, my daughter and I used a turkey rubber stamp to make place cards for all of our family members. We colored the place cards with colored pencils and wrote people’s names on them with a metallic gold pen.

We then cut up strips of paper to put into a small basket to distribute before Thanksgiving dinner. The day of Thanksgiving, after all of the guests had arrived, we handed out the slips of paper and asked everyone to write down something they were thankful for.

Now you should have seen the looks I got! Keep in mind that there were family members of all ages, from young teenagers to adults. Most of them looked at me like I was crazy (because this memory-making stuff is all new to them), but I told them they had to do it before they could eat.

So they all sat to write down what they were thankful for. Some came up with something very quickly, and others sat there perplexed and worried they were going to spell something wrong. Several didn’t write anything down at all.

The end result was a wide variety of very thoughtful answers. I put away the slips of paper, made sure to take some good family pictures (carving the turkey, eating dinner, visiting with each other, napping after dinner), and made sure to keep some of the place cards.

I don’t always get to my scrapbook pages immediately after an event like this. I do, however, make sure everything is in one place so that I can assemble my pages when I’m ready.

I later went to the store to buy some pre-cut Thanksgiving and fall images for my scrapbook pages, and then framed my pictures with some coordinating cardstock pieces. I then laid out two scrapbook pages with the photos, a couple of the turkey place cards, and most of the slips of paper people had written on. I tried to arrange a person’s slip of paper near their photo.

My finished project was by no means fancy or a work of art, but it will always be an irreplaceable treasured family keepsake.

http://www.crafty-moms.com/scrapbooking/sample_layouts_4.shtml

About the Author

Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer, mom of four. For scrapbooking, card making, gift-giving ideas, and more family memory-making activities, visit http://www.crafty-moms.com.

There are three main themes for Thanksgiving: gratitude, the harvest, and family. We can lose track of these things when we’re busy preparing for company and big meals, and Christmas shopping, and the kids are out of school too! Here are some ways you and the family can share some time recapturing the meaning of Thanksgiving, or even start some new traditions.

Let each member of the family make a list of things they’re grateful for. Read the lists before the meal and save them for memories in years to come.

Start a “thanks” journal you’ll keep all year.
Instead of writing down problems and concerns, write down the things you’re grateful for.

Think harvest! Make a trip to your local Farmers Market or Produce Row to take photos, have fun, and support the people who feed us all!

Spend the long weekend on family projects such as making a Family Tree. For help, visit ancestry.com, or check out the Family Tree maker on geneology.org.

How about some family crafting for Thanksgiving? There are some great crafts ideas hereto do with the kids, plus recipes, songs, and learning activities, even computer worksheets for older kids .

Put the family photos in order, and share some memories and tales. Go here to learn the basics of scrapbooking. Take the time to sort them by date, and write on the backs who all the people are.

Make some “Corny” Table toppers. Find directions here — Thanksgiving place cards and napkin rings.

Make some “Good Manners Napkins.” This is so sweet! All you need is cloth napkins, pieces of paper, pencil, fabric markers, and scissors to write on napkins “Use your napkin,” or “Chew with your mouth closed.” Go here for these darling reminders to “mind your manners”!

Make Color Me Thankful Posters for each guest at Thanksgiving table. Download poster and instructions here.
Did you know Sarah Josepha Hale, an acclaimed author and editor lobbied for 23 years before she got President Lincoln to establish Thanksgiving as a national holiday in 1863? Spend some evenings reading about the history and traditions of Thanksgiving. Here’s one site with information.

Try some of these family bonding activities to share the season and appreciate it, and one another, more.

About the Author

Susan Dunn is a professional life coach who helps clients in transition, career, and personal matters. Visit her on the web at www.susan dunn. Mailto:sdunn@susandunn.cc for FREE ezine. Put “ezine” for subject line.