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3 Thanksgiving Traditions for Young Families

November 26, 2019 by Guest Writer

thanksgiving traditions for young families
With the hectic hustle of the modern holiday season, it’s easy to let moments, hours, and whole days slip by without taking the time to really celebrate together. Would you like to be calmer and more intentional about the holidays this year? Then focus on establishing one or two meaningful traditions that you can carry on through the years to come. Here are three Thanksgiving traditions to get you started.

The Twelve Days of Thanksgiving

This tradition is popular in my family because it offers so many opportunities for thankfulness. On each of the twelve days leading up to the holiday, our thanksgiving centers on a specific theme. We’ve used themes like community helpers, favorite foods, relatives, leaders, or creation.

For example, if the day’s theme is creation, each person in the family names one aspect of God’s creation for which he or she is thankful. Sometimes we write those things on a chart or a list, put them on paper “leaves” and paste them onto a Thanksgiving tree, or jot them down on slips of paper and put them in a box or a jar. You can also use the Twelve Days of Thanksgiving poster!

Volunteer and Give Back

For many families, thanking community helpers and volunteering are year-round habits, but holidays offer opportunities to take those efforts further.  Make it a Thanksgiving tradition to give back and show others the love of God.

Giving back can involve signing up the whole family at a local children’s home, pet shelter, or soup kitchen. Or, for families with smaller kids, it can be as simple as paying for a police officer’s meal at a restaurant or purchasing much-needed supplies for a homeless shelter.

Wonder Walk

Enjoy that crisp, delightful fall weather and take the whole family for a “Wonder Walk” on Thanksgiving Day. Everyone can participate, from the baby in the stroller to Grandma in her wheelchair. Troop through the neighborhood, visit a local green space, or hike in a nearby nature park. If your kids are older, you may even consider signing up for a nearby “Turkey Trot” or 5K race.

As you walk, encourage your kids to point out everything that makes them curious, happy, or thankful. From acorns to hundred-year-old oaks, from the blue sky to a sparkly rock, your family may be surprised how many treasures they can find along the way. And if it rains, so what? Break out the rain boots and umbrellas and take a Wonder Walk anyway!

Forming a family tradition is not only heart-warming—it creates a hook on which you can hang future memories. It’s the beginning of a more structured, calming holiday season that leaves plenty of room for gratefulness and awe at the gifts you’ve received, as well as openings for using those gifts to bless others. We’d love to hear about some of your family’s favorite Thanksgiving traditions.

• • • • •

Rebecca is a work-at-home freelance writer, novelist, wife, and the mom of two bright-eyed little ones. She credits her success in writing and her love of books to her own mom, who homeschooled three kids from pre-K through high school.

Filed Under: Simplified Homeschool Tagged With: Thanksgiving, traditions, volunteer, wonder walk

Giving Back by Serving Others

December 12, 2017 by Jenna

serving others gift

Every Christmas, we celebrate the single most precious gift ever given—the gift of Christ coming as a man to walk among us and to take our sins upon Himself and to die for them. There is no way we could even partially return His gift, but we should actively be doing whatever we can to follow the second-most important commandment—to love our neighbors. And serving others is one of the easiest ways of showing love.

Here are some ways you and your children can serve others this Christmas and give back the love of Christ.

Blessing Bags

Erica from Confessions of a Homeschooler and her children hand out bags of useful goodies to those in need. Even younger children can help in putting bags together and handing them out. Customize your bags for Christmas by including a small wrapped surprise gift along with the other items.

Operation Christmas Child

Pack shoeboxes full of fun gifts for children all around the world. Your child could choose to pack a box for a boy or girl of the same age. By having a child put it together, you know that it’s a box a child will enjoy. But the deadline for turning boxes in is in mid-November to allow time for the gifts to be shipped abroad. Be sure to make a note of it for next year!

Adopt a Family

Invite a family that has lost someone or an older couple that has no family to join your holiday meals. Your children can welcome them by encouraging them to take part in your family traditions. When I was a young teen, the families that “adopted” my dad, my brothers, and me for the holidays were the biggest blessings I could have asked for.

Service Coupons

Make service coupons for your children to endorse and hand out to elderly, sick, or struggling neighbors or church friends as Christmas gifts. The receivers can turn these coupons in for services whenever they need something done, such as taking care of the lawn, cleaning the house, or babysitting. You can make your own or use these printable coupons.

Cuddle Babies

Many hospitals with neonatal intensive care units allow volunteers to come in and hold or spend time with the babies whose parents aren’t always able to be there. Some hospitals even have training programs that teach the volunteers how to handle cuddle sessions. Volunteer baby cuddlers can let the nurses stay on task and encourage parents that there is always someone giving their struggling babies the love they need. Contact a local hospital to ask about volunteer baby cuddling.

Animal Shelters

Your older teens might enjoy helping out at an animal shelter during their Christmas break. Many shelters have seasonal events that they need extra volunteers for or down periods when the regular volunteers are on vacation. And volunteers don’t just spend all their time petting cats and dogs. They often get to work alongside the shelter workers and help potential adopters.

While it’s certainly important to share God’s love during the Christmas season, there’s no reason you have to stop on December 26. Many of these ideas for serving others are applicable all-year-round. So encourage your children to reach out and be blessings during this season and next year too!

Filed Under: Simplified Homeschool Tagged With: Christmas, Christmas Blessings, serving others, volunteer

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