Try One of These Thanksgiving Traditions With Your Family This Year

1) Play Some Football
2) Bless the Food
3) Watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
4) Flip Through Old Family Photos
5) Take a Trip to the Tree Farm
6) Throw a Welcome Tailgate
7) Host a Friendsgiving
8) Start Your Own Family Traditions
9) Create a Festive Entryway
10) Invite the Whole Town
11) Use Heirloom Plates
12) Set Up a Craft for the Kids
13) Celebrate Guests from Thanksgiving Past
14) Go Pecan Picking
15) Craft DIY Placecards
16) Dine Al Fresco
17) Enjoy a DIY Fall Festival
18) Go for a Post-Thanksgiving Walk
19) Try a New Recipe
20) Set the Table with Your Kids
21) Make Gratitude Bracelets
22) Make a Cookie Wreath
23) Split the Wishbone
24) Play With a Thanksgiving Piñata
25) Host a Family Game Night
26) Wrap Up Leftovers for Guests
27) Craft a Beautiful Centerpiece
28) Craft Creative Tablecloths
29) Finish With Pumpkin Pie
30) Decorate for Christmas

1) Play Some Football

Whether you’re watching, attending, or playing (our favorite!), football is a big part of many families’ Turkey Day itinerary.

2) Bless the Food

Express gratitude for family, friends, and food with a meaningful Thanksgiving prayer or Thanksgiving poem. Make it a tradition to go around the table and have everyone say what they are most thankful for in 2021.

3) Watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

Join Tom Turkey and all of your other favorite balloon friends for one of the most American Thanksgiving traditions—the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade! Watch performances from pop stars, marching bands, and more.

4) Flip Through Old Family Photos

Use old family photos as a nostalgic touch on the table and to inspire “remember when” banter. After the meal wraps up, watch old family movies or flip through photo albums for a few good laughs (and possibly tears, too).

5) Take a Trip to the Tree Farm

Get outside after that epic Thanksgiving dinner and kick off the Christmas season with a trip to a nearby Christmas tree farm. Major bonus points if you chop your tree down yourself!

6) Throw a Welcome Tailgate

As a welcome for out-of-town guests (or just another way to celebrate the season), host a casual, tailgate-style party. Bake pumpkin-themed goodies and make a big batch of warm apple cider. Talk about a warm welcome and something everyone will look forward to year after year!

7) Host a Friendsgiving

Whether on Thanksgiving Day or another time during November, celebrate your nearest and dearest friends by hosting a Friendsgiving feast. Because after all: “There are friends, there’s family, and then there are friends who become family.”

8) Start Your Own Family Traditions

Most of the activities on this list are ideal as Thanksgiving traditions for small families. From setting a pretty table to taking a post-Thanksgiving walk, young families can start small and pick traditions that are right for them.

9) Create a Festive Entryway

Welcome guests with loads of fall decor around your front door, including mounds of pumpkins, vintage lanterns, and a wreath made from a tobacco basket twirled up with magnolia leaves, bittersweet, and mini pumpkins.

10) Invite the Whole Town

Create the longest, most welcoming Thanksgiving table your town (or neighborhood) has ever seen. A casual, potluck-style feast is the way to go here. The more, the merrier!

11) Use Heirloom Plates

Whether you’ve inherited your great-grandmother’s china or use mix-and-match plates from your own collection, infusing vintage vibes for your Thanksgiving table makes for a lovely, nostalgic setting.

12) Set Up a Craft for the Kids

Keep the children occupied while the food is being prepared by stocking a table with Thanksgiving coloring sheets and more and the makings for a turkey-themed craft or two.

13) Celebrate Guests from Thanksgiving Past

Remember all the guests who’ve graced your Thanksgiving table—past and present, too—by creating a memory table runner. To make, have guests sign the runner with a disappearing pen, then embroider over the signatures.

14) Go Pecan Picking

Head out to a nearby orchard and gather the freshest pecans. Your pecan pie will never taste better!

15) Craft DIY Placecards

Celebrate the warm spices of the season with a DIY cinnamon stick placecard holder. Simply wrap the ends of a cinnamon stick with red twine and insert a place card in its natural opening. You can use them year after year.

16) Dine Al Fresco

There’s just something romantic and special about al fresco dining. If you’re lucky enough to live in a warm weather climate, move your feast outdoors.

17) Enjoy a DIY Fall Festival

If you haven’t already made it to a fall fair this year, now’s the time! Set one up right on your front porch or in your backyard for a fun-filled, pre- or post-Thanksgiving activity. A gourd ring toss or pumpkin knock-down game are so easy to set up. Invite the neighbors for a little friendly competition.

18) Go for a Post-Thanksgiving Walk

When your Thanksgiving feasting comes to an end, head outdoors to stretch your legs (and walk off all that turkey!).

19) Try a New Recipe

Just because you love your long-standing Thanksgiving menu doesn’t mean you can’t try a new dish or two to freshen things up. This hasselback sweet potato dish, for instance, is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser.

Get the recipe, or find 98 more Thanksgiving side dishes.

20) Set the Table with Your Kids

Not only does setting the table give your kids a sense of responsibility and a role in helping with the Thanksgiving meal, but it’s also something special to share each year.

21) Make Gratitude Bracelets

Let your kids craft personal gratitude bracelets—or have the whole family join in. They’ll love wearing their creations all year round.

Get the tutorial at Sugar and Charm.

An edible wreath is a tradition that tastes as sweet as it looks! Little ones (and let’s face it, big ones too!) will love helping you create this one-of-a-kind sugar cookie masterpiece each year.

23) Split the Wishbone

Weird as it may seem, wishbone splitting is an age-old Thanksgiving tradition. And we love it!

24) Play With a Thanksgiving Piñata

A confetti-stuffed turkey piñata works just as nicely as a kids’ table centerpiece as it does a post-feast activity. Fill it with candies and trinkets, and everyone wins!

Get the tutorial at Studio DIY.

25) Host a Family Game Night

A good ol’-fashioned game night is an excellent way to keep your family together after the meal. Whether it’s cards, board games, checkers, or dominoes, kids and adults can get in on the action. Keep a list of winners to revisit year after year.

26) Wrap Up Leftovers for Guests

Tupperware is so last year! Send guests home with a few leftovers in true country style. Simple sides, like this farro salad, wrap up beautifully in to-go-style Mason jars.

27) Craft a Beautiful Centerpiece

Your Thanksgiving table just isn’t complete without a beautiful, eye-catching fall centerpiece. Use the same vessel each year with a fresh mix of seasonal blooms.