3 Ways to Create New Thankfulness Traditions This Year

One of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions is to have the family go around the table and tell us what they are thankful for. I’m often met with groans of “do I have to” but everyone participates and we all have some good “aaaawwws” and a few good laughs out of the ordeal.

I wanted to do something a little different this year, so I created some cute “I am thankful for…” printable notes for everyone to fill out. You can grab your own free printable pdf of them by clicking on the image. It has six cards per sheet and you can choose to print them on cardstock or regular paper. I love the look of them on white paper.

After I created these I thought there has to be more than one way to use them, so I came up with three great ideas to use them to create some new thankfulness traditions at your family gatherings.

3 Ways to Create New Thankfulness Traditions This Year

1. Who’s Giving Thanks Game? If you’re the kind of family who loves to play games then this is for you. Find a large jar or vase, decorate it with festive ribbon if you’d like, and set it out on a table somewhere that is easily accessible to your guests. Leave out a pen and several of your “I am thankful for…” printable cards. Have each guest fill out one or more of the cards and leave them in the vase. One rule is the thing they are thankful for has to be something specific to them and can’t be generic such as food, family, religion, etc. Either during or after your Thanksgiving feast have each guest draw a card that isn’t theirs from the vase. One by one go around the table and have each person read their card and try to guess who wrote the card. It’s a different spin on sharing what each person is thankful for and helps the family make a meaningful connection.
2. A Month of Thanks. Set out a collection jar or vase as described in #1, however this time, set it out at the beginning of November. Have everyone in your household fill out a “I am thankful for…” card everyday for something they are thankful for, again try to aim for things that aren’t generic. Yes, we can all be thankful for these things, but let’s get a bit more specific and meaningful. On Thanksgiving, spend part of the day going through and reading everyone’s cards. It will be a fun way to reflect on what you are all thankful for.
3. Yearly Thankfulness Reflections. Before your Thanksgiving feast begins make sure everyone has a “I am thankful for…” card to fill out. At some point pass a pen around and have everyone fill out their card and return it to you. Now save these filled out cards for next year so you can pull them out and read them during dinner. Each year have all of your guests fill out the cards and return them to be read the following year. For the first year, since you don’t have cards from the previous year, go around the table and have everyone share something they are thankful for after they have filled out the cards.

There you have it, three new ways to enjoy your “I am thankful for…” cards while creating some new family traditions. I hope one of these ideas works for you and your family, and if none of them are quite right, I hope they spark some new ideas for your celebration.

How will you use the “I am thankful for…” cards? Do you have an another idea on how to use them? Please share your ideas in the comments!