Now that many people can finally spend Thanksgiving and the holidays with their loved ones this year, there is a lot to be thankful for. As we gather around the dinner table for feasts and festivities, you might be looking for ways to express those feelings gratitude and gratefulness.
Meredith Sinclair, a lifestyle expert and the author of "Well Played," joined Hoda & Jenna to share three products to help you spread gratitude, along with five DIY activities.
So, if you want to keep you and your guests feeling grateful this holiday season, read on for gifts, games and more fun ideas.
CelebrateWithUs Family & Party Game
This wooden spin the wheel game was created to add some fun into your celebrations. You can customize the wheel with tasks or questions to prompt conversations with family and friends about what we are all thankful for this holiday season. This game can come engraved or blank, so you can write in your own ideas.
A Year of Connection Kit
This kit containing 52 foiled cards is made to encourage authentic connection and thankfulness. There are enough cards for each week of the year and the kit even comes with a journal that has inspirational messages to help with writing meaningful notes.
Thankful For Personalized Coffee Mug
What could be a better way to show someone how thankful you are for them than customizing something they can use everyday? On this mug you can personalize two lines of text and an optional message. The mug is also both microwave and dishwasher safe.
DIY gratitude activities
30-days of gratitude challenge
One way to keep up with thankfulness throughout the holiday season is to create a gratitude challenge. For this challenge, have your family think of simple ways to share gratitude and write them on slips of paper. If you need some inspiration, here is an example.
Once you have your slips of paper ready, attach them to a simple homemade banner, which can be made with some felt shapes, clothespins and twine. Hang the banner somewhere prominent so you and your family can pluck prompts off the banner and complete the gratitude challenge together.
Conversation starters
This DIY activity is both simple and a great way to start dinner conversations. To get the conversation rolling, give each guest a cup with a cardboard holder around the outside. On each holder is a question for that guest to answer, so simply go around the table, pop off the holder and let the conversations begin. Here are some printable conversation cards to get you started.
Thanksgiving show & tell
For this activity, ask everyone attending your Thanksgiving festivities to bring one photo from the past year that reflects what they are most grateful for. Whether it is a celebration, person or place, each guest will be able to share with the group the story behind their photo.
For this activity, Sinclair recommends getting simple photo holders for each spot at the table to display the pictures.
Gratitude pumpkin
Pumpkins are a great way to decorate a Thanksgiving table, so why not create a fun activity out of them? While dinner is being prepared, have guests write on a pumpkin what they are grateful for. By the end of the night your pumpkin should be covered with gratitude. Here is an example of what your pumpkin could look like.
Blessing jar
A blessing far is a meaningful activity than can live in your home long after Thanksgiving is over. Decorate a mason jar, or any other container you have, with stickers, paint or materials you have handy. Then, have each member of your family write down one or two blessings they received over the last year. You can read the responses together after dinner and continue adding to the jar each week.
For more stories like this, check out:
- 31 gifts everyone is buying right now, according to Google
- Toast to the holidays with these 7 expert-recommended wines
- 15 oh-so-cozy and comfy things to treat yourself to this fall
Subscribe to our Stuff We Love and One Great Find newsletters, and download our TODAY app to discover deals, shopping tips, budget-friendly product recommendations and more