Every year our homeschool group gathers together and hosts a Thanksgiving Feast. It’s so much fun to come together with friends potluck style and spend some time fellowshipping at a time of the year where we have so much to be thankful for. If you are considering putting together an event for your homeschool co-op or group, I have some fun ideas for a “Let’s Give Thanks” party. Browse through them and see what activities might works for your group.
Hosting a Let’s Give Thanks Party for your Homeschool Group
1. Potluck Feast: Encourage families to bring a dish to share, potluck-style. Be sure to have a sign-up sheet to ensure a good balance of main dishes, sides, and desserts. Using a website like perfectpotluck.com or having a google form is a good way to keep track. Remind everyone that the dishes don’t have to be elaborate and that it might be a fun way to try out a new dish before the big day!
2. Gratitude Tree: Create a “Gratitude Tree” using branches, construction paper, and string. Have each attendee write what they are thankful for on a leaf-shaped cutout and hang it on the tree. Place the tree in the front or middle of the room so that everyone can see how much we have to be thankful for.
3. Thankful Crafts: Organize a craft station with supplies for creating Thanksgiving-themed crafts. Some ideas could be:
-“I am Thankful for…” placemats – use construction paper, markers, and fall themed stickers to decorate.
-Pinecone Turkeys- Gather pinecones, felt, googly eyes and pipe cleaners for children to create fun turkey decorations.
-Handprint Turkeys- Trace children’s hands on brown construction paper and create turkeys, then decorate with colorful feathers and construction paper.
4. Thanksgiving Games: Plan some fun, Thanksgiving-themed games to keep the energy high and the laughter flowing. Here are a few ideas:
-Turkey Bowling: Use empty plastic bottles as pins and a small pumpkin or gourd as the bowling ball.
-Pin the Feather on the Turkey: A Thanksgiving twist on a classic party game.
-Thanksgiving Bingo: Create bingo cards with Thanksgiving-related images or words.
5. Story Time: Gather the children together for a Thanksgiving story time. Choose books that focus on the themes of gratitude, sharing, and community.
6. Giving Back: Incorporate an element of giving back to the community. You could organize a canned food drive for a local food bank or have the children create Thanksgiving cards for residents of a senior center.
8. Photo Booth: Set up a Thanksgiving-themed photo booth with props like pilgrim hats, turkey feathers, and fall foliage. This provides a fun activity and a lasting memory of the event.
9. Thank You Notes and Letters Provide stationery and writing supplies for children (and adults!) to write thank you notes to someone special in their lives.
10.Thanksgiving Trivia: Test your knowledge of Thanksgiving history, traditions, and food with a fun trivia game. Prepare questions and answers on index cards or use an online quiz platform.
Don’t forget to capture the memories! Take lots of pictures and videos of your “Let’s Give Thanks” party to share with your homeschool group.
Free Gratitude Challenge
To help you out, I’ve created a simple 30 Day Gratitude Challenge Printable. Each person in your family should have their own printable. At dinner time or bedtime, let your kids write what they are thankful for that day. There is enough space on the printable to let your kids write what they are thankful for that day.
Angela is a wife and mom to 4 fantastic kids, two of which she has graduated and sent off to college. She loves Jesus, family and people and works hard to not take her self or life too seriously.
Learn more about her work at her website Schooling with Grace and follow her on Facebook and Instagram.
