Printable Family Thanksgiving Countdown
Last month, I had the idea to create a Halloween countdown for my family. It was a hit without being overly time-intensive for our busy family, so it seems like we might have started a fun tradition. This morning, I printed our Thanksgiving countdown and am sharing here for any other families who wanted to try out the idea.
How does a holiday countdown work?
Each day, kids open an envelope that has a paper inside describing a fun, simple activity to do that day. The activities include things like reading a Thanksgiving-related book or collecting food to share with those who do not have enough food.
How do you set it up?
Duration: Choose how long you want your countdown to Thanksgiving to be (3 days, 5 days, one week, 10 days?). We did 10 days for Halloween and that's also how we are approaching Thanksgiving.
Print: Download this file and print one page for each day. There are 13 ideas from which to choose, so you can leave out those that are not a good fit for your family. The file is fully editable, as well, so feel free to modify or add new ideas! If you have new activity ideas, please leave them in the comments for others!
Envelopes: Mark envelopes with the dates leading up to Thanksgiving, one for each day of your countdown. Put one printed activity page into each envelope. Be sure to match the activities to your real life situation (so that busier days are matched with simpler activities).
Display: Display your envelopes (I use a cheap ribbon tacked on the wall with mini binder clips holding the envelopes, but a basket or box could hold them nicely, or even stick them to a surface like a mirror).
Get Started: Open the first envelope and start the fun!
bit.ly/EasyThanksgivingCountdown
I am excited to hear how this works for you! What Thanksgiving traditions do you have in your family?
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