Thanksgiving Day Tradition With Ideal Gifts For Family Members

Consider starting a new Thanksgiving Day tradition by preparing a special, home made treat for the festivities, which can be given as a gift to the host or hostess.

If you need an idea for a gift for the family member or friend who is going to be preparing the Thanksgiving Day feast this year, then why not create an edible treat of some type to be served at dinner?

Fruit baskets are another idea for a great Thanksgiving gift; you can include the normal apples and oranges or opt for something more unique like different types of out-of-season berries.

Or if you do decide on apples, include some caramel for dipping, for strawberries add chocolate or anything along those lines, making it a new Thanksgiving Day tradition. If you decide on oranges, you could include little packages of spiced cider, and orange slices can be used as a garnish once it has been mixed.

Being edible is not a prerequisite for creating perfect Thanksgiving gifts; giving anything that you have made yourself is considered extremely thoughtful and is sure to be enjoyed by the recipient.

If you have a flower or vegetable garden, you can always create a beautiful centerpiece using the products of your labor; something that just may become a new family Thanksgiving Day tradition.

Even if you do not have your own garden, just stop by a florist or a farmers market and pick out several items that represent the Thanksgiving holiday and create a unique and memorable gift for the host.

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Better Family Entertainment With Thanksgiving Games

If you are looking for a way to pass the time while waiting for guests to arrive and sitting down to your traditional Thanksgiving dinner, why not start a new family tradition by playing some Thanksgiving games or doing some crafts?

While most families do have traditions that they observe at Thanksgiving you can always shake things up by playing a game or two.

A good way to incorporate Thanksgiving crafts into your day is to use them in preparation for some Thanksgiving games. For example, here is a good one for kids.

Have them find and cut out pictures of turkeys from magazines, or they can draw their own, and then stick them on several different index cards. On Thanksgiving Day have everyone leave the room and then hide the cards, then have the kids come back in and go turkey hunting; the one that finds the most cards wins.

There are so many different Thanksgiving games that you can play but one for the whole family is always a good choice.

For this one have everyone sit around in a circle and the first person will start with something like, "the Thanksgiving food I like the most is turkey" and the next person repeats what they said and adds their own item.

It continues around, yet if someone says it incorrectly they are out. The game ends when one person is finally able to state the whole Thanksgiving menu perfectly.

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Celebrating Family Traditions With Thanksgiving Turkey

Cooking a Thanksgiving turkey is one of the traditions that many people observe when they serve dinner on this holiday. In the United States, there are a few different reasons as to why the tradition of turkey has endured.

Some believe it was because Americans preferred using large birds when they had a crowd to feed, and because turkeys were fresh and affordable. Of course, another reason was that they could be slaughtered without the farmer having to endure a big economical setback.

Both ham and brined pork were available but many felt that pork was not fitting for such a feast and Thanksgiving Day prayers. Feasting on a Thanksgiving turkey was a better choice, and it was in keeping with the British custom that was introduced to the new world by the early settlers.

The turkey seemed to be the best bet also because the chicks born in the spring would have several months to grow and fatten up before taking the place of honor at the traditional Thanksgiving Day dinner.

By the time Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863, the Thanksgiving turkey was already at center stage, and for most it was already a family tradition.

There are even some who believe that due to the popularity of "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens", showing a newly transformed Scrooge giving the gift of the holiday turkey to the Cratchit family, the bird's status as the center of the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday feasts was forever cemented.

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Families Celebrating Traditions Of Thanksgiving

While most families have their own Thanksgiving traditions, there are still some elements of the traditions of Thanksgiving that are similar all across the nation.

As the celebrations begin it can add a little extra warmth to the season if you remember those holidays spent with loved ones in the past and also incorporate some of traditions of your ancestors, which will make it that much better.

Celebrating the plentiful harvest was the original concept of the North American Thanksgiving, but it goes back even further to the 5th century when the use of cornucopias was considered a symbol of fertility, food and abundance.

It is obvious that certain celebrations are key to our traditions of Thanksgiving even today, even though they are not exact expressions of the traditions of our ancestors. Yet our current celebrations do reflect those customs and have continued to evolve over the centuries.

During the 20th century manufacturers began making commercialized items to be used as Thanksgiving decorations, such as little dishes and whatnots in the traditional Thanksgiving shape of a turkey.

Next came the personalized name place holders and elaborate centerpieces during the 1920's, followed by paper goods with Thanksgiving designs in the 40's and 50's.

While there has been an increase in the number and variances in the items used as decorations, you can choose to decorate your home anyway you wish in order to keep or compliment your own traditions of Thanksgiving.

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Knowing More About Thanksgiving Family Traditions

The Thanksgiving holiday is full of family traditions, like preparing a big Thanksgiving Day feast and all of the trimmings, using a special table cloth, silverware and dishes, drawing names for Christmas presents, or getting the kids involved in games. However, according to a few surveys, there are some traditions that are more popular than others.

Next in the line of family traditions is football. Some celebrate it by tossing around the ball in a family game while others simply enjoy watching the game on television. It began on Thanksgiving Day in 1876, with the first intercollegiate championship game being played and has become as popular as the traditional Thanksgiving dinner.

It has even been said that Thanksgiving was declared a holiday just so that Americans could sit around and watch the game together.

You probably already have certain family traditions that you observe at Thanksgiving, yet you can still come up with new ways of celebrating and starting your own, unique family customs.

Remember that it does not have to be anything elaborate, as long as it celebrates the spirit of sharing and giving thanks for your blessings in life.

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Sharing Your New Thanksgiving Traditions With Someone Without Family

Thanksgiving is actually celebrated in many different ways around the world, although it is known by different names. In Israel they celebrate Succoth.

The Moon Festival is the name for the celebrations in the Far East, and in South India it is known as Pongal. While many families celebrate with a traditional turkey dinner, there is no reason why new Thanksgiving traditions cannot be added to the time honored Thanksgiving customs.

If looking for new Thanksgiving traditions, then try putting your turkey into the oven to roast early in the morning and then getting everyone up to watch the famous Macy's Thanksgiving parade.

Your mouth will be watering with all of the wonderful aroma's filling the house and you can run to the kitchen to baste the turkey during the breaks.

New Thanksgiving traditions can be anything that you and your family want them to be, and one idea is to expand on the already existing theme of sharing. Not everyone is fortunate to have family near them, or even have any family at all.

So consider inviting someone to share your Thanksgiving if you know that they will be alone. Show just exactly what Thanksgiving is all about to your children. Invite someone without family to celebrate with into your home; someone who may otherwise spend this holiday in sadness and solitude.

Perhaps this is one tradition that you can instill in your children and they will pass this important message on to their children as well.

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The Many Ways Of Celebrating Thanksgiving

There are numerous ways of celebrating Thanksgiving and one way to see the differences is to look at the way other countries celebrate. An American Thanksgiving typically means staying inside to keep warm, cooking a huge feast and watching football.

Plentiful crops are represented by a cornucopia table centerpiece that spills over with the fruits of the harvest, and people decorate their homes with colorful pumpkins and squashes.

In Israel they celebrate Sukkoth and instead of staying indoors they build a shelter and head outside for the holiday, while commemorating the 40 years that the Israelites spent wandering the desert.

Of course there are other ways of celebrating Thanksgiving and expressing the true holiday spirit of sharing as well, and that is by donating time at a soup kitchen. Thanksgiving is understandably one of the busiest times at a soup kitchen and it can be one of the perfect Thanksgiving activities in which the whole family can participate.

Why not make up a few trays of snacks and goodies and distribute them to the police stations, fire stations or hospitals in your area as a way of celebrating Thanksgiving and sharing with your community.

Or you can make a few plates and take them to a retirement home, or perhaps an orphanage or a shelter for abused woman, anywhere where there are people who may be alone, without their family members to celebrate with. It would be greatly appreciated.

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