Thanksgiving Thankfulness with Free Printable Cards

Thanksgiving is a holiday to spend with friends and family, reminiscing on all of our blessings and things we are thankful for. We have many blessings in our lives, both big and small. With the business of life, it can be easy complain or dwell on the things we don’t have it. Use this holiday to refocus your life and remember the most important parts.

That’s why I created these Thanksgiving thankfulness cards! Use them to discuss what each member of the family is thankful for.

There are 8 cards, 7 with things written on them and one blank card to write your own. Take each card and discuss why you’re thankful for that particular item! How has that item helped or blessed your life? Other than these things, what are some other things you can be thankful for?

• Family
• Friends
• Food/shelter
• Freedom of speech
• Education
• Thanksgiving
• Music/TV

Grab your free Thanksgiving Cards here!

Along with that, research the history of Thanksgiving including the pilgrims and the Mayflower. As a country, how far have we come since the 1600s?

• The First Thanksgiving for Kids video
• The First Thanksgiving and the First Settlers Information for Kids
• Thanksgiving Day from Ducksters

Also, check out these other great Thanksgiving posts!

Easy Thanksgiving Food Ideas for Kids

Get the kids cooking with these kid-friendly Thanksgiving snack ideas.

Thankfulness and Gratitude Activities for Kids

Use these activities and games to give opportunities to be thankful and to remember everything we have to be grateful for.

The post Thanksgiving Thankfulness with Free Printable Cards first appeared on True Aim.

Dinner and a Movie

Invite an elderly couple into your home for a dinner and a great movie. The company is great, and so is the conversation. Simply involve the whole family in creating a simple meal, decorate a nice table and have them over for a night out.

Pie Baking

In November, pumpkin and apples are our favorites! Bake pies for shelters, neighbors, community members (librarians, firefighters, police officers, etc.) or family. Experience the joy of giving through food!

Volunteer at the Library

I’ve volunteered at the library before I received a short-time part-time job there, and I loved it so much! (I’m also a bookworm.)

Write Letters to Service Men

It can be a lonely time for service men as we approach the bigger holidays. Programs like Operation Gratitude allow you to write letters to service men.

Organize A Dinner of Thanks

In our house we love to cook and have others enjoy a meal with us. We ask members from our church to help support a dinner of thanks to our fireman and police officers. We certainly can not have a meal for each person so we have a drawing at the firehouse and police station for 10 individuals. Then we make a meal and have them come to different houses to show our support.

Visit a Nursing Home

Visit a nursing home, and spend the day with the elderly! It’s fun to see their faces light up with the youth in the room. Whether it be eating a meal with them or playing a game, they appreciate the company. Plus, they will more than likely be willing to share some of their life story!

Crafting with Children

See if you have a local hospital that has a Ronald McDonald House, where families stay while their children are in the hospital. During Christmas this can be a pretty difficult situation to be in. Volunteer to visit with the other children who are staying there and do a Christmas craft.

Operation Christmas Child

This is a project that can be done online with your family. We each design our own box of giving for another child. If you go online to Operation Christmas Child you may design a shoebox worth of gifts to be distributed to children around the USA. It is fun to go online and select your items to be put in the box and you get a number to track your delivery.

A Week of Paying it Forward

Budget each family member $20.00 for the Week of Paying it Forward. The rules are that the money may not be used to benefit you. If you are in the lunch line and someone forgot their money, use that money. If someone looks like they could use a hot cup of coffee, simply buy them one. Keep a journal for the week as to where our money was spent and review how you were blessed in helping others.

Donate a Thanksgiving Meal

Every year, entire meals for the local food bank are given out 1 day before Thanksgiving. Donate meal items to your local food bank as a way to serve the community.

Thankful For My Family

Often, our families bless us the most and we can thank them the least. Plan a big brunch on a Sunday after church to celebrate each other. Prepare a meal that we can eat in courses so you have more time to just enjoy each other, talk about the things you are grateful for, and how you’ve been blessed.

The post 10+ Family Giving Projects first appeared on True Aim.

Easy Thanksgiving Food Ideas for Kids

Turkey Chocolate Caramel Pretzels – Chelsea’s Messy Apron

Chocolate and caramel dipped pretzels are delicious. When you can make them into a turkey with candy corn, it is even more fun! Create and make as a snack for school or a gift for the teacher. Add some candy corn for feathers and edible googly eyes.

Fall Ice Cream Cone Teepees – Frugal Coupon Living

Utilizing a sugar cone upside down as a teepee is adorable. You can either use them as a great table centerpiece or fill them with ice cream as a special treat.

A Waffle Turkey – Kitchen Fun With My Three Sons

Try these waffle turkeys on Saturday morning! Each child can create their own fruit and waffle turkey to eat for breakfast. We don’t even use syrup because the fruit is sweet enough. We used strawberries, cantaloupe and pineapple as the feathers. Make it festive and fun!

Turkey Fruit Snacks – Mom Endeavors

Not all Thanksgiving foods have to be full of sugar! Try this turkey fruit snack, made from an apple.

Thanksgiving Cornucopia Snack – B-Inspired Mama

Cornucopias are a classic symbol of Thanksgiving and represent the pilgrims and thankfulness. This one is made from a variety of ingredients, some healthy and some sweet. Get creative as you create your own mix!

Chocolate Pilgrim Hats – Southern Living

An easy but fun project! A fudge striped cookie, a rolo candy and a little icing makes a pilgrim hat. Serve this at Thanksgiving at the children’s table or keep them in the refrigerator for your family. These are fun to make and eat.

Turkey Rice Krispie Treats – Ciao Newport Beach

We think rice krispie treats are always fun to make. So a rice krispie shaped ball for a body with candy corns as feathers and a candy bird beak makes for Thanksgiving fun. These are great to use for place settings too on the big turkey meal day.

Mini Pumpkin Pie Cookies – Sweet Sugar Belle

Who doesn’t like pumpkin pie even when it is not really pumpkin! These cute sugar cookies that use colored icing to look like little slices of pumpkin pie are great. The even have a dollop of whip cream. They are so festive to make and little hands will like decorating them.

Chocolate Candy Corn Pretzel Bites – The Jenny Evolution

These bite-sized treats are great for satisfying a sweet and salty tooth. This treat is easy to make and easy to munch on, for the whole family.

Indian Corn Thanksgiving Favors – Shaken Together Life

Stuff cellophane pretzel bags with these fall colored candies and tie with twine at the top. Make the top of the husk with brown craft  paper and when all put together, it looks like Indian Corn!

Crescent Roll Cornucopia – Kid Friendly Things To Do

This cornucopia is cute and can be filled with dip and veggies as a snack. We keep them on hand as a great snack container for 1-2 days after initially making them. It is easy to roll and mold the crescent roll into a cornucopia and bake. My little ones can not wait for them to come out of the oven for them to fill with the favorite veggie dip.

Edible Oreo Acorns – Frugal Coupon Living

The acorn is a great, creamy blend of cream cheese and peanut butter Oreos processed together in a blender. Then that mixture gets shaped into the acorn. Gather acorns before making these so you can have a model to look at for the right shape!

Pumpkin Rice Krispies Treats – Sugar Spice and Glitter

Enjoy these Rice Krispies shaped into pumpkins. They’re great for their groups, in case anyone has any peanut allergies.

Acorn Brownie Pops – Pint Sized Baker

Brownies are my favorite dessert. Make these acorn-shaped brownie pops, simple enough for the kids to help out with.

Fruity Feather Turkey – Betty Crocker

My children were sold on this food craft when they heard nutter butter cookies and fruit roll ups. They feel the need to eat both sometimes so this food creation makes them happy. It is a nutter butter cookie with the fruit roll up utilized as the feathers. These were fun to make and did not last long in our kitchen.

Corn Husk Cookies – Amy Atlas

These are a basic sugar cookie on a stick with icing and then colorful skittles to make the corn kernels. The hardest part is shaping the dough into a corn husk. The rest is simple icing and placing the colors of each kernel. This is like making a mosaic picture but using skittles. My children were very intense on making each cookie just right.

Turkey Marshmallow Pops – Midget Momma

Enjoy these easy to make marshmallow pops that are designed like turkeys! Their cute and simple design is a favorite among kids.

Chocolate Chip Turkeys – Very Best Baking

Everyone loves homemade chocolate chip cookies. Why not make them into turkeys? Use chocolate to make the feathers in different colors. You may have to work on developing our feathers, but the cookies are great tasting and fun to make.

Chocolate Turtle Apple Slices – Mom Loves Baking

Create this twist on a caramel apple. It is covered in chocolate with a caramel drizzle and a sprinkle of nuts if desired. It is a festive autumn treat perfect for the Thanksgiving holiday. It is even fun to set up for guests to make as an appetizer or dessert. 

Apple Nachos with Peanut Butter Chocolate – Trial and Eater

I always include Apple Nachos because it is one of our favorites. They are thin sliced peeled apples with melted peanut butter drizzled on top and mini chocolate chips. For this finger food, add what every topping you like on the apples.

Caramel Apple Turkey – Shower of Roses

Use an apple wedger to make these caramel apple turkeys to look like turkeys feathers. Then, add a small bowl of caramel dip with a candy corn and edible eyes.

Fall Acorn Pudding – Spaceships and Laser Beams

Create this homemade pudding, with (chocolate) acorns! It’s also easy to make in bulk, so it works well for a potluck.

What are your favorite kid-friendly Thanksgiving options?

The post Easy Thanksgiving Food Ideas for Kids first appeared on True Aim.

Teaching kids to be thankful proves to be one of the most difficult tasks to endure as a parent. In a world consumed by materialism as a source of happiness, it’s no wonder kids are growing up ungrateful for the things they have and instead longing for the things they don’t have. It begins with us as role models, practicing gratitude and gratefulness!

PLEASE AND THANK YOU

Please and thank you goes a long way. Be sure to use these words when talking to your children and encourage them to do the same. They will imitate the adults around them. Being polite and having manners is the first step to a thankful child.

ATTITUDE IS A CHOICE

Attitude is a choice and it is up to them whether they are thinking positively or
negatively. Teach your children to make a conscience choice to have a better attitude. When
something isn’t going their way, have them name something positive that they are grateful for to
help turn their outlook around. A potential “I can’t” meltdown can be turned into “can you please help me” instead. These are important lessons that will greatly benefit children as they get older.

HANDWRITTEN THANK YOU CARDS

Handwritten thank you cards are a great way to have your child reflect on a gift that was given to them and connect to that person in a meaningful way. Thought and effort went into that gift but so often we take these things for granted. Teach your children thankfulness by showing gratitude through a hand written note and those gifts will hold more significance.

HAVE CHILDREN HELP WITH AGE APPROPRIATE CHORES

to appreciate what it takes to run a household. Laundry and dishes don’t clean themselves and most children have no idea the time and effort it takes to complete these tasks on a daily basis. Make a chart and have children complete one chore each day. Praise and thank them on a job well done. For school aged children, take this a step further by having them write thank you notes for school janitors and lunch room attendants. These are jobs that get done unnoticed. Children will take more pride in their home and school.

MAKE A THANKFUL JAR

Create a thankful jar and have the kids write down one thing they are grateful for each week. At the end of the month, sit down as a family and take turns reading the notes aloud. Life gets busy and it’s easy to get swept up and forget why we go through the motions each day. Teach your kids to be thankful for all things big and small and life becomes more meaningful.

HELP OTHERS WITHOUT BEING ASKED

Part of teaching our children to be thankful, is helping them to see when other people are in need. Teach by example by lending a hand to a neighbor or friend. Donate canned goods or used clothing and explain to them why you are giving. A giving heart teaches children to see what other people don’t have and to appreciate what they do have.

The post 6 Tips for Teaching Kids to be Grateful first appeared on True Aim.

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Thanksgiving Printables

Free Thankfulness Scripture Printables – Children are a Blessing

Acorn Addition with Hundreds Chart – Life Over C’s

Free Thanksgiving Owl Printables – Gym, Craft, Laundry

Thanksgiving Themed Math Printables – Stella 1 2 3

I Spy Thanksgiving – Life Over C’s

Do You Want to Build a Pilgrim? – Sight and Sound Reading

Free Thanksgiving Printable Pack – Children are a Blessing

Printable Thanksgiving Bingo – Pre-K Pages

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The post Thanksgiving Printables and Mom’s Library #165 first appeared on True Aim.

Welcome to Mom’s Library

This post is filled with parenting tips, activities for young children, crafts, devotionals, recipes, and more!

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Turkey Crafts

Thankful Turkey Craft – Joyously Domestic

What are you thankful for? Incorporate Thanksgiving’s messages of thankfulness into this turkey craft.

Free Turkey Printables – Living Montessori Now

Here is a compilation of turkey printables and activities.

Painted Paper Plate Turkey Craft – A Little Pinch of Perfect

If you have a few paper plates lying around, create a turkey with them!

Do You Want to Make A Turkey? – Sight and Sound Reading

Do you want to make a turkey? Practice fine motor skills with this craft.

How to Make an Adorable Turkey Finger Puppet – Artsy Momma

Create this adorable turkey finger puppet with this easy to follow tutorial!

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UP NEXT WEEK: Thanksgiving Printables!

The post Turkey Crafts and Mom’s Library #164 first appeared on True Aim.

Welcome to Mom’s Library

This post is filled with parenting tips, activities for young children, crafts, devotionals, recipes, and more!

Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss the next Library!

Click here to see all Mom’s Library Posts

Thanksgiving Crafts

Do You Want to Make A Turkey? – Sight and Sound Reading

Do you want to make a turkey? It doesn’t have to be a turkey! (Ok, maybe it does.) Check out this great Turkey craft from Sight and Sound Reading.

Thanksgiving Counting Cards and Puzzles – Living Life and Learning

Practice counting with the little ones with these Thanksgiving counting cards. This site also has a plethora of printables aimed at preschoolers and kindergarteners.

Do You Want To Build a Pilgrim? – Sight and Sound Reading

If you enjoy the more historical side of Thanksgiving, build a pilgrim with this printable craft from Sight and Sound Reading.

Free 25 Page Thanksgiving Printable Pack – Multi Tasking Mom

If you’re looking for a fun school day, try this free 25 page Thanksgiving printable pack full of word searches, mazes, puppets and more.

Creative Writing Prompts – The Multi Tasking Mom

Get those creative juices flowing with these great writing prompts from the Multi Tasking Mom.

Pumpkin Fall Seed Art – Mini Monets and Mommies

Create a pumpkin seed tree!

25 Fine Motor Autumn Apple Crafts – Mama’s Happy Hive

Practice fine motor skills with these great autumn apple crafts.

20 Awesome Outdoor Fall Science Activities – KC EDventures

Before the snow hits, get outside and explore with these outdoor fall science activities.

UP NEXT WEEK: Turkey Crafts!

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The post Thanksgiving and Mom’s Library #163 first appeared on True Aim.

This post contains and awesome giveaway. For more information please read my full disclosure.

Welcome to Mom’s Library!

This post is filled with parenting tips, activities for young children, crafts, devotionals, recipes, and more!

Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss the next Library!

This Week’s Giveaways!

GrooveBook

Show your gratitude by giving your loved one a subscription to GrooveBook. This little app helps you record your memories on the cheap. For only $2.99 a month you get a 100 of your photos delivered to your door each month in an awesome photo book that is perforated so you can put your favorites in frames or send them to friends and family.

2 readers will receive a year subscription to GrooveBook!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don’t forget to stop by and enter our Big Holiday Giveaway!

This Week’s Featured Resources…

Be Thankful Buckets

I love this idea for each child to have their own giving thanks bucket!

The Grateful Turkey

Having a visual reminder of the things that you are grateful for is very effective and this little guy is so cute!

An Attitude of Gratitude

Keeping children thankful even after the holiday is the real challenge. Here are some great tips!

Thank You Cards

Make these simple cards with your kids and show someone that you don’t normally say thank you to, your gratitude.

The Mom Challenge

Are you ready!? Here are 7 ideas for great conversations and it could turn into a meaningful family tradition.

Random Acts of Kindness

Help your children create an attitude of gratitude in others with simple acts of kindness.

20+ More Ideas for Giving Thanks on Thanksgiving

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The post Giving Thanks on Thanksgiving at Mom’s Library #116 first appeared on True Aim.

So what’s it all about?  Giving thanks to God.  That’s it – not belt buckles or indians, turkey or pumpkin pie.  Why is that all anyone can remember?

Don’t take my word for it, read President Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation where he talks about, “the ever watchful providence of Almighty God,” or you can also watch the movie, Monumental for free from Hulu below!

We hope you have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.” ~Psalm 107:1

Thanks so much for reading! ~ The LaTulippes

The post Happy Thanksgiving! first appeared on True Aim.

While preschoolers aren’t ready to baste a turkey or cook cranberry sauce, they can help prepare for the meal in ways that are fun and educational.  Check out these Thanksgiving activities for preschoolers that are fun for kids and helpful to parents!

Turkey Napkin Rings Craft

Kids will love making these turkey napkin rings for all of your guests!  Start with several wide strips of construction paper, with or without extra room in the center for turkey feathers, and a paper plate with small puddles of brown tempera paint and at least three other colors.

Have your child use his thumbprint to make a turkey body in the center of a paper strip.  Then, have him add the head with his pointer finger, and the tail feathers with his pinky.  Use glue to attach googly eyes to the turkey.  Have your child make enough turkeys for all the dinner guests.  When the paint and glue have dried, each paper strip can be wrapped around a rolled napkin and taped in place.

Setting the Table

Teach your child how to set the table with a construction paper diagram!  Start by giving your child a construction paper ‘place mat’ to work on. Then, show him all of the pieces of in a dinner table place setting, including plates, glasses, cutlery, and napkins.  Have your child draw the outlines of these items on different colors of construction paper, then cut them out.  It might help to have your child trace around certain items, such as plates, glasses, and spoons, to get a good outline.

With your child, name the items and write their names on the cut-outs. Have your child place the real items on top of his new diagram to see what the place setting will look like when it’s complete! He can use this place setting as a reference for setting the entire Thanksgiving dinner table.

Thanksgiving Math Practice

If your preschooler is working on counting, bring some learning to the Thanksgiving celebration with math practice worksheets.  This preschool math worksheet helps children practice counting, writing, and coloring with a fun Thanksgiving theme.  Not only will kids learn foundational math and literacy skills, they’ll also develop fine motor skills when coloring in each little turkey.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration, full of love, learning, and crafts!

About the Author:  Blythe Tai is a copywriting maven for Education.com’s editorial and marketing departments. She spent two years working in early literacy programs with at-risk youth in the San Francisco Bay Area through AmeriCorps, and has previously taught journalism, creative writing, drama, and music classes with students aged 4-18.  Blythe has a BA in English and Music from UC Santa Barbara.

The post Thanksgiving Activities for Preschoolers first appeared on True Aim.