Celebrate Thanksgiving With Family Art

Making art is a great way to express thanks and connect with others, and what better time to do this than Thanksgiving. The holidays is a special time for gathering and sharing with family and friends. Kids can be part of making Thanksgiving special by creating drawings, cards and personal messages celebrating gratitude for people in our lives.  

If you are hosting, put the kids in charge of place cards. Folded index cards or small sheets of paper make great simple place cards. Encourage kids to draw a picture or write something they are thankful for about each guest along with his or her name. This is a lovely way to honor your guests and can start a great dinner table conversation about gratitude and connection.

Or, if your family and friends feel far away this season and visiting in person isn’t possible, connect across the miles with gratitude cards. Help children make simple greeting cards celebrating connection and gratitude with relatives who live far away. You might add family photos and drawings or collage as well as a message about why you are thankful for that person.  Encourage kids to write or dictate a message and send the cards so they can receive your message over the Thanksgiving holiday. If time is tight, you can also use e-cards, skype or email to send gratitude messages.  

Finally, don’t forget to exercise your own creative juices and make gratitude artwork for your kids.  Take a moment to write or draw something special to each child and encourage relatives to do the same. Families can bring out simple art materials and create gratitude cards and messages together after dinner. Then enjoy the time to exchange and share and celebrate.  

With the holiday season upon us, it is easy to get caught up in all there is to do—take a few minutes of creative time to enjoy just being with family and celebrating connections.