Taking Time for Family

Traditionally, Thanksgiving is a time to reflect and give thanks for all that we’ve received throughout the year. Today, however, families often spend the day watching a full TV schedule of sports and parades, being bombarded by ads for the perfect holiday gift, or planning a weekend of shopping armed with a gift list a mile long. It’s easy to get caught up in the holiday frenzy and lose touch with what is truly meaningful—the time you spend with family.

As you give thanks this holiday, take time to consider what is important to you and your family. What memories do you have from childhood? Was it baking holiday treats, lighting candles together, or singing songs? Or, perhaps, it is your recollection of playing silly games with all your cousins after a big meal when the grown-ups were busy talking and cleaning up.

This Thanksgiving share reminiscences of your childhood holiday celebration, and plan to make some new memories with your children. Here are some activities to get you started:

• Thanksgiving Dinner: Players sit in a circle. The first player starts by saying, "On the first Thanksgiving, the Pilgrims ate turkey." The next player must repeat this and add another dish. The game continues with each player adding an item to the menu and remembering what everyone else said. A variation on this game is to have the first person start with something she/he is thankful for, and others add onto the list.
• Pass the Apple: Form two teams, with an equal number of players. Line up facing each other. Place six apples in a basket at one end of each line. Each player holds onto the right wrist of the player to the right. The first player picks up an apple with the free hand and puts the apple into the right hand of the player next to her, still keeping their hands joined. The apple must be passed down the line this way and if it drops, it must be picked up without breaking the chain. When all the apples have been passed, reverse the procedure. The team that gets all the apples back to the basket first is the winner!
• Turkey Strut: Place masking tape Xs all over the floor. Start the music instructing the children to pretend to be turkeys and strut around the room. When the music stops, the turkeys must be on one of the Xs. Start the music again and let the turkeys strut some more.
• Walk it off: Take a brisk walk together after the big meal. Add some fun by blowing soap bubbles as you stroll around the block.

Whatever you do, do it together. It’s times like these that make up a lifetime of memories.

—Carol Scott, 4-H After School Program Coordinator
Originally published in “Newark Outlook,” The Newark Post

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