Thanksgiving Place-mat: Thankful Writing Activity

We are hosting Thanksgiving this year, usually my parents host and it is a grand and formal affair. When everyone sits around the table we chat, catch-up, and share a little about our year. I love spending the holiday with my family, and my mother is an amazing host. However, I am not my mother, and my style is much less formal. So this year I am choosing to do things my way instead of trying to out-do my mother at something she is far better at.

I have already chosen to seat everyone family style -- no kids table. I want the kids to be a part of everything. After all -- why should they be separate? Since I am including them I am of course making the table a little less cluttered and more fun to keep the kids involved. I am going to create a special place-mat for everyone. I found this place-mat at Teachers-Pay-Teachers and felt it was the perfect thing to add to my more casual table setting. I am also going to include a small bucket of crayons at each end of the table so that everyone can color and write on their place-mat. I am hoping that everyone is willing to share what they write at the table when we are eating. It will be a great way to learn a little bit about what means the most to everyone in the family. You can learn a lot by what a person is thankful for. Hopefully this helps us all get just a little bit closer this holiday season.