Times are tough, and Thanksgiving 2020 could be a challenging one for many of us. That being said, we have some ideas for how to adapt and still connect with each other this Thanksgiving, even in less than ideal circumstances. Please join us in thinking outside the box to celebrate Thanksgiving this year!
For age-specific ideas for your kids and everyone in your household, check out this recent blog post. Apart from your immediate family, if your extended family and loved ones don’t live in your town and won’t be traveling due to COVID-19 restrictions and precautions, celebrating together will require some flexibility and creativity. One idea is to have certain components of the meal or day together over Zoom, like scones and coffee in the morning, or dessert after the big feast is complete (plus wine for the adults, obviously!. For a fun group activity, each family/household could be a separate team for the photo scavenger hunt we provide in our turkey toolkit! Families could do the scavenger hunt in their respective homes, then get together afterwards over Zoom to swap stories, share pics, and declare a winner – whichever team gets the most photos in a set amount of time, wins!
Other ways to connect with family that are out of town: go old school, and send them letters or cards. This is a fun one for kiddos too, since they could draw or color a picture for them, or create homemade cards. To incorporate the holiday even more, throw in a favorite Thanksgiving recipe and turn it into a family recipe swap via snail mail! If you like the idea behind snail mail but aren’t so much a fan of the effort involved, you could also use a service like touchnote.com. With Touchnote you can send your loved ones greeting cards that include family photos from your phone, along with a personalized message, all from your phone or computer.
If you’re in the unique position of having your extended family in the same town as you, but still need to keep your physical distance for everyone’s safety, we have some ideas for you as well. Some options: the local zoo, which often includes Christmas light displays this time of the year, or outdoor parks with picnic tables and overhead cover in case of rain, so you could have a socially distant picnic – maybe for dessert after everyone’s Thanksgiving meals! Or for another creative idea, many movie theaters are shut down right now, but are allowing people to rent the space out for small group movie viewings. Why not host a small family gathering, sitting apart in your relative (pun intended) family units, and watch a holiday flick together? Sounds like a great time to us! Just remember to bring those face masks and travel-sized hand sanitizers.
If you have other plans to celebrate Thanksgiving safely this year, we’d love to hear your ideas! Give us a shout out on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook, and let us know what you’re up to. Whether you do end up seeing more of your extended family in person but distanced, or via Zoom, or if you have a quiet, festive gathering with just your immediate family, we wish you a very happy and safe Thanksgiving! From our family’s dinner table to yours.