Thanksgiving Activities to Bridge the Generation Gap 

At Thanksgiving, you’re likely to have a houseful of guests from different generations. These activities can bridge the gap—while making great memories.

Gratitude guestbook
As guests arrive, snap their picture with an instant camera if you have one, or take digital shots. (Print the pics while the turkey is roasting.) On a side table, set out an inexpensive scrapbook or journal so guests can add their picture and write a greeting or draw something for which they are thankful. Have some stickers and crayons on hand for youngsters to decorate their pages. For an extra bit of holiday fun, videotape your guests during the day and again as they design their page. Show the footage while you serve up the pumpkin pie.

People poll
Create a human scavenger hunt that will have kids begging for more. Send kids off to find someone who fits a certain bill—a person with blue eyes, or gray hair, or whose middle name is Ethel. When the kids return with a correct answer, give them another mission. Encourage cousins to work together as a team to poll the relatives.

Getting to know you
After the meal, pass a bowl of candies around the table, telling each person to help himself, but not to eat any yet. Once the bowl has gone around, explain that for every candy chosen, each person must tell one thing about herself that others might not know.

Photo op
My kids love to hear stories about when their grandparents were young. Ask your guests to bring along some photo albums to initiate storytelling. While you’re busy in the kitchen, the kids and grandparents can sit and chat about “the olden days.”

Guess who?
It seems like long-distance cousins need some time to warm up to each other every holiday season. Teach the kids this game, and they’ll be giggling together in no time. Choose one person to be IT, and have her sit in a chair, facing away from the group. Place a small item (such as a film canister) under the chair and tell the other kids that one person needs to quietly steal the item and hide it somewhere on their body. When the group chants, “Guess who?” IT tries to guess who has the item. Offer a hint or two if you like. If IT is correct, she keeps her spot; if not, the person with the hidden item takes a turn at being IT.

Learn about the Mayflower pilgrims, Native Americans, and colonial life in Kris Bordessa’s book, Great Colonial America Projects You Can Build Yourself (Nomad Press, 2006). This article first appeared in Nick Jr. Family Magazine.
 

November 2008