Simple and Fun Family Literacy Activities for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is just a few days away, and many families are busy preparing for the holiday with grocery shopping, cooking, and decorating. With your children home from school and underfoot, why not look for meaningful ways to keep them entertained while also practicing their literacy skills? There are plenty of ways to get kids reading and writing during the holidays, and you may end up creating some new family traditions along the way!

Try some of these simple, fun, family activities to bring even more literacy into your home this Thanksgiving.

• Ask your child to decorate the table by making place cards for everyone in the family.
• Put every letter from the word THANKSGIVING on pieces of paper, shuffle them, and ask your child to spell it out.
• Think of a favorite family recipe you want to share with your guests this Thanksgiving. Have your child write out the ingredients and steps, and then give the recipe cards out after dinner.
• Ask older children to help you in the kitchen by reading the steps in a recipe out loud to you while you cook. Younger kids can look at the pictures with you ahead of time to guess what the steps might be.
• Leave a few small books and puzzles at the kid’s table to keep them occupied during the meal. Ask older children to act as “storytellers” for the little ones and read their favorite books out loud.
• If your family is watching football this Thursday, why not have them create signs to cheer on their favorite teams? Families can also come up with creative cheers to do whenever their team scores a touchdown!
• If there are lots of kids in your family, ask them to put on a Thanksgiving skit for the adults after dinner. If they’re having trouble thinking of ideas, suggest they act out one of their favorite books or movies.
• If you post a picture of your Thanksgiving online, ask for your child’s help when writing a caption. If you’d rather text, have your child text a Thanksgiving message to a relative who can’t be there! They will love hearing from a younger member of the family.
• Why not get a little competitive? Invite family members to vote on their favorite dish of the day. Ask the children to collect the ballots, count them, and announce the winner! Kids can even write and decorate certificates for the winners.

No matter their age, there are so many ways to keep your kids reading, writing, and being creative this holiday! Making literacy a part of your Thanksgiving will help your children grow as readers, writers, and thinkers, and will create wonderful lasting memories for your family.

What are your favorite family traditions for Thanksgiving, and how can they be used to practice reading or writing? Let us know in the comments!