Thanksgiving: Christian-based Activities and Lessons To Do With Toddlers -

I never knew how difficult it would be to raise children in a world where pagan holidays are highly advertised everywhere. Do not get me wrong, I grew up in a very traditional home with extreme pagan traditions for each holiday, but after coming close to God and being led in the Spirit, I have been revealed in many ways why I should not partake in these pagan holidays. Although God is clear in His Word about these celebrations and idols, I found it challenging to bring my children up in the States, where each holiday is displayed in every store, building, and almost every home from the inside and out. If I am still being honest, I lost the joy I once had during these holidays over time. Still, because of the exposure, I felt like instead of fully taking away the fun parts of the season festivities, I decided to create new traditions for them that allowed my children to see God in every part of the season, as well as grow and imitate Jesus’ love for others as He has shown His love for us. Because my toddlers are young (3 toddlers, ages 3, 2, 1), I did not celebrate anything in the previous years because I assumed they were too young to care. I don’t eat Thanksgiving food, so I never made this holiday a big deal. Still, again, because of their exposure during reading time at the library and their growing awareness with age, I knew this year was a significant change for my family. I needed to control the shift healthily for my family’s Spiritual life and guidance into the future.

I will share a few traditions and lessons I have started with my family, which have changed our spiritual lives and brought us closer together.

1. 30 Days of Prayer for others

In November, we prayed and spoke about what we were thankful for each day. When my toddlers would start saying, “I’m thankful Dadda is home safe, and Mama,” I would speak about everything we endured for the day so they could think more profoundly of the MANY things we could be thankful for. I promise this was the best thing we started in the house because it allowed my heart to see more of God and less of the world and its daily spiritual warfare tactics that shift our focus from seeing the goodness of God to our problems. It reached the point where the tots still ask me daily what I am thankful for. So, with me trying to instill the truth about Thanksgiving in the most understanding way to a toddler, we have decided to do 30 days of praying and show gratitude to God. Every day, the tots must think of one person they want to pray for, and if we are out in the community, then we are on a mission praying to be directed to one person to share the gospel with. I can’t believe the people they have thought about in these past few days to pray for. People I know Spiritually needed prayer because I had these same people on my heart for days… I promise that when I say God is raising us together, He is RAISING US TOGETHER. After being at home for a while, I am being pushed out of my comfort zone, putting me back on the streets for street ministry. This allows me not to see my tots as just children but as children of God who, at their current age, can still be used and walk out the Spiritual gifts that God has given them… It’s a working process, but they know there is no age limit to walking life imitating Christ and going after God’s lost children.

2. Collect canned food for donations.

This is a fun seasonal activity you can create for your toddler. What better time to collect goods for those in need than the season known for a feast? If you are a stay-at-home Mama, you can reach out to the homeschool communities in your area and host a canned food drive, receiving donations to later drop off at a food bank, soup kitchen, and shelters. If you want to be more proactive than what you are already doing, you can also include your whole family and friends to find a safe area to go door to door using wagons or a car to ask for donations for your drive.

This physical approach is beneficial because it allows your toddler, children, and family to think of others and physically work to serve those in need.

John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”
Luke 3:11

3. Soup Kitchen

Speaking of serving, making time to serve in a soup kitchen during the holidays is another experience that will shape your children’s hearts to want to serve people. This experience, especially done before or after your Thanksgiving meal, allows your family to not only think of themselves in what line you could be in for Christmas, but it brings a focus of gratitude to have a family meal and still want to be in another place serving people who are without. Younger children may be unable to serve meals to the guests in the soup kitchen, but they can disburse napkins and plastic silverware to those who need it. If you think about it, something about a pure, innocent child serving people who do not like them and live entirely different lives due to circumstances can bring joy to those who are there.

Please, let us mamas be mindful of teaching our children to be selfless and have a genuine heart for serving others!

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
Matthew 25:35-40

“‘Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.
Ezekiel 16:49

4. Make An Appropriate Size Course Meal Together.

Thanksgiving is known for the many meals set before you at the family table: Mashed Potatoes, Turkey, ham, yams, rolls, broccoli and cheese casserole, cranberry sauce, and my favorite dish, gumbo! We cannot forget about the final finished touch, desserts!

I would never want to rain on your parade when you are hosting a huge gathering that requires a large amount of food, but I would like to add a suggestion to your preparations.

If you are a Mama who does not care about cooking the big traditional feast, try to have your children help you prepare. Have you read the story about the Red Hen who asked for help to create a dish, but her friends made excuses of why they could not help, all to smell her delicious food in the end because she worked hard to prepare it (even through her emotions of being rejected by her friends in the helping process). The Red Hen told her friends no to the delicious meal because they did not help prepare it, and because of her hard work, she got to reap what she sowed.

Although we don’t want to teach our children to turn away hungry mouths, we can read that story to them to make them aware of teamwork when preparing a meal for everyone to eat. A delicious meal! Teach your children, even if you do not feel like they are ready to cook or assist you with help, or it will take away time from your schedule. Teach them that it takes a village to raise a family, and they make up the village. This is a time for you to assign age-appropriate tasks to them and allow them to be helpful and serve others.

*For my mamas with toddlers, you can give them a plastic bowl or pot of water to wash vegetables or fruits in a safe area in the kitchen, away from your pathway and heated appliances, while you prepare a different dish.

Try to give everyone invited a chance to come early to help prepare the food. Or allow your invited friends and family to bring their dish to serve others. Thanksgiving should never be pressured on one person to host and financially and physically prepare many dishes without help. This is unenjoyable for the person doing the work and could lead to burnout when the host has children they care for while preparing the meals. This is a time, Mama, for you to reach and have your village aid you with preparations and fellowship or for them to watch the children while you do your thing! Do not be afraid to reach out.

I remember hearing mothers always complain later about how they slaved away in a kitchen trying to make the perfect memories for their children. Yet, they were burdened with so much weight and pressure while preparing everything alone with children that they realized they never really got to participate, relax, or enjoy the festivities with their loved ones because of exhaustion. Mama, please do not feel like you must do this alone. God has given you a village to help support you. Utilize your blessings!

Why must we make a large portion of each dish that we will later throw away? Unless you plan on freezing your food for Christmas leftovers or making to-go plates for your guests, I suggest you make a reasonable portion for the number of people gathered at your table.
If you are like me, where you no longer get to go home for the holidays due to work schedules and are home with just your immediate family, then ask your children what their favorite Thanksgiving dish is and make your meal from there! Sometimes, we don’t have to have EVERY dish on the table to eat in one sitting. You can make two trim portion-sized meat options: Vegetables, two sides for the meal, a roll, and one dessert.

It does not have to be too many different foods.

Again, Mama, this is only a suggestion if you feel like the holidays are overbearing and becoming a burnout. We do not want to teach our children that they must cook everything they have and stuff themselves until they are uncomfortably full just because it is a tradition. Teach them that there are ways to celebrate with a healthy-sized feast and that they can consume the amount of food necessary for their little bodies. Please do not forget to include them in the day’s preparation. They are willing and capable. This is a time to learn patience on your behalf and create special memories that will bring you and your children together.

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
John 15:13

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.
Proverbs 17:17

5. Write Letters

Writing letters is a genuine and fun way to connect with your loved ones and the community. It tells the letter’s receiver that they were thought of and cherished. If you want to participate in writing letters, then ask your toddler to make a list with you of all the people they would love to write a letter to. Then, with a few cards or construction paper, allow your toddler to draw and color what they want on the card or paper and ask them what they would want you, Mama, to write on behalf of them to whomever they choose. Because it is a season of thankfulness, you could, depending on the age, explain that you can write words from their heart on how they feel about the person, and you could also explain what being thankful is and ask how/ why they are grateful for that person.

My family and I do it almost the same way I explained. Still, because my husband and I love writing letters, we write our letters, and with our toddlers interested in our project, they chime in a few words that we write on behalf of them, then we let them color a coloring sheet of their choosing and help them sign their name. (My toddlers have not discovered drawing skills yet, so we stick to coloring sheets.) This shows our toddler that it is good to reach out to others, show our gratitude to God for having them in our lives, and show appreciation for them for being the people they are in our lives.

People you may want to consider writing letters to:

Loved ones (family &friends)
Community (neighbors)
Law Enforcement officers
First responders
Essential workers
Children In the Hospitals

6. Pumpkin Patch

Who does not like a good old-fashioned pumpkin patch?

Please take advantage of the pumpkin patches while they are still out! This is your outside time with your toddler to be as festive as you want, and it’s a great way to have social encounters while they journey through the pumpkin patch. But that is not all there is! At a pumpkin patch, you can include a visual lesson plan explaining:

God’s perfect and intentional timing with how He created the season and each fruit and vegetable that it would all harvest in its perfect season.
You can further the lesson with the farmers who welcomed people to their patch to reap the benefits of their hard work managing their crops and fields. (When you talk about the farmers, you can express to your toddler how important it is to pray for them and their bodies to be healthy, as well as praying for their land and harvest season because, without farmers, there would be no food for us to buy in the grocery stores.)
You can also teach how many ways you can utilize a pumpkin. (Décor, food, natural health remedies).

*I do not know what state or city you are reading this from but be aware of the timing of pumpkin patch seasonal business hours. I assumed that because pumpkin patches are used for Thanksgiving and used to be up in November, they would still be around, but unfortunately, most pumpkin patches close at the beginning of the first week in November. As I was told, they have been used more for Halloween, so be aware of your timing with this field trip experience.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens (1)…He has made everything beautiful in its time.(11)
Ecclesiastes 3:1 & 11

They sowed fields and planted vineyards that yielded a fruitful harvest; he blessed them, and their numbers greatly increased, and he did not let their herds diminish.
Psalms 107:37-38

“Celebrate the Festival of Harvest with the firstfruits of the crops you sow in your field.
“Celebrate the Festival of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field.
Exodus 23:16

Of course, there will be other things that you would want to include in your seasonal Thanksgiving Lesson, such as gathering with friends and family, but remember that God is in everything. These are just a few ways to include God in your seasonal Thanksgiving Lesson. This is not a season of harvest and thankfulness to bypass by focusing on gluttony from food and black Friday Christmas sales. This is one month that should be known for thankfulness, and we should all be a part of a fasting month to show gratitude to one another and God. Praying to God and telling Him what you are thankful for every day as if you are teaching your children a sense of fasting to pray during those 30 days and be mindful in serving will not only change your toddlers in that month but with self-discipline to do it every day, it will bring out your creativity and prayer life as well. This allows the family to grow a praying lifestyle together and normalize healthy seasonal fun in this fast-paced world.

“But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua 24:15

NIV Scriptures

For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.

Luke 12:23

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 10:31

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.

Colossians 2:8

Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.

Galatians 4:8-11

I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back. ‘Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth—everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

Isaiah 43:6-7

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

“To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

John 8:31-32