When they’re away from their friends and their usual routine at school, many teens aren’t really sure what to do with their time. They may be in need of some rest and relaxation. However, a four-day Thanksgiving weekend is a long time to sit around the house. With a little inspiration and a project or two to keep them busy, your teen can have a fulfilling Thanksgiving break that they’ll want to tell their friends about. 

What makes a great Thanksgiving activity for teens? The ideas on our list will keep your kids entertained while they’re home from school and support their mental health at the same time. The activity you choose should also help them engage with the deeper meaning of gratitude and thanks.

In this blog post, we’ll share six Thanksgiving activities to help your teen get in the spirit of gratitude over the holiday weekend.

6 fun Thanksgiving activities to help your teen stay in good spirits

Practicing gratitude on a regular basis can be an effective way to help prevent or manage the negative thoughts that fuel common mental health conditions like depression and anxiety. It’s no replacement for treatment. It is a skill you can help your teen learn that will serve them for the rest of their life. Activities like the ones on our list help teens connect with their gratitude in a way they can both appreciate and enjoy.

Try a few of these activities at home with your teen during their Thanksgiving break:

• Make gratitude collages — A gratitude collage is a fun way for teens to create a tactile and visual representation of what they’re thankful for. Grab a stack of magazines and some glue or Mod Podge. They might make their collage on a piece of paper or dress up a gratitude journal they can use all year long. 
• Start a gratitude jar — This is something the whole family can participate in. Get a jar and cut up some slips of paper. Have each member of the family write down something they’re grateful for and put it in the jar. Encourage them to keep adding to the jar when good things happen. By next Thanksgiving, you’ll have an overflowing jar of great memories to remind you of your blessings.
• Volunteer at a soup kitchen — Helping other people by volunteering at a soup kitchen or a food pantry is a great way to help teens gain some perspective on the poverty in their community. Help them reflect on their experience afterward, and if they enjoyed volunteering, encourage them to keep doing it on a regular basis. 
• Host a Friendsgiving — Your teen might be more inclined to get into the spirit of Thanksgiving if they get to play host with their friends. Plan a Friendsgiving on the Friday or Saturday after Thanksgiving. Use the leftovers to make turkey chili or Thanksgiving egg rolls. Make sure you have an interactive gratitude activity and some fun games to play.
• Do a Pinterest challenge — Get your teen to help with your Thanksgiving celebration while testing their skill with a Pinterest challenge. Have them collect some ideas for decorations or recipes to make on a Pinterest board. Then choose one together and help them gather the supplies they’ll need to re-create it. Don’t forget to take a picture for posterity.
• Plan a Thanksgiving scavenger hunt — Scavenger hunts are a great way to get your teen thinking and moving during a long weekend. You just need to create some clues and an incentive to solve each one. Put your own spin on it, too. You might send your clues as text messages and ask them to text you a picture or answer a trivia question to receive the next one. Or plan a quick activity to complete with each clue, like a gratitude journaling prompt or a challenge to send positive messages to their friends. 

Thanksgiving isn’t the flashiest holiday, but it can be one of the most rewarding ones if you make an honest effort to get in the spirit. Giving your teen some responsibility and choice in the way they contribute to your family celebration may be just the inspiration they need. The real reward is in the moments when you get to enjoy what you’ve created with the ones you love.

At Lightfully Teen, we focus on helping teens proactively create positive, protective elements in their lives for better mental health. We provide higher levels of treatment for teens who are having a hard time functioning because of a mental health condition. However, instead of focusing treatments on their diagnosis or their symptoms, we see each client as a person first. With our Precision Care Model (PCM), we create individualized treatment plans that are tailored to each teen’s personality and their lives.

We hope you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving. If you ever have questions about higher levels of mental health care for your teen, feel free to contact us.