Thanksgiving week has kicked off, kids are home on break, and most families are looking to make the most of their time together without breaking the bank or overloading on activities. From sports to service, gameS and on-the-go, and more, Family Entourage shares some simple ways for families to connect.
Thanksgiving Family Sports
The average American consumes close to 5,000 calories on Thanksgiving day so get outside and sporty to offset the indulge while also having fun. Many will lace up sneakers for a turkey trot, or organize the neighbors for a block party pick up game of baseball, kickball or the super popular pickleball and DICK’S Sporting Goods is the best spot for all things sports! FOX is showing the NFL game, and during halftime you can play football with friends or bike to the beach or park.
A tip we love, is to take advantage of all the early DICK’S Sporting Goods Black Friday deals on sports and athletic equipment and apparel to round out what gear you might already have… and then turn into stocking stuffers and practical gifts since you’re already going to spend for spring sports and such.
We love getting the whole family involved in a field day or rotating stations, here is a sample of what we did for our stations. Each person had to run through it one time and then tag the next person relay race style. You can set it up in your yard or at a local park.
- Dizzy louisville slugger bat – spin with your forehead touching the handle, 5x around on the bat
- Basketball Dribble – then dibble the ball the length of the course.
- Flippin’ Out – Take a pickleball racket and hit a ball. Alternate sides back and forth while ball is up in the air five times
- Jumping Jack– slip on sneakers and do 5 jumping jacks
- Run back and tag the next person and take a drink from your Yeti
Houses for the Holidays
Teaching kids to have a heart of gratitude can be a challenge, especially in Southern California, but it’s so important for kids to understand what it means to serve and thanks to Lazy Dog’s Restaurants’ Houses for the Holidays, now the whole family can get involved in a heartwarming, and delicious project. Build a DIY Gingerbread House and also help build a physical house for someone in need through Habitat for Humanity. Kits are only $7.50 and 100% of proceeds go toward building homes in the community. Every gingerbread house purchased at a Lazy Dog Restaurant will help families in need of a decent place to live in communities across the U.S. The kit is complete with pre-cut edible gingerbread walls and roof pieces, icing to keep it all together, and a variety of candy for imaginative decorating. The Gingerbread House Kits are available through the end of the year and can be found at all Lazy Dog locations for takeout and delivery, while supplies last.
Lazy Dog Restaurants, is a casual dining restaurant with a location at Mission Valley. If you’re headed to the restaurant, you can build your gingerbread while you wait for your food. The kids’ menu has a “blueprint” that they can color and come up with their design and then they can build away. We also love the idea of enjoying one of Lazy Dog’s family meals and getting a couple of kits and having a competition with friends and family or you can even try one of their new Lazy Dog’s TV Dinners into the oven and while your TV Dinner cooks, enjoy this fun activity with your family. These are available for takeout and delivery.
Art Activities On-the-Go
Keeping little hands busy whether you’re traveling to grandma’s for the feast or just need kids to have crafts that provide independence from parents so you can attend to the cooking in the kitchen or socialize with guests, there are many ways for creativity through art activities.
One of our favorites is the new Wixels sets from Crayola. Inexpensive and reusable — two key words! — innovative way to do pixel art while teaching concentration and patience in a creative way. Once done can show off masterpieces and display in house too.
Thanksgiving Game Time
Bond over board games or cards, but here are a few DIY Thanksgiving-specific games that are free and provide some healthy competition while sticking to theme!
Spin the Pie Game – Guests spin to unveil six slices of life: Family, Friends, Travel, Home, Pets, Work. Each of which is intended to conjure a memory for which they’re grateful. To make, segment the center of a paper plate into six sections; write prompts in each. Cut a smaller round from colorful craft paper; remove one “slice” for category window. Attach wheel to plate with a gold brad. Attach jute rope to rim with hot-glue. Add stenciled letters. Thanks to Country Living and Brian Woodcock for introducing this game.
Traffic “Yam” Race – use all the grocery paper bags from your Thanksgiving ingredients, turn them into turkey vests, and race each other taking a yam/sweet potato and see who can roll it to the finish line first with just a fork. It is harder than it sounds. You could even make this a relay style race. Not into a competition, you could simply have the kids make their own turkey vest and decorate it.
Relative Photo Scavenger Hunt – give the kids your phone with a list of photos to get, uncle making mashed potatoes, dad brining turkey, the dog jumping in leaves, it is a fun way to get everyone engaging in all of the action, plus it helps to have keepsakes from the day. You can create bonus points for catching grandma taste test the pie, an aunt doing a replay from the football game, and more.
