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Written By Morgan Hill
I was recently asked to write about the fall and Thanksgiving events for families in and around Newberry.
I’m a homeschool mom of 2 who is always looking for fun easy activities for my kids. As a Canadian living in Newberry, I still find it a bit confusing planning Thanksgiving in November instead of October. But I do enjoy the opportunity to be twice as thankful and eat twice the Turkey. Plus, the weather is usually much warmer than what I grew up with, so there’s more chances to do fun things outdoors.
Some activities to do with kids and families are taking a hike through Lynch’s woods collecting fall leaves, and then use them to make some pretty fall art with the kids. You can make sun catchers or use them as decorations for the house.
Plan a fall scavenger hunt around town. Make it a game and invite your friends and family to participate. There are many free scavenger hunts available on Pinterest or if you know your area well, make up your own!
Visit a Native American National Park. Oconee Station hosts an annual Native American Day that demonstrates how their pottery was made and showcases some of the bows, arrowheads, and other tools that were once used.
Have a thankful pumpkin. Write what you’re thankful for on and around the pumpkin and use it as your centerpiece for your meal.
We have a Thanksgiving countdown calendar. Every day in November my kids and I (husband, too) write something we are thankful for. We put it away to save and read next year and/or at dinner. I found our calendar on Amazon, but if you are crafty, it’s not hard to make on your own.
We’ve also added our Thankful Tree – I normally start this tree around Canadian Thanksgiving (it’s the first weekend of October). I go outside and find some branches that have fallen, and I then cut out paper leaves. We will hang the leaves with the things we are thankful for on those branches. It’s a good reminder and fall décor all in one!
Play turkey tag, it’s a simple game and a lot of fun. You’ll need clothes pins for this one. Each person has 3 clothes pins attached to their shirt. The goal of the game is to be the last one with at least one turkey pin still on. You can decorate your pins to look like turkeys or if you’re like me, just put the clothespins on as is and off you go. Whoever wins gets an extra piece of pie.
If you can’t afford a photographer or if you’re like me and you’ve forgotten to book your session, have no fear! You can do it yourself. There are timers on your phone and Amazon has this cool gadget you can use from your hand to take the pictures. Have fun with the pictures. Life is messy! If the kids are grumpy and no amount of bribery is working, just go with the flow. Use what you have. Believe me, it’s more personal this way, plus all grandparents and other parents get it! They’ve been there and are doing the same thing.
There are plenty of activities to do with your family like painting a cardboard turkey or turkey games and more. You just need to be willing to do a little digging.
If you do use some of these ideas or come up with some of your own, we’d love to see them!
Post them and tag us #NewberryNow.
From our family to yours, we wish you the Happiest of Thanksgivings!
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