Create a Gratitude Pumpkin with Your Family This Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is often touted as one of the biggest travel days of the year.
Visiting with family and friends is a tradition that many enjoy, but it can also be the cause of a great deal of stress.
In all the hubbub of making travel plans, or planning out a thanksgiving meal for those who choose to host the event, keeping a thankful focus can become a challenge.
Choosing to delegate some of the preparation to others can cut down on stress, and make the holiday more meaningful for everyone since they’re being offered an opportunity to contribute.
One decoration that’s easy and can help the whole family keep focused on the gratitude aspect and many blessings with which God gives us is a Gratitude Pumpkin.
The only supplies needed for this are a pumpkin and a felt tip marker, according to Amy Latta Creations.
If desired, a small pumpkin could be purchased for each member of the family if everyone is interested in making their own Gratitude Pumpkin.
The idea is to write something on the pumpkin each day, perhaps starting in November, for which each person of the family is thankful. Of course if there are artists in the family who prefer to illustrate rather than write words, this would certainly be an option.
If some of the members of the family are too young to write, they can get a bit of assistance from Mom or Dad or an older sibling.
No blessing is too small (or too big) or too mundane. Anything that’s positive is fair game.
It might work best to let Dad or Mom get the ideas flowing by taking the lead when a Gratitude Pumpkin first gets introduced to the family.
The first words to get written on the pumpkin by Mom or Dad should be, “I am thankful for…”
Then each person can write (or draw) their thought on the pumpkin wherever they choose.
So a few items that could be shared are:
- a warm house
- supportive friends and family
- chocolate
- pets
- hiking (or other favorite activities)
- a soft bed
- weekends
- transportation
And of course the list can go on.
The pumpkin can be used as a centerpiece on Thanksgiving Day, or placed in some other prominent location in the home for all to enjoy.
