10 Socially Distanced Thanksgiving Ideas

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Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Any excuse to get the family together and eat fantastic food is something I am all for.

Every year I spend a week cooking so we can have an absolutely epic feast on Thanksgiving day. Friends and family visit and we spend hours eating and being together. Oh and the leftovers! There is nothing better.

But this year, Thanksgiving is just another reminder of how rough the times are. For the first time in years, it will just be us.

If Grandma isn’t coming over, how is Thanksgiving different from a normal dinner?

Here are 10 ways to make this Thanksgiving special even if you have to celebrate it apart.

Share Family Recipes

My dad has been making the same stuffing since before I was born. Aunt J has a special pumpkin pie recipe that no one knows. My brother makes loaded mashed potatoes that are to die for.

In a normal year, everyone has their signature dish that they bring to the feast. Sure they can’t come this year, but you can still unite everyone through food.

Share those family recipes and everyone can make their favorites. It won’t be the same as if they made it, but it will still taste like the holiday you know and love.

Mail Cards/ Crafts

Before Thanksgiving, have the kids color greeting cards and make pictures for those who would usually be there celebrating with you. Include a note about what you are most thankful for, how you miss them, and a story from the past year you wish they were there for. Then mail them off.

If everyone mails a greeting card to be there on the day, you can open them and read them during dinner. The cards are not a full substitute for the conversation you would have usually had, but they make the dinner special none-the-less.

Homemade decorations

Decorating is a great way to make the house feel festive. But don’t just buy a bunch of Thanksgiving themed decorations at the store, make them with your family.

It is much more fun to make a paper link chain in fall colors and drape it around the house than it is to pre-buy a themed garland. Fill the house with turkey-hands, painted pumpkins, and pinecone turkeys.

If you need decorating ideas, here are some great places to start:

Cook together

I don’t cook every aspect of Thanksgiving dinner, but my toddler has never cooked a significant portion of any meal with us. That changes this year.

At 2 she is old enough to help us wash and prep vegetables and turn on and off the stand mixer.

No matter how old your children are, consider getting them more involved in the process than you previously might have. After all, there is no real schedule and people aren’t coming to stay. It doesn’t matter if it takes an extra hour to make dinner.

Get some Face Time

Spend some time throughout the day calling and video chatting friends and family. Share fun things you are doing and vent about stresses and the pandemic. Call people you love and speak to frequently, and then call people you don’t talk with as much as you wish you did.

Have fun with it and make some human connection.

Make-believe a big Thanksgiving party

If you and the kids are used to a big Thanksgiving, consider inviting favorite stuffed animals and imaginary friends to the table. Make it one big teaparty.

Consider also moving the feast from the formal dining room and having a picnic on the floor of the living room or in the backyard.

Seriously, anything goes.

Socially Distanced Outdoors Thanksgiving

If you want to get together with some local friends and family, consider just having thanksgiving outside. You could go to a local park or just hang out in the backyard.

I know November is cold, but it could be manageable if you hold dinner at lunchtime instead of at night. You can also include some hot drinks like apple cider and hot chocolate to warm things up.

Play Family Games

I come from a big gaming family. We love board and video games and we play together frequently. Recently, we have been exposed to way to much screen time, so we like to use board games to get us away from all the noise.

After dinner, we are planning to play some analog games. We may make some themed games like Turkey Bowling, but we will probably also play boardgames we already have.

You could also go for a walk and play a nice game of I Spy. Either way, it is fun to continue the family time instead of mindlessly zoning infront of some Thanksgiving TV special.

Some ideas for you:

13 Fun Thanksgiving Games
Turkey Bowling
Cornhole
Literally any fun game you already have

Talk about the actual history of the day

My kid is too young for this one, but you better believe in a few years we will include this in our Thanksgiving day repertoire. It is important to understand the history of holidays, why we as a family celebrate them, and their importance to the family. You should also include the origins of family traditions.

If you don’t know the true history to Thanksgiving, you can start by watching this. It is a good one.

Give Thanks

It has been a really rough year, and it isn’t over yet. We have no idea how much worse it could get or how long this will last. But we can take a moment to be grateful for all the good things in our lives.

This year I am grateful that most of my family has survived this plauge. I am grateful that my daughter is developing well– despite all the day-to-day difficulties and lack of physical contact with the outside world. And I am so thankful my mother inlaw is moving in and has walked away from a bad relationship.

Even if we are struggling day to day, there is a lot to be thankful for.

You can go around the room and say what you are thankful for, write down what you are thankful for and make a garland or art piece out of it, or write down your troubles on a piece of paper and burn it so your trouble vanishes. Whatever your process, pick something to put some positive energy out in the universe and run with it.

Bringing it all together

It has been a rough year. As we roll into the holiday season, let’s acknowledge the holidays will be a little different this year. But that doesn’t mean they should be any less special.

We can find creative ways to celebrate the spirit of the holidays without compromising our safety and the safety of our friends and family.

Stay safe this winter. I wish everyone a happy holiday season despite everything going on.

If you have any ideas I didn’t mention, or just want to vent, leave a comment below. And don’t forget to like and subscribe.