On-line ceremonies to get the most out of your AMERICAN holiday celebrations

Thanksgiving: Gratitude
Giving thanks as Americans

Thanksgiving is our signature collection of holiday resources first created in October 2001, in response to 9/11. We wanted to give Americans new ways to experience Thanksgiving as we all struggled to recover from the terrible assault on our nation. Our offerings have expanded over the past decade and now include five additional national holidays.

Thanksgiving, America’s most universally celebrated holiday, is an ideal time to reflect on what makes our nation special. 

  • Give thanks for the freedoms we enjoy  
  • Learn more about your family’s American story
  • Explore America’s civic heritage
  • Do more than eat, watch football, and shop, because so many of us feel the need to do more

Thanksgiving Celebrate Your Way

There is no right or wrong way to use . Your way is best when it works for you. Choose one or more of our celebration ideas to add to your current Thanksgiving practice. Whatever choice you make will help to involve everyone and provide new ways to share your stories, history, and special talents across generations.

Thanksgiving Create a Keepsake

Make your own Thanksgiving Gratitude Plate that expresses the things you are thankful for and becomes a treasured Thanksgiving display item.

Thanksgiving Choose a Ceremony

We offer a range of ceremonies from the simple “Try a Slice”  to our full version with its many variations. Some were created by others who adapted the original 2001 ceremony and have made their own traditions for friends and family. Ceremonies give us scripts to help us stop and think about why we've gathered. They remind us that the holiday we celebrate has a unique purpose. We hope you enjoy our ceremonies and are inspired to create your own.

A Memory Harvest (using stories to honor and remember those no longer with us at our Thanksgiving Table)

Freedom's Feast Thanksgiving Original Ceremony (sparks conversation about why we are thankful to be Americans)

Thanksgiving Explore More

Holidays have a history. Of course we have the original Pilgrim and Native American story from 1621. Even though Thanksgiving is our most widely celebrated national holiday, it didn’t become part of the permanent federal calendar until 1941. Surprised? So were we! Enjoy exploring the resources we've gathered and a short book list to share with younger children.

Thanksgiving Resources For You

  • A Simple Thanksgiving History
  • Pilgrim Hall, our nation’s oldest continuously operating public museum located in Plymouth, Massachusetts sponsors this site. There’s no substitute for going there and seeing the actual artifacts, but you can start to learn about some of our earliest settlers from Europe. 
  • Check out Kid Info - Native Americans, a comprehensive guide to Native American histories and Native American facts.
  • Visit the National Museum of the American Indian at the Smithsonian Institute. Home to over 800,000 artifacts and 300,000 images, the museum tells the story of the Native cultures of the western hemisphere. This includes our own country's difficult history of encounters with Native American Indians.
  • Designed for teachers, parents and kids, Scholastic, a reliable vendor of educational content, offers quality info for anyone who wants to learn more about the first Thanksgiving and early life in America. Start your journey here and see where your explorations will take you.

Suggested Children's Thanksgiving Booklist


Enjoy your Thanksgiving Celebration!

Please visit us again for your MLK Day Observance.

 

Celebrate Thanksgiving