3 Thanksgiving traditions you’ll want to adopt

Thanksgiving is a low-key holiday that’s rife with traditions, most of which involve food and football. But if you’re looking to embellish the way you and your family celebrate the occasion, consider adopting one of these three activities.

1. Go on a fall hike. Once the turkey’s in the oven, work up an appetite with a family walk. It can involve a simple jaunt around the block or a full-on trek through the woods.

Keep the kids entertained by having them collect branches, leaves and pinecones. Encourage them to create a unique centrepiece or Thanksgiving wreath when they arrive back home.

2. Add to the family cookbook. Many families have traditional holiday recipes. Write them all down so that they don’t get lost.

Invite older kids to type and print the recipes and place them in a binder. Once the cookbook has been compiled, make it a point to add one new recipe every year.

3. Create a family quiz. A few weeks before Thanksgiving, send everyone attending your celebration a questionnaire. Ask your guests to share their favourite food, their bucket-list travel destination and what they’re thankful for.

During the meal, see who can guess what the others answered. The winner gets bragging rights until next year.

Did you know?
Though American Thanksgiving famously began in 1621, it was first celebrated by Europeans in Canada more than 40 years earlier. In 1578, Martin Frobisher and his crew made it safely through the Northwest Passage and arrived on Baffin Island. They celebrated their safe arrival with a meal of salt beef, biscuits and mushy peas followed by prayers of thanks.