Thanksgiving Journaling Prompts

Journaling is VERY important for me in my scrapbooking.  Below is a compilation of Thanksgiving Journaling Prompts that I have collected from various websites*. 

A few exercises to get you started...

Words to inspire thankful thoughts- Choose one word (or a group of words) from the list below and write freely about what they personally mean to you.

Thankfulness, gratitude, abundance, warmth, security, family, football, tradition, November, Harvest Festival, fourth Thursday in November, Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, Thanksgiving Proclamation, George Washington, 1789, Pilgrims, settlers, Indians, fall, autumn, feast, turkey, gravy, dressing, stuffing, corn, yams with marshmallows, pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnips, cranberry sauce, corn bread, Christmas shopping.

Thankful list- If you want to prepare yourself for Thanksgiving, you could always write out 100 Things You Are Thankful For. It's not as easy as you might think to come up with 100 different things.

Get everyone involved-Ask everyone to write down their name and one thing they are thankful for this year.  You can pre-cut the papers to be any size you would like, so you can include them on a scrapbook page.  BONUS--You will have a sample of everyone's handwriting in your scrapbook!!!

Journaling Prompts...

• Record your child’s version of Thanksgiving on a scrapbook page.
• Make a list of your family’s favorite Thanksgiving Traditions.
• Does your family say a special Thanksgiving prayer at mealtime? Record the words.
• Create a “menu” that documents your family’s Thanksgiving meal.
• Write a guest list of the people who attended your Thanksgiving feast this year. (Wouldn’t it be cool if you did this every year?)
• Include a copy of your Thanksgiving shopping list on a scrapbook page. (I think it would be neat to include the receipt too.)
• Photocopy favorite family Thanksgiving recipes and slip them behind or on a scrapbook page.
• Tell about a Thanksgiving that went awry. Did you burn the mashed potatoes? Did your son come down with the chicken pox?
• What is the one thing you like best about Thanksgiving Day?
• How have you changed the Thanksgiving traditions of your childhood? If you’re married, how have you melded traditions from two families?
• Where did you go for Thanksgiving dinner this year? Were you happy to go there?
• Create a schedule that shows your Thanksgiving routine.
• What do you do with Thanksgiving leftovers?
• Make a list of Thanksgiving Day movies and/or books you and your family enjoy.
• What does it mean to be thankful?
• Why do you think brown and orange are the Thanksgiving colors?
• Describe what you know about the first Thanksgiving dinner.
• Use your five senses to describe the meal's tastes, looks, smells, and textures.
• Tell about your family's Thanksgiving traditions. How does each person contribute?
• If Thanksgiving is one of your favorite holidays, describe why you enjoy it so much. Are there any parts of the holiday that you don't like?
• What family traditions are you looking forward to this Thanksgiving?
• What family traditions are you hoping to avoid this Thanksgiving?
• Are there any special family recipes that you use for Thanksgiving?
• Who will be at your Thanksgiving feast this year? Are there any new additions? Anyone missing?
• What activities does your family participate in while they're waiting for dinner?
• Do you use the good china or the paper stuff?
• Do you create anything "crafty" for Thanksgiving? (centerpieces, flower arrangements, place markers, or napkin rings, or example)

• Who prepares the meal?
• Did you make any culinary contributions to the meal?
• Write out the menu and who prepared what.
• What was your favorite dish? Least favorite?
• Where does everyone sit for dinner?
• Were there any interesting conversations during dinner?
• Write about dessert.
• Who cleans up the mess?
• What activities did your family participate in after dinner?
• What was your favorite memory of this Thanksgiving?
• Compare the Thanksgivings of your childhood to the Thanksgivings of your adult life.
• What was different about Thanksgiving this year?
• Do you think the history of Thanksgiving Day matters to people anymore? Is the current meaning of a holiday celebration or family tradition more important than its roots?
• What does celebrating Thanksgiving represent or symbolize to you?
• Does your family gather together at Thanksgiving? If so, do members travel great distances and put a lot of effort to get together and make the event memorable? What do you enjoy about this event?
• How does Thanksgiving Day normally go at your house? Does it go smoothly or is it a time of family stress or disagreement?
• Do you watch football games on Thanksgiving Day? What have been the most memorable Thanksgiving football games that you remember?
• Do you remember celebrating your first Thanksgiving dinner with your family? How old were you? Who did you sit next to? What else do you remember about it?
• Do you remember preparing your first Thanksgiving dinner for your family? What was the experience like? Was the turkey dry? Or did everything turn out perfect?
• Is Thanksgiving a time for "thanks" and "gratitude" for you? Or are you primarily focused on preparing a meal or entertaining guests?
• Do you look forward to the "biggest shopping day of the year" kicking off your Christmas shopping on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving)?  How do you prepare for it? (Include gift/shopping lists and an itinerary.)

*I used the following web sites to compile the journaling prompts on this list...
http://www.creativity-portal.com/prompts/dunmire/thanksgiving.html
http://www.scrapvillage.com/blog/2008/11/journaling-prompts/
http://k6educators.about.com/od/novemberholidayslessons/qt/thanksjournal.htm
http://journaljots.blogspot.com/2008/11/thanksgiving-journal-prompts.html

I hope these will jump-start your Thanksgiving journaling for your scrapbook layouts!  Happy Thanksgiving!