Family-Friendly Thanksgiving Traditions and Events for 2023

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Activities at HomeFall

I’m so thankful to be writing this article because it celebrates my most favorite holiday, Thanksgiving! (Yes, really – I love it more than Christmas). Gratitude, quality time with friends and family, and sharing love through food are top of the list for us and these family-friendly Thanksgiving traditions and events can make your time together special.

This year, when I count my blessings, I include the Kidlist readers among them! We have a really special community, both online and in-person. Keep reading for fun camps and events going on the week of Thanksgiving, as well as a few Kidlist team traditions and kid-friendly recipes!

Thanksgiving Break Camps

Breakaway Basketball

Breakaway Basketball
Locations in Oak Brook, Hinsdale, Lombard, Lemont, Homer Glen, and Milwaukee
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

Breakaway Basketball is the leader in basketball skill development for players in Kindergarten through twelfth grade. They are the largest skill development program in Illinois, servicing over 12,000 players a year and partnering with over 500 teams to provide in-season skill development training.

They are offering several Thanksgiving break options, including a 3-v-3 Showdown in Oak Brook, Breakaway Academies in Lombard, Skills Academy, Shooting Academy, and Thanksgiving Break Experience in Mount Prospect.

Click here to register.

Gemini Gymnastics Academy

Gemini Gymnastics Academy
330 Washington Avenue
La Grange, IL 60525
(708) 352-2977
WebsiteΒ |Β FacebookΒ |Β Instagram

November 20-22, 2023

Gemini is offering ninja and gymnastics camps for ages 5 years old and up with morning and afternoon sessions available.

Click here to register.

Bothwell Pottery

Bothwell Pottery
Brookfield, IL
(708) 710-1771
WebsiteΒ |Β EmailΒ |Β FacebookΒ |Β Instagram

November 22 and 23, 2023

Thanksgiving Day AM or PM camps are a great way to introduce kids to clay or kids with more experience will have a chance to create and extend their learning. Β If the All Day option is available, they will have art activities all day at the studio.

Click here to register.

Events During Thanksgiving Week 2023

Events in the Western Suburbs

Paws in the Park (Cantigny Park, Wheaton)
November 20, 2023 | 7:00am – 8:30pm

Nature Discovery Days (Knoch Knolls Nature Center, Naperville)
November 20, 2023 | 9:00am – 4:00pm

Thanksgiving Break Open Soccer and Basketball (Woodridge)
November 20, 2023 | 10:00am – 5:00pm
Purchase passes online in advance to expedite admission.

Builders and Makers Week (Wonder Works Children’s Museum, Oak Park)
November 20, 2023 | 10:00am – 3:00pm

Jurassic Dig (Woodridge Public Library)
November 20, 2023 | 11:00am – 12:00pm
Register in advance.

Making Mondays / Manualidades (Maywood Public Library)
November 20, 2023 | 11:30am – 12:00pm and 5:00pm – 5:30pm

Santa Pet Pictures at the Lawn (Oak Brook)
November 20, 2023 | 4:00pm – 7:00pm

T-Rex Tea Party (Santori Library, Aurora)
November 20, 2023 | 6:00pm – 6:30pm

Nature Discovery Days (Knoch Knolls Nature Center, Naperville)
November 21, 2023 | 9:00am – 4:00pm

Dance Party (St. Charles Public Library)
November 21, 2023 | 9:30am – 4:00pm

Brookfield Zoo Free Admission Day
November 21, 2023 | 10:00am – 5:00pm

Museum of Contemporary Art Free Day (Chicago)
November 21, 2023 | 10:00am – 9:00pm

Thanksgiving Break Open Soccer and Basketball (Woodridge)
November 21, 2023 | 10:00am – 5:00pm
Purchase passes online in advance to expedite admission.

Story Time with the Chicago Public Library (Field Museum)
November 21, 2023 | 11:00am – 12:00pm
Included in general admission.

Archery (Brookfield)
November 21, 2023 | 1:00pm – 3:00pm

Bright Directions (Santori Library, Aurora)
November 21, 2023 | 3:30pm – 4:30pm

Indigenous Voices Storytime (Nichols Library, Naperville)
November 21, 2023 | 4:00pm – 4:45pm

Santa Pet Pictures at the Lawn (Oakbrook Center)
November 21, 2023 | 4:00pm – 7:00pm

Nature Discovery Days (Knoch Knolls Nature Center, Naperville)
November 22, 2023 | 9:00am – 4:00pm

Brain Games (Westmont Public Library)
November 22, 2023 | 9:30am – 4:30pm

Open Nature Play Day (Dan Ryan Woods, Chicago)
November 22, 2023 | 10:00am – 1:00pm

Thanksgiving Break Open Soccer and Basketball (Woodridge)
November 22, 2023 | 10:00am – 5:00pm
Purchase passes online in advance to expedite admission.

Dinovember: Adopt a Dino (Wheaton Public Library)
November 22, 2023 | 10:00am – 12:00pm

Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art Museum Free Day (Oak Brook)
November 22, 2023 | 10:00am – 5:00pm

DuSable Museum of African American History Free Days (Chicago)
November 22, 2023 | 11:00am – 4:00pm

Bingo (Batavia Public Library)
November 22, 2023 | 11:00am – 12:00pm
Register in advance.

Family Movie: The Little Mermaid (Downers Grove Public Library)
November 22, 2023 | 1:00pm – 3:00pm

Adler Planetarium Illinois Resident Free Days (Chicago)
November 22, 2023 | 4:00pm – 10:00pm

Weekday Intermission (St. Charles Public Library)
November 22, 2023 | 5:30pm – 7:30pm

Turkey Trot and Food Drive (Glen Ellyn)
November 23, 2023 | 8:00am – 10:00am

Naperville Lions Turkey Trot
November 23, 2023 | 8:00 am – 10:30 am
Must register online in advance to participate.

Grove Express 5K (Downers Grove)
November 23, 2023 | 8:30am – 10:30am

Dan Gibbons Turkey Trot (Elmhurst)
November 23, 2023 | 9:00am – 12:00pm

Brookfield Zoo Free Admission Day
November 23, 2023 | 10:00am – 5:00pm

Big Blue Block Party (St. Charles Public Library)
November 24, 2023 | 9:30am – 4:00pm

Roving Naturalists (Garfield Park Conservatory, Chicago)
November 24, 2023 | 11:30am – 1:30pm

Friends Used Book Sale (Glen Ellyn Public Library)
November 24, 2023 | 1:00pm – 4:00pm

Ornaments for the Wilder Park Tree (Elmhurst Public Library)
November 24, 2023 | 1:00pm – 2:30pm

Walk Off That Turkey (Sand Ridge Nature Center, South Holland)
November 24, 2023 | 1:00pm – 2:00pm
Register in advance.

Annual Turkey Trot Hike (Trailside Museum of Natural History, River Forest)
November 24, 2023 | 1:30pm – 3:00pm
Register in advance.

Holiday Walk (Glen Ellyn Public Library)
November 24, 2023 | 1:30pm – 4:30pm
Festivities hosted at the library before the Holiday Walk

Friday Afternoon Movie: Elemental (Eola Road Branch, Aurora)
November 24, 2023 | 2:00pm – 3:45pm

Family Movie Afternoon (Wheaton)
November 24, 2023 | 3:00pm – 4:30pm

Storytime with the Gingerbread Librarians (Downers Grove Public Library)
November 24, 2023 | 3:45pm – 4:10pm

Black Friday Night Market (Mrs. Murphy & Sons Irish Bistro, Chicago)
November 24, 2023 | 4:00pm – 9:00pm

Tree Lighting Ceremony (Downtown Downers Grove)
November 24, 2023 | 4:30pm – 5:00pm

Holiday Walk (Glen Ellyn)
November 24, 2023 | 5:00pm – 8:00pm

Holiday Homecoming (Downtown St. Charles)
November 24, 2023 | 5:00pm – 7:00pm

Wheaton Christmas Parade and Tree Lighting
November 24, 2023 | 6:00pm – 8:00pm

Events in the Northwest Suburbs

Family Movie Monday – Elemental (Schiller Park Public Library)
November 20, 2023 | 11:00am – 1:00pm

Family Drop-In Craftivity (Prospect Heights Public Library)
November 20, 2023 | 12:30pmΒ –Β 2:30pm

Drive-in Movie (Des Plaines Public Library)
November 20, 2023 | 1:00pm – 3:30pm
Register in advance.

Legomania (Park Ridge Public Library)
November 20, 2023 | 4:00pm – 5:00pm

Pet Parties: Photos with Santa (Fashion Outlets of Chicago, Rosemont)
November 20, 2023 | 4:00pm – 7:00pm

Bilingual Spanish Storytime (Palatine Public Library)
November 21, 2023 | 10:00am – 10:30am

LEGO Club (Arlington Heights Memorial Library)
November 21, 2023 | 10:00am – 11:30am

Story Time with the Chicago Public Library (Field Museum, Chicago)
November 21, 2023 | 11:00am – 12:00pm
Included in general admission.

Family Drop-In Craftivity (Prospect Heights Public Library)
November 21, 2023 | 12:30pmΒ –Β 2:30pm

Tween Fest (Schaumburg Township District Library)
November 21, 2023 | 1:30pm – 3:30pm
Pick up tickets 20 minutes before program.

Open Nature Play Day (Garfield Park Conservatory, Chicago)
November 22, 2023 | 10:00am – 1:00pm

Family Movie: Elemental (Barrington Area Library)
November 22, 2023 | 10:00am – 11:30am

Family Drop-In Craftivity (Prospect Heights Public Library)
November 22, 2023 | 12:30pmΒ –Β 2:30pm

Dino-rific Party (Wood Dale Public Library)
November 22, 2023 | 2:00pm – 3:00pm

Super Mario Bros. Movie (Park Ridge Public Library)
November 22, 2023 | 4:00pm – 5:30pm

Adler Planetarium Illinois Resident Free Days (Chicago)
November 22, 2023 | 4:00pm – 10:00pm

Turkey Trot and Sammy Scurry (Palatine)
November 23, 2023 | 8:30am – 11:00am

Bilingual Storytime: Spanish, Hora de cuentos bilingΓΌe (Park Ridge Public Library)
November 24, 2023 | 10:30am – 10:50am

Roving Naturalists (Garfield Park Conservatory, Chicago)
November 24, 2023 | 11:30am – 1:30pm

All-Ages Game Day (Barrington Area Library)
November 24, 2023 | 2:00pm – 4:00pm

Holiday Tree Lighting (Elk Grove Village)
November 24, 2023 | 4:00pm – 5:30pm

Black Friday Night Market (Mrs. Murphy & Sons Irish Bistro, Chicago)
November 24, 2023 | 4:00pm – 9:00pm

Holiday Tree Lighting (Arlington Heights)
November 24, 2023 | 4:30pm – 6:30pm

Tree Lighting Ceremony (Schaumburg)
November 24, 2023 | 6:00pm – 8:30pm

Gratitude Scavenger Hunt

Simply click or tap on the image below and a printable version will load.

Ideas for Thanksgiving Traditions from the Kidlist Team

From Rachel’s family…

“We like to go run a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning! The day after Thanksgiving, we put up our Christmas decorations while drinking hot cocoa and listening to carols.”

From Kaitlyn’s family…

“One that’s most special to me is sharing a cup of hot chocolate and marshmallows with my Mom while we watch the Macy’s Day Thanksgiving Parade. She usually makes chocolate croissants and never forgets to serve the hot chocolate in our holiday mugs. We have been doing this since I was little and even though I have my own house now, I still drive to hers on Thanksgiving morning – it’s actually my favorite part of the day because it’s usually the calm before the storm (and yes, we always put up our trees mid-November in this Family!)”

From Jill’s family…

“A few years ago, we started a “Today, I am thankful for….” chalkboard that sits right on my kitchen counter. For the month of November, we take turns writing what we are thankful for, whether it is something big or little. And usually something funny from my husband pops up there from time to time.”

You can buy a Turkey On The Table to achieve something like this, or purchase a whiteboard and some dry erase markers at your local office supply store. If you already have paper, you can achieve this for free! Just make a paper loop chain to “Countdown to Thanksgiving” and each day, when your child(ren) tears off a loop, have them write something for which they’re thankful on it and read those slips of paper out during your family meal.

From Nicole’s family…

“Each year, we stamp the kids’ handprints on Thanksgiving table cloths and draw in legs, a beak, and gobbler to make them into turkeys with the year under it. We gave one to each grandparent the first thanksgiving and collect them back each year to add this year’s handprint turkey. As more of our siblings have kids, we pass around the table cloth each November for the kids to add their handprints to. On Thanksgiving, we place it on the dinner table and we see how much the kids have grown and our family has expanded.

Our second tradition is similar to every else’s. We add something we are thankful for to a scroll of butcher paper. I roll it up each day to hide how long it’s getting. During Thanksgiving breakfast, we unroll the butcher paper across the table and read our huge scroll as we eat breakfast!”

From Annie’s family…

“Each of us writes a list of the things they are and were thankful for over the last year. We have been making our lists and discussing them during our Thanksgiving feast every year! We actually have a binder of all the lists from past years to be able to look back at all our blessings. And now it’s even more exciting to write the thankful lists with my kids… sometimes they come up with the most hilarious things to be thankful for, small things that I would never even think of, immensely profound things, and sometimes they say things that I’m so glad I have written down and will warm my heart forever.”

From Katie’s family…

“After we eat, we all sit together and watch the same Thanksgiving episode of an old 90’s sitcom (anyone remember β€œMad About You”?)”

More Family Thanksgiving Tradition Ideas

The following ideas were shared from past members of the Kidlist team. We love them (and their ideas)!

Write things you are thankful for on paper leaves and attach them to a tree in the center of your table. – Claudia

Print out a favorite photo from that year for each person that will sit at your table and place each photo under their plate. Everyone goes around and shares the photo and it turns into a great way to remember special times together that year! – Meghan

Kid-Friendly Thanksgiving Dessert Recipes

Mama Johnson’s “Punkin” Bars

I associate these with fun memories made with the friends who have become my chosen family. They are my go-to contribution to any holiday potluck dinner, and they just hit different on Thanksgiving. Lots of opportunity here for kids to help stir, mix, grease pans, etc. – you can’t go wrong!

Cake Ingredients:

  • 2 cup granulated sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 C (one standard can) pumpkin
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Frosting Ingredients:

  • 3 oz plain cream cheese
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tbs milk
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine

Combine all the cake ingredients in a bowl, then pour into a floured and greased jelly roll pan. Bake at 350 deg for 30 minutes or until the top feels firm when pressed. Cool completely before frosting. To make frosting, whip ingredients together (a hand mixer is the best tool for this) and frost the cake. Cut and serve chilled or at room temperature. (Pro tip from my own mistake circa Thanksgiving 2005: use full-fat cream cheese or the frosting will be clumpy and unattractive) Enjoy!

This recipe is easily halved (we split it into two 8″x8″ pans) if you want to deliver some to a friend!

Grandma’s Famous Toffee Bars

This recipe has been passed down through Kaitlyn’s mom’s family. These crowd-pleasing dessert is easy to make, and require only a few ingredients!

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 3 drops maple extract (this is the “toffee” flavor)
  • 2 cups flour
  • 6 full-size Hershey bars

Mix all ingredients together (except the chocolate) and pat into a lightly greased 13×9 pan. Bake at 350Β°F for 20 minutes. Place unwrapped Hershey bars on top and melt in the oven for two minutes. Spread chocolate with a knife, cool, cut into bars and enjoy!

Madison’s “Famous Apple Pie”

Nicole’s daughter Madison came up with her own recipe for apple pie a few years ago and wrote it down. It is now a cherished item that Nicole will keep forever. They have since “perfected” the recipe with exact measurements, giving everyone the opportunity to try it at home. It’s super easy and kid-approved!

  • 1 store bought pie crust (to keep it simple!)
  • 2/4 cup sugar
  • 3 tbs. flour
  • 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp. all spice
  • 6 cups of thinly sliced/peeled apples

Toss all ingredients together and add to your favorite pie crust p. Madison loves to lattice the top of the pie crust to make it look fancy. Cover edges with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 50 minutes.

Favorite Thanksgiving Books

Head over to your local library to find these books, check with your locally owned bookstore, or order on Amazon by clicking on the titles below.

Thanksgiving Picture Books

Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Markes
At Thanksgiving time, children express their gratitude for the people and things in their lives.

Thanksgiving at the Tappletons’ by Eileen Spinelli
When calamity stalks every step of the preparations for the Tappletons’ Thanksgiving dinner, they realize that there is more to Thanksgiving than turkey and trimmings.

Thanksgiving Day Thanks by Laura Malone Elliott
Sam has trouble deciding what he is grateful for during a Thanksgiving-themed classroom assignment.

A Turkey for Thanksgiving by Eve Bunting
Mr. and Mrs. Moose try to invite a turkey to their Thanksgiving feast.

Duck for Turkey Day by Jacqueline Jules
When Tuyet finds out that her Vietnamese family is having duck rather than turkey for Thanksgiving dinner, she is upset until she finds out that other children in her class did not eat turkey either.

Beginning Readers and Early Chapter Books

Katie Saves Thanksgiving by Fran Manushkin
When a snowstorm causes the power to go out, Katie and her parents think their Thanksgiving dinner with JoJo and Pedro is ruined, but by being a good neighbor, Katie saves the day.

Trucksgiving by Jon Scieszka
The trucks of Trucktown create their own annual day of giving thanks.

Amelia Bedelia Talks Turkey by Herman Parish
When Amelia Bedelia volunteers to fill in as director of a third-grade Thanksgiving play, she misunderstands everything from one girl’s desire to play a big role to an opening night wish that she β€œbreak a leg,” but all is well in the end.

Picture Books about Being Thankful

We Are Grateful: Ostaliheliga by Traci Sorell
Cherokee poet Traci Sorell celebrates traditions of gratitude in this beautifully illustrated book.

Bear Says Thanks by Karma Wilson
Bear thanks his friends for bringing food dishes to his dinner party and finds a way of sharing something of his own.

Thanks a Million by Nikki Grimes
Thankfulness shines through these poems with beautiful illustrations.

Splat Says Thank You by Rob Scotton
Splat the Cat figures out how to let Seymour know that he’s thankful for their friendship.

The Thankful Book by Todd Parr
Easy-to-read text encourages the reader to find something every day for which to be thankful, from underwear that is just the right size to birthday cakes and the wishes they bring.

The Secret of Saying Thanks by Douglas Wood
While learning the secret to a good life, a child says thank you for the natural world and for being loved, because a grateful heart is always happy.

Thank You, World by Alice McGinty
Eight children from eight different countries express their thanks for many special things including the sun that colors the sky, breezes that lift kites, clouds that paint cotton pictures and send rain, and sparkling stars that β€œshine like Mommy’s eyes.”

This article contains Amazon affiliate links, which means the cost is the same to you but Kidlist receives a small fee from Amazon. Your support is appreciated!


Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

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