Capture the spirit of fall, gratitude, and togetherness by celebrating Thanksgiving at work!
In this guide, you’ll find fun and meaningful ideas to honor this occasion and celebrate Thanksgiving at the office. We’ve included ideas and activities for in-person, hybrid, and virtual teams – so there’s something for everyone.
From DEI activities on Native American history to connecting with the themes of gratitude and thankfulness, to giving back – there are plenty of ways to celebrate this important holiday with your team!
A few of our favorite ideas for Thanksgiving at work:
- Host a Thanksgiving potluck and share your favorite foods together
- Learn about Native American history
- Give back and volunteer with your team
- Watch Thanksgiving movies and TV shows for a fun bonding activity
- Show employees you’re thankful for them
In this guide, you’ll find:
- Ways to give back & celebrate gratitude with your team this Thanksgiving
- Thanksgiving activities for adults at work, plus family friendly activities
- Creative Thanksgiving activities and team building ideas
- Ideas for Thanksgiving potluck at work
Celebrate Thanksgiving Together at Work
1. Plan a Thanksgiving Potluck
In the spirit of togetherness, plan a potluck with your team! What to bring to a Thanksgiving potluck at work can vary depending on the type of event you envision. For instance, your company could provide a Thanksgiving turkey (and a vegetarian or vegan entrée) and ask everyone to bring side dishes and desserts. Or, switch things up and choose a theme for your celebration. You can explore the foods of other cultures, ask everyone to bring their favorite Thanksgiving dish, or get creative with a theme.
Pro tip: encourage everyone to share the recipe for the dish they bring! This helps everyone understand the ingredients in each dish, in case of allergies or dietary considerations. Moreover, you can collect everyone’s recipes and print them in a special company recipe booklet for each employee. It’s the perfect unique and special holiday gift!
For virtual teams, show up on camera with your favorite dish. Then, share what you made and swap recipes together!
Get inspired with this Country Living article: 38 Best Thanksgiving Potluck Recipes to Bring to the Feast.
2. Share Thanksgiving Traditions
One classic Thanksgiving idea is to go around the room and each name something you’re grateful for. During your next team meeting or video call, take this activity a step further and ask everyone to also share their favorite Thanksgiving tradition.
This is a great opportunity to practice active listening while learning more about your team and contributing to your company culture. Sharing your favorite turkey day traditions can shine a light on your team member’s preferences, sense of humor, values, and upbringing. The conversation may even spark new ideas for your own family’s traditions!
3. Organize a Festive Office Decoration Contest
This activity can bring out the unique and inventive sides from each and every one of your employees. Nothing fosters connection better than when teams get creative together! Whether on-site at work or through hybrid / remote virtual meetings, Thanksgiving-inspired decorations can be crafted together by different employee groups, embroidering the office or workspace for the occasion. Or, each individual can compete on their own, showing off decorations online or in-person. It’s all up to you… and your staff!
Remember: even though it’s a contest, this activity’s focus should be about festive fun and connection… not about winning! Make the prize a Thanksgiving-themed gift card, coupon, delectable turkey day-related treat… or, whatever you think would float your team’s boat. Need some inspo? Check out these unique Thanksgiving Office Decoration Ideas.
Encourage Workplace Thankfulness
4. Express Gratitude to Your Team
This Thanksgiving, show employees how much you appreciate them. For many companies, a December holiday gift is traditional in the corporate world. But, a small employee recognition gift around Thanksgiving is an unexpected mood booster!
Ideas to express gratitude for your employees:
- Send everyone an e-gift card to a coffee shop or food delivery service
- Surprise team members with flowers or a potted plant at their desk
- Plan a fun team field trip the week before or after Thanksgiving – be sure to send a meeting invite so everyone can hold the time on their calendar
- Write your team members a heartfelt card sharing why you’re so thankful for them
Want more flexibility? Use a service like Giftogram that allows employees to choose their preferred gift card. You pick the amount – and they pick their favorite retailer or restaurant from a variety of popular choices!
5. Organize a Thankfulness Workshop
One meaningful way to take your office celebration to the next level? Hire a guest speaker to lead a gratitude workshop for your team. This impactful idea can complement your Thanksgiving party or potluck.
In fact, Harvard Medical School has found that giving thanks can actually make people happier! Research shows that “gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships.”
Read the article from Harvard Health Publishing: Giving Thanks Can Make You Happier. Then, head to the Gratitude Speakers Bureau to find a guest speaker for your team!
6. Create a “Gratitude Wall” in the Office
Speaking of gratitude: why not let each annual day of thanks inspire thoughtfulness, gratitude, and joy in the workplace? This can be an excellent morale booster. It’s a simple idea: reserve a wall or board in the office where employees can leave post-it notes of things they’re thankful for. Here are some more ideas for making a gratitude wall in the workplace.
Some workplaces find a Gratitude Wall so inspiring that they keep the practice long after Thanksgiving is over! If you have a virtual team, some programs offer a Virtual Gratitude Wall, or you can host a quick session where employees share what they’re most thankful for in the chat… and discuss.
Honor Native American Heritage
7. Explore Indigenous American History
Of course, Thanksgiving isn’t just about gratitude – it’s important to understand the historical context of this holiday. Learning about Thanksgiving with your team provides an opportunity to have deeper conversations and accomplish your DEI goals.
While the first Thanksgiving is often taught as a lesson in generosity and partnership, the reality is that European settlers inflicted countless atrocities on Native American people and communities. The ripple effects of these actions can still be seen and felt today.
For instance, the U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services notes that the poverty rate for Native Americans living on reservations is nearly twice the national average. Furthermore, the National Congress of American Indians reports, “When compared to all other U.S. races, American Indians and Alaska Natives have a lower life expectancy by 5.5 years. This includes higher rates of death from chronic illness, including diabetes, chronic liver disease, cirrhosis, mellitus, and suicide.”
Dig deeper into Native American history, culture, and disparities this Thanksgiving. You can learn about the land your company is headquartered on, read books by indigenous authors, watch documentaries, or take turns giving mini presentations on a related topic.
For more ideas to learn about Native American history and create meaningful action, read our Unexpected Virtual Tours guide: Ideas to Honor Indigenous People’s Day.
8. Celebrate Native American Heritage Month
Did you know that November is National Native American Heritage Month? In addition to celebrating Thanksgiving at work, make time to also honor Native American Heritage Month. As with idea #2 above, this may involve learning about Native American communities and history in your area, reading books or listening to podcasts from Indigenous creators, purchasing from Native American-owned businesses, and more.
If you’re looking for a turnkey DEI program to teach your team about Native American history and culture, look no further than our Indigenous and Native American Heritage Month Session. This hour-long virtual experience is hosted by two studio guides and two live-streaming guides, including a leading Indigenous scholar who is an enrolled member of the Atakapa-Ishak Nation.
Learn more and book the Indigenous and Native American Heritage Month Session from Unexpected Virtual Tours & Training – scroll down to fill out the form below! Reach out below to connect with our team about the Indigenous & Native American Heritage Month virtual program, or another session.
9. Host a Native American Speaker
There’s no better way to learn about heritage and way of life than directly from those who live and breathe it. For this reason, if you’re looking for something beyond a simple thankfulness workshop, hosting (and supporting!) a Native American speaker for the occasion can be powerful.
This activity is a great way to educate your team about diversity, U.S. history, and how Native American culture overlaps and impacts the meaning of Thanksgiving… and vice versa. It can also promote understanding and connection in the workplace, especially for any staff of Indigenous ancestry or identity.
Reach out below to connect with our team about the Indigenous & Native American Heritage Month virtual program or other sessions – some of which feature Native American speakers and scholars! Don’t hesitate to contact us using the form below – we’d be happy to help.
Engage in Team Activities
10. Challenge Everyone to a Thanksgiving Scavenger Hunt
Whether at home via video call, or in the office – a scavenger hunt is a fun way to introduce friendly competition. Create a list of Thanksgiving-themed items, and challenge everyone to find as many as possible!
Scavenger hunt items might include: a thank-you note from a client or friend, a Thanksgiving food item, something turkey-themed (this might be a stuffed animal, lunch meat from the fridge, a child’s turkey craft or artwork, etc!) decorations, and more.
Thanksgiving games like this can help everyone get into the fun holiday spirit as you form connections and get to know your teammates better.
Browse tips for a successful office holiday scavenger hunt with this guide from ExactHire.
11. Watch a Thanksgiving Movie or TV Show Together
Get into the Thanksgiving spirit with a favorite Thanksgiving movie or TV episode! If your team is virtual, you can use a free online streaming service to coordinate your viewing. Or, gather in person and turn your office into a makeshift theatre!
If you have nice weather and a greenspace, you can create an outdoor movie experience! Rent an inflatable movie projection screen and set up blankets and pillows for a cozy outdoor movie night.
Thanksgiving movies & TV episodes to watch:
- A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving – a family friendly classic
- Planes, Trains, & Automobiles – if your team could use a laugh
- Jim Henson’s Turkey Hollow – another family friendly option
- Bob’s Burgers: “Turkey in a Can” (season 4, episode 5)
- Fresh Off the Boat: “Huangsgiving” (season 2, episode 8)
- The West Wing: “Shibboleth” (season 2, episode 8)
- The Office Thanksgiving episode (unofficial): WUPHF.com (season 7, episode 9). This episode makes references to Thanksgiving, despite not being an entirely Thanksgiving themed episode. Fans of “The Office” will take any excuse to re-watch it!
Let your movie buff colleagues pick their favorite choice from Rotten Tomatoes’ list of the Best Thanksgiving Movies.
12. Hold a Thanksgiving Trivia Competition
Thanksgiving can focus on filling your belly… but what about filling your brain? For the learning-hungry members of your group, engage your team in some holiday trivia once the feasting is over. It’s a fun way for staff to connect over Thanksgiving facts, history, and even pop culture (or food culture!) connected to this day of gratitude.
It’s also the perfect occasion for peppering in some learning about our nation’s rich history and diversity. Include trivia covering Native American and Indigenous events and culture related to Thanksgiving – or, toss in factoids exploring how different cultures celebrate parallel traditions to Thanksgiving, such as the Hispanic or LatinX Day of the Dead / Día de los Muertos. Encourage a spirit of giving and exchange… while crossing barriers!
Embrace the Spirit of Giving
13. Coordinate a Team Volunteer Activity
There’s nothing like giving back to make you appreciate how much you have. This year, start a tradition of volunteering or giving back as a team on Thanksgiving – and year-round.
During the holidays, many food banks and soup kitchens are flooded with help. Then, in January and beyond, the number of volunteers and meals can dwindle. While Thanksgiving is a great time for a service day, it’s also a perfect time to plan volunteer efforts for the year ahead.
Host a roundtable discussion with your team to hear what causes they care about and support. Then, consider what makes the most sense for your team. This might mean coordinating a quarterly volunteer day, offering a company match for nonprofit donations, sponsoring a fundraising event or food drive, or some combination of these. You can also reach out to local nonprofits to ask about their most urgent needs.
To get started, browse this article from Forbes: 15 Ways to Give Back (and Generate Good PR for It).
14. Extend the Paid Holiday Break
If your company isn’t already doing so, consider making the Friday after Thanksgiving a paid holiday for your team in addition to Thanksgiving Day. After all, it’s likely that many people are already taking this day off! By making it a paid holiday, you can boost team morale while having minimal impact on your employees’ work.
Many companies go a step further and also offer the Wednesday before Thanksgiving as a holiday. You may find that your employees come back refreshed and less stressed when they have time to tidy their home for guests, travel to see family, and prepare Thanksgiving foods.
Learn more about how employers are handling Thanksgiving time off with this Business News Daily article: A Record Number of Employers Give Two-Day Thanksgiving Holiday.
15. Organize a Thanksgiving-Themed Fundraiser
Nothing celebrates the giving spirit more than donating to communities, organizations, and causes in need. Some simple ideas can inspire employees to give even just a little… but have it add up in a big way. And all while having fun!
For example: for one day, allow employees to wear whatever they want to work… so long as they pay money into a fundraiser jar! Set different “costs” for various clothing items: $5 for jeans, $10 for jeans AND casual shirt… $20 for pajamas or sweatpants (or, $50 for a full-on Turkey costume!) You get the idea!
There are so many great Fall and Thanksgiving-Themed Fundraiser ideas… and great causes that need help. Consider donating to Feeding America, which helps feed the less fortunate during Thanksgiving. Or, contribute to organizations that support Native American and Indigenous communities to honor their role in our history, while remembering their connection to this holiday season.
However you choose to celebrate, we wish you and your team a happy Thanksgiving! To keep the seasonal good times going, explore our guide: 40+ Virtual Holiday Party Ideas.
Located in Atlanta? Check out Unexpected Atlanta Tours & Gifts