Thanksgiving is the perfect time to weave lasting memories and, most importantly, to build values. For parents and educators, the challenge is not just keeping children entertained while cooking, but turning that time into an opportunity for purposeful education 🧠.

Instead of turning to technology to fill the gap, Wipalabox invites you to use the table and the heart as your classroom. We want your thanksgiving activities for children to go beyond the turkey and become genuine acts of family connection and appreciation for cultural diversity 🌎.

Below, we present 4 educational games and crafts that spark curiosity, develop fine motor skills, and at the same time honor the beauty of ancestral cultures from which we have so much to learn. Get ready to inspire your children! 

Activity 1: Color and identity through art 🎨

This season is the perfect moment to help kids reflect on what they’re grateful for while connecting with cultural stories that celebrate community and nature. In this activity, art becomes a simple and meaningful way to talk about gratitude and diversity.

Coloring Jedeko: a moment to practice gratitude

Jedeko, our Emberá Chamí friend, guides children to explore the meaning of gratitude from a cultural perspective. As they color the design, they can think about what they appreciate this year and learn how different communities express gratitude through art.

• What does it involve?: Download and color the Jedeko template, then invite children to write a short note as if they were Jedeko, expressing gratitude for nature, their family, or their community; this simple activity can be shared later during the family meal as a sweet and meaningful gesture of connection and appreciation.

• Values developed: gratitude, cultural reflection, imagination
  Materials: colored pencils, markers, or crayons
  Begin the exploration and download your Jedeko Coloring Template
  

Activity 2: Discovering sacred animals and nature 🦅🌿

Thanksgiving focuses on harvest and the surrounding nature. Many ancestral cultures have totemic or sacred animals that represent essential virtues (strength, wisdom, protection).

The quest for animal wisdom 🐾

This activity transforms simple coloring into a lesson in natural and cultural history, blending play and education with purpose.

• What does it involve?: Choose an important animal in the worldview of an Indigenous community (e.g., the Jaguar in Muisca culture or the Eagle among Native Americans). While the child colors or draws the animal, the parent tells the story of why that animal is important and what virtue it represents.

• Values developed: Curiosity, respect for nature, empathy.
  Materials: Crayons, paper, a short story about the animal.
  Strengthen family connection with Sacred Animal Coloring Templates
  
  

Activity 3: Family connection and empowerment 🤝

Gratitude, in its purest form, is communal. Thanksgiving should be a team effort where everyone contributes and feels valued.

The Embera family portrait to celebrate unity 👨👩👧👦

This is a collaborative activity that celebrates the structure of family connection in the Embera culture.

• What does it involve?: Draw or color a scene representing your own family in the style of an Embera mural or craft. The key is that each member of the family circle (parents, grandparents, children) adds an element to the drawing: one colors, another traces, another writes the word that best represents the family.
  
  
• Values developed: Family connection, empowerment (by giving everyone a voice and space), teamwork.
  Materials: Large poster board, colors.
  Get inspired by the Embera Family Coloring.
  

Activity 4: Cognitive and playful challenge 💡🧩

Long celebrations require activities that hold attention and stimulate cognitive development without relying on screens.

Cultural word search: gratitude vocabulary 🙏

This activity keeps the brain active while introducing vocabulary related to Wipalabox values and the season.

• What does it involve? Create or download a word search with key words such as: gratitude, empathy, harvest, family, ancestors, tradition, purpose. You can include words in another language to promote cultural diversity.
• Values Developed: Cognitive development, curiosity, purposeful education.
  Materials: Pencil and printed word search.
  Use our Gratitude Vocabulary Word Search Template
  

Why is it better to prioritize educational games over mass-produced toys on Thanksgiving? 🧸❌

Prioritizing educational games and authentic crafts promotes conscious consumption and purposeful education. Unlike mass-market toys, these activities (like those found in Wipalabox) ensure that playtime is an investment in family connection and your children’s cognitive skills, aligning with our values.

Turn your activities into a continuous mission 🎁

By integrating these 4 thanksgiving activities for children, you are laying a foundation of solid values. But purposeful education doesn’t end when the turkey is gone.

The mission of Wipalabox is to make the celebration of cultural diversity and family connection a constant, not just a one-day event. Our educational games and crafts made by women artisans bring the stories of Indigenous communities directly into your hands, month after month.

How does Wipalabox’s content differ from other educational games market? 🥇

The difference lies in authenticity and social impact. While others offer only didactic material, Wipalabox provides educational games that are authentic crafts created by women artisans, ensuring purposeful education that nurtures empathy and empowerment.

If this season has inspired you to seek gifts that reinforce these values, we recommend planning your shopping ahead.

Family connection and purposeful education await. Don’t let your children’s curiosity fade after the holidays.

Turn gratitude into a monthly ritual of learning and discovery!
Subscribe to Wipalabox and bring cultural diversity into your home.