Planning Ahead for a COVID-Safe Thanksgiving Holiday

With Thanksgiving right around the corner and COVID-19 cases not going down, it’s safe to assume that we’re going to be celebrating Thanksgiving a little differently this year. What is usually a holiday of mass gatherings, endless cooking and eating, and screaming at football games is now going to be… well, probably not much of that.

Since we still have a couple of weeks before Turkey Day, we wanted to give you plenty of time to prepare to celebrate.

Here are a few tips for celebrating one of America’s favorite holidays, safely.

Party on Picnic Tables

If you have the yard space, a great idea is to get picnic tables or even just cheap lawn furniture and socially distance them outdoors. Assign one family/party per table by using cute, festive name cards, like these:

Ditch the Buffet

A staple of big gatherings is the buffet table. Whether it’s on the nice kitchen bar or the deep freeze, it’s not unusual for the family to line up and make their own plates.

This year, it might be better to abandon the buffet idea and opt for individually-made plates. Mask up and wash your hands, then get to work making individual platters. Set them at the tables banquet-style, then dig in!

Big-Screen Football

To address the football situation (as is necessary here in Texas), we suggest setting up a projector outside and socially distancing on the lawn. So many families are used to getting together in Grandma’s living room and yelling at the TV together, but since that probably can’t happen this year, this is a great alternative!

Go Virtual

If gathering as a family in any capacity (socially distanced and everything) isn’t in the cards for you this year, no worries! Take the gathering online. It definitely won’t be the same, but it’s better than nothing. Help your family members get set up on Zoom, GoToMeeting, Google Meet, or any other platform like that, and make sure to tune in at the same time. Even better, try to coordinate the same meal! Same time, same food, same music in the background, and even the same outfits if y’all want! Anything to create some unity in a place where physical togetherness isn’t possible.

We hope everyone is able to have a safe and happy holiday, filled with gratitude!