Between June and September kids can have approximately 82 days of summer vacation. How do you fill all those days? In many of my blogs I talk about keeping a schedule during holidays, vacations, and especially, during the summer.  It may seem repetitive, but it was so important for Ryan. One of the tricks I found that worked for the summer was to have a specific topic for each day and then build an activity or more around that topic. For instance, Mondays were cooking day (or as Ryan liked to call it – “cheffing”), Tuesdays we might visit the museum, photography on Wednesday, go exploring on Friday.

But, today is Thursday, and Thursdays for us were always “thankful day.” Sometimes we volunteered by weeding at Frontier Park, picked flowers in our garden to give to someone who helped us, or emailed a friend, thanking him/her for what they had done for us that week. Below are 12 thoughtful Thursday ideas to consider, but the possibilities are endless! And the importance of being thankful can never be underestimated!

1. Wash the car together.  No driveway and no car?  Then wash the toy cars.
2.  Call someone just to say hello.
3. Pick some flowers (dandelions and clovers are okay) and give the bouquet to someone who isn’t expecting them.
4. Write a top ten list of a person’s best attributes & give the list as a gift to that person.
5.  Write a thank you letter to someone and mail it.
6. Donate clothing, books and toys to charity.
7. Teach your child to do one chore.
8.  Give someone a homemade art project.
9. Volunteer at a food bank.
10. Collect bottles and cans, then donate the money to charity.
11. Pray for someone who needs a prayer.
12. Hug someone who needs a hug.