Thanksgiving Advent Calendars – Printable Thanksgiving Countdown Fun for a Whole Family
Thanksgiving is a major American holiday. While some other days also stand out in their own ways, Thanksgiving probably excels as a family reunion, maybe even more than Christmas. And just as we love to enjoy the anticipation of the latter with a Christmas Advent calendar, more and more people enjoy Thanksgiving countdown calendars. That’s why we prepared a few free printable Thanksgiving Advent calendars with typical symbols of this traditional holiday.
You probably want to know how many days are left until Thanksgiving, don’t you? Turn on your printer, check if you are not out of Thanksgiving colors, call other family members, and create unforgettable experiences!
Thanksgiving is a celebration of Fall. Orange, red, and brown tones shall dominate the table decor. Everything related to the land and food is welcome. When we talk about countdown calendars for Thanksgiving, we expect the same colors. There is no rule for numbers. While most countdowns to Thanksgiving start 31, 30, or 28 days before the big day, every number is acceptable. If you started counting a few days or even weeks later, don’t worry. Just cross the past days and continue where it fits you.
Cornucopia is a fancy word for ‘horn of plenty. It symbolized abundance, a necessary condition for surviving a harsh winter, but also a tribute to hard work during warm months and a successful harvest. We worked hard for so long; we deserve to splurge a bit. Don’t exaggerate. Thanksgiving Day is well-known for all kinds of health issues related to overeating. The day after is officially the busiest day for plumbers in the year!
You have been warned. Here is a Turkey Day countdown calendar:
Turkey is the major star of a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. The same is true for the printable Thanksgiving calendar. Or, shall we call it the Turkey Day countdown? While there are many alternatives to this magnificent bird on the table, every year, over 45 million turkeys are still eaten for Thanksgiving dinners in the USA. Of course, there was no turkey at the ‘original’ Thanksgiving, a three-day harvest festival in 1621. But the Pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians were not hungry. They ate venison, fish, and wild birds like ducks and geese with fruit and vegetables. Don’t forget your vegetables.
Believe it or not, pardoning the turkey is the youngest of Thanksgiving traditions, becoming official only in 1988.
Pumpkins are probably the second star of the Thanksgiving table. You’ll find them on Halloween countdown calendars and free Thanksgiving countdown printables, and can’t do without pumpkins as well. They fascinate with their colors, shapes, and, obviously, they are large. Much larger than a ‘regular’ fruit or vegetable. We can find 31 pumpkins on this page. Another proof of abundance, right?
There are plenty of ways to use a pumpkin, but none of them compares to a pumpkin pie, a traditional Thanksgiving dessert. While pumpkin pies may be the oldest Thanksgiving dish, a crusted pumpkin pie is fairly new. The early pumpkin pies were made of hollowed pumpkins, filled with milk, honey, and spices, slowly cooked, and served. Pumpkins with crusts, similar to the ones we are familiar with today, popped up only a century and a half later.
Did you know that colonists in New England delayed their Thanksgiving celebration in 1750 due to a lack of ingredients necessary for a pumpkin pie? Count your pumpkin pies on the Thanksgiving calendar carefully. You don’t want to run out of them.
Pilgrim hats are the last symbols we will be dealing with in this post. We present them as we mostly see them in the media, but there were no fixed rules about their look in the 17th century. Well, one thing is for sure. They had no buckles. You can find more interesting Thanksgiving symbols, including turkeys in various poses, Pilgrims (with and without hats), and even the Mayflower in free printable Thanksgiving coloring pages. One more thing: we will add more countdown-to-Thanksgiving calendars and other free printables in the future, so don’t forget to bookmark this page. Share it with everybody who may be interested and preserve the Thanksgiving traditions!