We love Turkey Day here at Burg Children’s Dentistry! Who doesn’t love gorging on delicious mashed potatoes, turkey (have you ever had it wrapped in bacon?), creamed corn, and all of the other proper fixin’s that go with the traditional Thanksgiving meal? It sure is one of our favorite holidays!
At Burg we strive to put a smile on every child’s face. Usually, we do that by giving them a really cool superhero cape and helping them to keep their teeth as healthy and pearly white as possible. To combine our passion for Thanksgiving and keeping your child smiling we’ve created a guide to help lead your family to some of Northern Utah’s best activities to do during this holiday season.
Most of these fun activities revolve around the Thanksgiving theme, but there are a few that are just really fun things to do in November.
Things to Do in the Salt Lake City Area
1. Thanksgiving Turkey Trot (West Valley)
Does your family love sports? How about hockey? Cheer on the Utah Outliers as they face off against Wyoming’s Casper Bobcats. The game also doubles as a charitable event. If you donate to their canned food drive, and you’ll receive a free ticket to another Outliers home game.
When: November 17, 2018 @ 6:30 PM – 9:00 PM
Where: West Valley Acord Ice Center, 5353 3100 S, West Valley City
If your kids aren’t too into hockey just yet, try showing them the classic 90’s Mighty Ducks movies to get them pumped up for the event!
2. International Games Day (West Jordan)
Does your family enjoy playing games? Don’t forget to head to the Salt Lake County Library this November to play Settlers of Catan, Dominion, and a lot of other games.
When: November 17, 2018 @ 10:00 AM – 10:00 PM
Where: 8030 S 1825 W, West Jordan
3. Thanksgiving Dumplings Class (Sandy)
When you think of Thanksgiving food, you might think of traditional dishes (like those mentioned in the beginning). Chances are that you don’t think of dumplings. Yet, it might be fun to try something new and add a non-traditional side dish to your family’s dinner spread.
Take a cooking class from Ocean Mart. If you have older children who are interested in cooking, take them with you! If you have younger children, it might be a good idea to go to the class and then have an activity at home where you can teach your little ones the culinary craft too.
When: November 20, 2018 @ 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Where: 115 W 9000 S, Sandy
4. Feast With the Beast (Salt Lake City)
Where do all of the pumpkins go after Halloween? A whole bunch of them actually end up getting donated to the Hogle Zoo. Why? Well, some animals actually like to eat them! Bring your family to the zoo this Thanksgiving to find out which ones do.</p.
When: November 22, 2018 @ 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Where: 2600 Sunnyside Ave S, Salt Lake City
5. Magic Show Series (Salt Lake City)
Do you have a young magician in the family? A child who may be secretly waiting for their letter to Hogwarts? Although that letter may never come (sorry kids!), that doesn’t mean they can’t experience magic outside of the movie theater. Magic shows can be just as exciting!
When: November 23-24, 2018
Where: 3605 S State Street, Salt Lake City
Things to Do in Utah County
6. Luminaria (Lehi)
Hopefully, you’ll forgive us for adding a little something that is Christmas oriented. Luminaria is a spectacular Thanksgiving Point event! Take your family to check out the lights, eat s’mores around fire pits, and play interactive games.
When: November 19-21, 2018 @ 5:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Where: 3003 North Thanksgiving Way, Lehi
7. Thanksgiving Story Time (Saratoga Springs)
Do you have a child who absolutely loves books? Would they turn your home into a library if they could? Take your little reader to the Saratoga Springs Library for a Thanksgiving-themed storytime!
When: November 21, 2018 @ 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM
Where: 1307 N Commerce Dr Suite 200, Saratoga Springs
8. Family Day at Hutchings Museum (Lehi)
The Hutchings Museum in Lehi is putting on a Family Day where there will be a gratitude-themed scavenger hunt. What a great way to have fun and learn good values at the same time!
When: November 21, 2018 @ 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Where: 55 North Center Street, Lehi
9. Pilgrim 5K (Lehi)
We all know that Thanksgiving is not the day to plan on eating healthy. All those carbs and starches! Even the thought of how much butter goes into everything is enough to give you a heart attack, right? However, that doesn’t mean that your family’s healthy lifestyle should go completely out the window on this holiday. No, get up and run! Dress up as pilgrims and participate in Thanksgiving Point’s Pilgrim 5K.
When: November 22, 2018 @ 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM
Where: 3003 North Thanksgiving Way, Lehi
Things to Do in Park City
10. Park City Mountain Opening Day Celebration
Ready to hit the slopes? Bring your family to the resort for a fun-fueled day of activities. There will be hot chocolate, donuts, live music, and a banner breaking ceremony to celebrate the first chair lift of the season going up the mountain.
When: November 21, 2018 @ 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM
Where: 1345 Lowell Ave, Park City
11. Main Street Electric Parade
Here’s another Christmas-esque activity in November (hey, at least this one is AFTER Thanksgiving!). Come see Santa Claus make his first appearance in Park City as he is welcomed by a parade full of cars decorated with Christmas lights. Santa will be on Main Street walking around from 4-6 PM before the parade.
When: November 24, 2018; @6 PM
Where: Main Street, Park City
12. Meet the Avalanche Dogs
Different ski resorts around Park City allow the public to come and meet their avalanche search and rescue dogs. For example, you and your family could meet the dogs and their ski patrol handlers at Canyons every Friday at 4:30 PM.
When: Fridays November 24, 2018 – April 5, 2019, @ 4:30 PM
Where: 4000 Canyons Resort Dr, Park City, UT 84098
Not in Northern Utah or Don’t Want to Go Outside?
Here are some activities that your family can enjoy from the comforts of your own home!
13. Create a Thankful Tree
On Our Goodwin Journey’s blog there’s a really great artistic activity where a paper tree with hand-shaped leaves is made to show what a family is thankful for. Here is how you can make your own.
Step 1: Get a bunch of construction paper (you’ll want lots of color choices!) and tape.
Step 2: Then, take five sheets of brown paper and tape them on a wall vertically to form a tree trunk.
Step 3: Add branches by cutting out brown paper in rectangular shapes and tape those to the top.
Step 4: For leaves, let your children trace their hands on orange, green, red, and yellow paper and cut them out and then have them write what they’re thankful for on them.
14. Make Turkey Candy Apples
At Burg we know just how much kids love candy and all things sugar! Because of that, we know that your children will really get a kick out of this fun treat. Unlike the traditional candy apples where the apples is covered with hard toffee or a sugar candy coating, this one is really simple. It’s basically candy stuck on an apple with toothpicks to make it look like a turkey. Check out this one that I Love You More Than Carrots made!
Of course, PLEASE make sure your little one brushes their teeth after eating all of that sugary goodness!
15. Play Turkey Bowling
This is a game that can be played with or without snow and is a great backyard game. You set up some bowling pins (some people like to use 2-liter bottles as substitutes) and get a frozen turkey. You’ll definitely want to keep the turkey in it’s plastic wrapping and then let each participant toss the turkey (you don’t really have to roll it like you would a bowling ball) at the pins. Other than that the rules of the game are just like normal bowling.
Tip: If you’d like to go a more artistic route, let your kids decorate the pins like turkeys using construction paper. Look at the many fun options for doing that on Pinterest!
Happy Thanksgiving From Burg
Our dentists and staff hope your family has a great Thanksgiving. We love having your children in our office and seeing their big, happy smiles. Please call us if you need anything and don’t forget to schedule in your December appointments—we have something special planned for those who come see us next month so stay tuned for more details on that!
