5 values that Thanksgiving transmits 2026

With the internationalization of American culture in a broad sense and its omnipresence in cinema and television, year after year this celebration is increasingly introduced into the Spanish calendar. And why not export Thanksgiving too? It is a perfect day to remind the little ones in the house of the values ​​of generosity, respect between cultures, friendship and family feeling. Who disagrees? All parents in the world want our children to be generous, grateful, tolerant, good friends and family. This party is the opportunity to learn values.

A little history to understand the background of this festival. The first time Thanksgiving Day was celebrated was in 1621, but it would not be until 1941 when it became popular and began to be celebrated on the fourth Thursday of each November. The seed of this celebration lies in the generosity with which the American Indians helped the first settlers, teaching them to grow corn, to fish and, ultimately, to survive in the new land that was unknown to them. Since then, and in memory of that first friendship between settlers and Native Americans, American and Canadian families gather around a table to share.

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“Thanksgiving Day is a celebration whose spirit lies in the generosity between different peoples and cultures, it is a gesture of friendship and transmits values ​​to be taken into account for life,” says Linda Keys, International Baccalaureate Teacher at Brains International School La Moraleja. "Education in values ​​is one of the main pillars on which we educate our children. In the face of a society that sometimes seems to lose its principles, this festival reminds us how important friendship, altruism and understanding between peoples are, which is why we take advantage of this date on the calendar to transmit these values ​​to the youngest," he explains.

5 values to encourage you to celebrate Thanksgiving Day

1. Generosity. Generosity is the main value that Thanksgiving transmits. Children learn to be generous in their earliest childhood and this holiday reminds us all of the importance of sharing with those who have less and to be altruistic to build a better world.

2. Interculturality. Two people who share bread, food and drink do not fight, do not attack each other and, above all, respect each other. The first Thanksgiving Days were celebrated in harmony between the indigenous peoples and the American pioneers, so it is important to rescue this spirit of friendship and alliance of civilizations.

3. Friendship and respect. These values ​​go hand in hand and one cannot be understood without the other. Children must be taught from a young age to respect and treat everyone as their equals.

4. Sense of family. Sitting at the same table all together is a gesture that in all cultures has an unequivocal sense of peace, unity and family. During these dates in the United States, the airports are filled with children who go to see their parents and the roads and highways are jammed with entire families traveling to share the moment with their relatives and friends. Thanksgiving reminds us how important family and the sense of belonging to it are.

5. Solidarity. When the colonists arrived in the New World, they found an environment that they did not know, with animals and plants that were totally new to them. In short, they found themselves in a hostile environment to which it was very difficult for them to adapt. They suffered famine, many died from the cold and disease. Faced with their desperation, the indigenous population reached out to them and helped them when they needed it most by instituting this celebration.

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“Thanksgiving Day is much more than the prelude to the unbridled shopping of Black Friday, it is a day in which we have to remember the spirit of generosity, friendship, interculturality, family and solidarity that those American Indians taught us and transmit them to the little ones,” says Linda Keys.

Source: Brains International Schools