Add a new twist to the holidays with a story or photo exchange

Looking for something new to do this holiday season? How about a story or photo exchange?

Whether you have people gathering for Thanksgiving, Christmas or another holiday this season try using it as a time to collect or exchange stories.

Have a pot luck with a twist. Each guest can bring a food or drink item to share and a story to tell. Bonus points for combining the story and the food items.

Our Thanksgiving nearly always includes dinner rolls from my aunt’s recipe. I don’t make them as well, but everyone knows the story of how well and how many she made. I usually include a sweet potato casserole that comes from a recipe a friend’s mother used to make. The stuffing is my mother’s recipe that came from a celery package a few decades ago.

What recipes and stories regularly show up at your holidays? Do the younger members of the family know them? Do they know which side of the family goes with which story? My sons often remember the stories because they get told regularly, but they can’t always remember who did what when. I have started writing them down as I think about it. 

Does someone tell a story particularly well? Could you record them telling it? My sister-in-law tells one about a sibling, an apple, and a missed alarm that leaves her and everyone else laughing too hard to speak. The story isn’t as entertaining as is her telling of it.

So, if your family or guests are comfortable with it, get them talking and telling stories and start recording. Just make sure you have permission first. You want to preserve happy memories not start new arguments.

Make a game of it. Pick numbers to decide who tells a story next. Give a prompt. Maybe tell all funny stories or stories that include a particular place or time.

If family members like to write, have them each write up a story to share. Perhaps collect them into a book to give at Christmas.

Have people bring along some photos to share, either digital or printed. Make sure you have a way to identify people in the pictures.

Alternately, bring along photos that don’t have identification. Perhaps someone in the group knows the people in the photo. Too often the generation that knows the identities passes without the younger generation knowing if they are looking at relatives or a neighbor’s grandson.

I once watched a room full of people look at a large box of photos, some old enough to be tin types, with no one able to identify who was who. So, if you have a bunch of photos without captions, consider making writing some an after-dinner activity.

Pick a theme. Maybe have everyone bring their high school graduation picture or their most recent school photo. How about a picture with their first car? Could they bring a picture of themselves from Christmas when they were a child? Maybe a picture of their favorite vacation spot? 

A baby picture? Maybe you could make a game of guessing whose baby picture is whose.

While you have everyone together, make the most of it. Enjoy their company now, but enjoyyour shared history or perhaps learn about someone new.