Thanksgiving Family Games
In a recent American Time Use Survey, it was discovered that families spent more time watching TV than they did socializing and communicating with their family and friends on Thanksgiving. In today’s world, Thanksgiving football is just one of the family time distractions. Deal seekers are now able to start Black Friday shopping earlier, and unstimulated children and adults often escape to their electronic devices.
Rein them in this year with some old fashioned games. Games break the ice, stimulates conversation between the generations, and creates memories of good times with family. Here are seven Thanksgiving games and activities to help keep the family together and connected long after the turkey is gone.
Leaf Blower – Split the group into two teams. Each team needs to blow a leaf from Point A to Point B using a straw in a relay race style. The next player will blow it back from Point B to Point A until everyone has had a turn. First team to finish wins.
I Was So Hungry – This memory game is a fun way to get the party laughing. The players sit at the table or in a circle. The first player starts, “I was so hungry that I ate a juicy drumstick for Thanksgiving.” The next person adds something like, “I was so hungry that I ate a juicy drumstick and a mound of mash potatoes for Thanksgiving.” Keep repeating and adding until the whole party is stuffed!
Stuffed Turkey – Wrap a piece of candy in brown box tape. Continue to wrap the tape in a ball, adding additional pieces of candy as you go. The size of the ball will depend on how many players and candy you have. (This is a great way to use up the rest of your Halloween candy.) To play, place the ball in the center of the table. Using a pair of dice, each player takes a turn rolling for doubles. If you get doubles, you can start unwrapping the ball to get candy for as long as it takes the next player to get doubles. The ball is then passed to that player, and so on, until the ball is completely unwrapped.
Toss & Tell – All players sit in a circle. Start by tossing a small turkey stuffed animal or small football to a player and ask a question like, “Who do you think will make it to the Super Bowl this year?” or “What is your favorite memory from elementary school?” This multigenerational game will be a hit!
Dress the Turkey – Select a volunteer from the family to be the turkey. Using brown crepe paper streamers, wrap up the turkey until he is covered. Decorate the turkey with a yellow beak, feet and colorful feathers made from construction paper or foam sheets. Don’t forget your camera!
Pass the Cranberries – Using a turkey baster, pick up a cranberry and bring it to a bowl on the other side of the room. The first team to pass all their cranberries from one bowl to the other is the winner.
Fill Your Plate – This is a two part game. Use free printables of Thanksgiving meal items – drumstick, cranberries, potatoes, stuffing, corn and pie. Have the kids color and cut out their dinner items. When everything is colored, pass out a paper plate to each player. The game is a spin off of the Cootie game, but instead of building a bug, we are filling our plate. Assign each meal item with a number and each time a player rolls the die, he gets to put that item on his plate. Whoever fills their plate first is the winner.
Looking for more games to play with your family? Try these:
Taboo – Try to get your team members to guess the word on your card without using specific keywords. Look for holiday versions online.
Pictionary – A drawing version of the classic Charades game. Use Thanksgiving terms to complete your holiday theme.
Suspend – This game takes a steady hand. Players take turns balancing curved rods to create a tower of wire. One wrong move and it all comes crashing down.
Dominoes – Match dotted tiles in a variety of domino games like Mexican Train. Simple enough for the kids. Challenging enough for the adults.
LCR – A simple dice game played with chips or coins. Roll the dice to see if your chips will go to your left, right, or into the center pot. Last player standing wins the pot.
Apples to Apples – A judge from each round will decide which object card matches best with the communal descriptive card. This game is available in a variety of versions, including a Jr. version.
Pam Molnar is a freelance writer and mother of three. It wouldn’t be Thanksgiving at her house without games! Follow her on Etsy at Pam’s Party Printables for more party and game ideas.