15 Thanksgiving games

Thanksgiving bingo

Players

3 to 30

Minutes

20

Ages

5 and up

You need

A different card per player, the call list, and counters such as dried beans

1. Print a card for each guest and one call list.
2. Read the items in a random order: pumpkin pie, gravy boat, autumn leaves and the rest.
3. Players cover each called item with a bean.
4. The first full line wins once the caller has checked it.
5. Play the next round for the four corners or a full card.

Without a printer: The caller reads the whole list first, and each guest draws a 4 by 4 grid and chooses 16 words from it.

Open the material: Thanksgiving bingo cards

Thanksgiving trivia

Players

4 to 30, in teams

Minutes

20 to 30

Ages

10 and up

You need

The question set, answer sheets and pens

1. Mix the generations in each team so grandparents and kids play together.
2. Read the questions one at a time.
3. Each team agrees on one written answer.
4. Reveal the answers at the end of each round and keep a running score.

Without a printer: Read the questions from a phone, and let each team answer on a paper napkin or any scrap of paper.

Open the material: Thanksgiving trivia questions

Thanksgiving quiz board

Players

2 to 4 teams

Minutes

30

Ages

9 and up

You need

A TV or laptop everyone can see

1. Put the board on the TV after dinner.
2. Teams take turns picking a category and a point value.
3. The team huddles and gives one answer.
4. Reveal the answer and score it on the board.
5. The winning team picks the first slice of pie.

Thanksgiving word search

Players

1 to 20

Minutes

10 to 15

Ages

7 and up

You need

A copy of the puzzle and a pencil per player

1. Put a puzzle at each place at the kids' table, or hand them out while the meal cooks.
2. Players circle the words from the list.
3. Check finished puzzles with the answer key.

Without a printer: Show the puzzle on a tablet and take turns finding words.

Open the material: Thanksgiving word search

Thanksgiving word scramble

Players

2 to 20

Minutes

10 to 15

Ages

8 and up

You need

A scramble sheet made from Thanksgiving words, and a pencil per player

1. Enter 10 to 15 Thanksgiving words in the generator, such as cranberry, harvest, gravy and stuffing.
2. Print the scrambled sheet and keep the answer key.
3. Players unscramble as many words as they can in five minutes.
4. Read the answers and count the right ones.

Without a printer: Write the scrambled words on a whiteboard, or read the letters aloud.

Open the material: Word scramble generator with answer key

Thanksgiving riddles

Players

3 to 20

Minutes

10

Ages

6 and up

You need

The riddle list

1. Read a riddle between courses or while the table is cleared.
2. Whoever answers first reads the next riddle.
3. Give a hint if the table is stuck.

Without a printer: Pass a phone with the riddle list to whoever reads next.

Thanksgiving hangman

Players

2 to 10

Minutes

10 to 15

Ages

6 and up

You need

A hangman sheet or plain paper, and a pencil

1. One player picks a Thanksgiving word or phrase, such as mashed potatoes, and draws a dash for each letter.
2. The others guess one letter at a time.
3. A right letter fills its dashes; a wrong one uses up one of an agreed number of misses.
4. Guess the word before the misses run out to win and choose the next word.

Without a printer: Draw the dashes on any paper.

Open the material: Printable hangman sheets

Thankful alphabet

Players

3 to 20

Minutes

10

Ages

5 and up

You need

Nothing

1. Go around the table in order.
2. The first player names something they are thankful for that starts with A, the next with B, and so on.
3. A player who is stuck can ask the table for help or pass.
4. Skip hard letters such as X if the table agrees.
5. Finish at Z, or go around again with a harder rule, such as food only.

Thankful guessing cards

Players

5 to 30

Minutes

15

Ages

7 and up

You need

A card per person, pens and a bowl

1. Each person writes one thing they are thankful for this year, without a name.
2. Fold the cards and drop them in the bowl.
3. One person reads each card aloud.
4. The table guesses who wrote it; the writer can own up or keep quiet.
5. Anyone may write something light, such as the pie, instead of something personal.

Table talk questions

Players

3 to 20

Minutes

Through the meal

Ages

All ages

You need

The question list, on cards or a phone

1. Put a question card at each place setting.
2. Between courses, one person reads their question to the table.
3. Anyone who wants to answers, and anyone can pass.
4. The person on their left reads next.

Without a printer: Keep the list on a phone and pass it around.

Open the material: Conversation starters for groups

Thanksgiving would you rather

Players

3 to 20

Minutes

10 to 15

Ages

6 and up

You need

The question list

1. Read a question to the table.
2. Everyone answers at once by raising their left hand for the first choice or their right hand for the second.
3. The smaller side explains its choice first.
4. Pass the list to the next person to read.

Without a printer: Pass a phone with the list around the table.

Open the material: Holiday would you rather questions

Thanksgiving charades

Players

6 to 25, in two teams

Minutes

20

Ages

6 and up

You need

Prompt cards and a one-minute timer

1. Write prompts on the cards: carving the turkey, watching the parade, falling asleep on the couch, washing a mountain of dishes, catching a football.
2. Split the room into two teams, mixing ages.
3. The actor acts a card in silence while their team has one minute to guess.
4. Teams take turns, and the more right guesses wins.

Without a printer: Write the prompts on scraps of paper.

Open the material: Printable blank charades cards

Turkey feather hunt

Players

3 to 20

Minutes

10 to 15

Ages

3 to 10

You need

Paper feathers in four colors, a paper turkey body per child or team, and tape

1. Hide the feathers around one or two rooms.
2. Give each color a value: brown 1, orange 2, yellow 3, red 5.
3. Children find feathers and tape them to their turkey's tail.
4. When all the feathers are found, add up each turkey's points.
5. Give the youngest a head start or a color that only they collect.

Cranberry spoon relay

Players

2 teams of 3 or more

Minutes

10

Ages

4 and up

You need

A bag of fresh cranberries, two bowls and a spoon per team

1. Put a bowl of cranberries at the start and an empty bowl across the room for each team.
2. The first player carries as many cranberries as fit on the spoon to the empty bowl, then runs back.
3. Dropped cranberries go back to the start bowl.
4. Pass the spoon to the next player.
5. After three minutes, the team with more cranberries in its far bowl wins.

Football toss

Players

2 to 20

Minutes

15

Ages

5 and up

You need

A football, or a soft ball for small children, and a hoop hung from a branch or a laundry basket as a target

1. Hang the hoop from a tree, or stand the laundry basket on its side.
2. Mark throwing lines at different distances: close for small children, farther for adults.
3. Each player gets five throws per turn.
4. Score a point for each ball through the hoop or into the basket.
5. Play in mixed-age pairs and add both scores together.