Thanksgiving Games For the Whole Family

Our Favorite Thanksgiving Games for the Whole Family

Ah, the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. You bring the whole group of family and friends together to eat a well-prepared meal . . . and then what? You have all these guests together and eating only takes so much time. Soon the meal is over, and then, you have people to entertain and kids to corral. Thanksgiving day can quickly turn into chaos. You need some simple, fun Thanksgiving games that will bring your family together. Games that will create family memories, laughter, bonding, and, of course, focus on gratitude. Look no further. We have scoured the interweb to find the best Thanksgiving day games and activities that everyone can enjoy. We have them all organized for you in one place so you can pick and choose the ones that will work best for your Thanksgiving crew.

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There is a lot that goes into planning a Thanksgiving meal. So much planning, in fact, that anything else can easily be forgotten. But Thanksgiving is so much more than just a dinner. It is also a time to gather as family and friends. It is a time to give thanks and to make memories together that will last a lifetime. This Thanksgiving, bring your family together in a meaningful way by adding one (or several) of these Thanksgiving games to the mix. We have done the hard part of gathering all the ideas. Now you just have to choose one and get ready for a more meaningful Thanksgiving holiday with your loved ones.

This collection of ideas includes Thanksgiving:

Thanksgiving Games For Kids

You are trying to make sure dinner is on the table and ready for your guests to arrive, but you have kids to corral and entertain. A possible recipe for disaster that is NOT what you had planned on your Thanksgiving day menu. Your solution is simple. Before the big day, gather together a few of these simple Thanksgiving games for kids to keep the kiddos entertained giving you time for all of your preparations! With activities ranging from playing tag outdoors to simple table games for kids, you are sure to find something that will fit your specific group’s needs. This will keep the kids happy and the chaos at a minimum.

Thanksgiving Games for Adults

Holidays can bring so much focus on the little ones that adults can get left behind in the fun. They aren’t so much into pin the feather on the turkey, so they pass on the activity. Thanksgiving is about bringing the family together – the whole family. So, don’t leave out your adult family members. Here is our list of favorite Thanksgiving games for adults. While most of these Thanksgiving games could also be played with the entire family (of all ages), these are our favorite Thanksgiving games that are adult-approved!

• Friendsgiving Dinner – Celebrate the holiday with the “family you choose” – your friends! This link will take you to free customizable printables to organize and decorate for your own Friendsgiving!
• Pie Night Tradition  – So much food and so little time. Extend the holiday a little by having a night dedicated entirely to pies!
• Pumpkin Win it in a Minute  – Add a little friendly competition with these hilarious fall-themed Thanksgiving games that require less than a minute to compete.
• Thanksgiving Mad Libs  – Everyone loves this classic game from our childhood. Fill in the blanks to create wacky, wild stories about Thanksgiving.
• Thanksgiving Scattergories  – Put your post-Thanksgiving dinner brain to the test with a fun twist on the game of Scattergories.
• Thank’phone’ness Challenge  – Pull out your phones for a fun Thanksgiving day photo scavenger hunt.
• Thanksgiving Family Feud – Bring the family together for a little friendly competition. Faceoff to answer Thanksgiving-themed questions.
• The “Best” Thanksgiving Group Game – A hilarious group game in which teams must select someone to represent their team in a superlative such as the tallest or the fastest. The twist? No one knows the part that comes next!
• Thanksgiving Minute to Win it Games  – Silly Thanksgiving games with a competitive team spirit!
• Thanksgiving Trivia Game  – Gather family facts and see how well your family does. Great examples are included in this post.
• Turkey Trot  –Organize a little running race for your family before the big meal.
• The Left-Right Game  – Select a prize (or prizes) to pass around a circle. As you read the story, you will pass the prize to the left or right every time you hear that word.

Thanksgiving Family Games

Before and after the big meal, there is plenty of time for some family fun! This is the ideal time to bring your family together for some Thanksgiving games that bring bonding opportunities, laughter, and memories. We even have a few fun Thanksgiving activities that may even bring a little competitive spirit to the mix! We tried to find games that would appeal to all ages and be games that teams work together. The following Thanksgiving family games provide a variety of activities that everyone can be involved in playing.

• Thanksgiving Bingo  – A classic game that is perfect for large groups. Place your marker on various traditional Thanksgiving images.
• Thanksgiving Charades – A fun twist on the classic game of charades is one of our favorite Thanksgiving family games!
• Scavenger Hunt With Thanksgiving Activities – A unique scavenger hunt with Thanksgiving-inspired activities to complete before moving on to the next clue. So much fun for the whole family!
• Turkey Bowling  – It is a craft, it is a Thanksgiving game, and a whole lot of fun! These printables give you everything you need (minus the squash) to set up one of our favorite Thanksgiving games!
• Shooting Turkeys  – For the wildest of Thanksgiving activities, gather your nerf guns and aim at turkeys drawn on helium-filled balloons.
• Flying Turkey – A little twist on the shooting turkey idea. Instead of balloons – use paper cups. Aim to knock the cups off the counter to make the turkey fly!
• Thanksgiving Pictionary  – Thanksgiving family games don’t get much better than this. A little bit of skill and a lot of guessing make this one so fun for the whole family.
• Stuff the Turkey  – A game of toss with this brown bag turkey will be a hit with the whole family.
• Turkey Baster Relay  – Race to get the turkey feather across the line using only a turkey baster.
• Shake Your Tail Feather – Twelve hilarious Thanksgiving Games for adults and kids alike!
• Candy Dice Game  – Roll the dice to earn (or lose!) assorted candy pieces.
• Pumpkin Stomp – Fill orange balloons with small prizes. Then, race to stomp and pop the balloons to get your prize.
• Thanksgiving Scavenger Hunt – Free printable clues to lead your group around the house in search of clues.
• Turkey Tag  – Get your family up and moving with this creative mixture of tag and flag football. Perfect for the whole family.
• The Thanksgiving Board Game  – This Amazon find looks interesting. Players experience different Thanksgiving Games such as ThanksGiving, ThanksGuessing, and ThanksSharing.
• Photo Booth Props  – Capture the memories of your family gathered together by adding these fun props.
• The Gratitude Game: Pick Up Sticks  – A fun twist to the game of pick up sticks. For each color that you pick up, follow the guide to answer a question about gratitude.

Thanksgiving Activities for at the Table

When we thinking of Thanksgiving day, we often focus so much on what we eat at the table. But what about what happens around the table? You brought your family together for this occasion, so now it is time to make the most of it! It doesn’t take a lot of effort to include some thoughtful but simple Thanksgiving Activities to your dinner. These activities can bring laughter, conversation, and, of course, the focus on gratitude that your family will remember. Here are a few of our favorite Thanksgiving activities that you can do together at dinner.

• Gratitude Tree – Draw a large tree on butcher paper and fill it in with the things you are grateful for.
• Coloring Tablecloth  – Get those busy fingers coloring their own table decor. This tablecloth provides places for the kiddos to color as well as some fun Thanksgiving games and activities.
• Engineer Print Tablecloth to Color  – Engineer prints are a super inexpensive way to create a DIY giant coloring sheet for the little kid’s table.
• Table Spinner  – This is a little ‘spin’ on the game Spin the bottle. Spin the arrow to take turns answering questions.
• Thanksgiving Conversation Starters  – Get the conversation focussed on the meaning of Thanksgiving with these unique Thanksgiving conversation starters. Our favorite tradition.
• Would You Rather? – These unique questions offer a fun game and lots of conversation for the Thanksgiving table.
• M&M Gratitude Game  – A fun way to share what you are grateful for this year.
• Thanksgiving Jokes  – For a fun time, pull out some of these Thanksgiving jokes and embrace all of the laughter around the table.
• Thankful Basket  – In this activity, guests write something they are grateful for in advance and place it in a basket or how cute is this cornucopia? At the table, pass the basket around and have people randomly choose a paper to read aloud. Then, everyone tries to guess who wrote that paper.
• Conversation Cards and Tasks  – In addition to really unique questions to spark conversation, these printables include funny tasks for your family and friends to complete.

Thanksgiving Activities for a Month of Gratitude

Sometimes amidst all the family gatherings, the football, and the food – the focus on gratitude gets lost. I know in my home when the holiday has come and gone, I have a stuffed belly but a mere mention of gratitude. This year I did a little countdown to Thanksgiving day with family, and it really helped to bring the focus in and lead up to the big day. I felt the difference between Thanksgiving being just a day to eat a lot of food to a day that we have been anticipating and thinking about in advance. Here are a few of our favorite Thanksgiving activities that you can do any time during the month in preparation for the holiday.

• Thanksgiving Countdown – Two unique ways to countdown to Thanksgiving. Both are filled with Thanksgiving activities to make this month focused on gratitude.
• Service Bucket Lists  – Ideas for getting your family serving during the Thanksgiving holiday season. A great Thanksgiving activity to help your family remember to be grateful.
• Holiday Bucket List – A whole list of ideas of classic and memorable Thanksgiving activities for your family to do.
• Random Acts of Kindness  – Printable tickets for your family to leave behind and they serve others in small ways. This post includes an amazing list of 101 simple ways to serve to offer some inspiration.
• 101 Ways to Say Thank You  – This month is all about giving thanks. Here are a few (okay a LOT) of creative ways to express your gratitude.
• Gratitude Journal  – Share your gratitude in a very personal way with this gratitude journal.
• 27 Days of Gratitude Challenge  – Ideas for activities to show your loved ones your gratitude for them throughout the month.
• 70 Ways to Teach Your Children Gratitude  – The happiest people are the most grateful. Help your children build a strong sense of gratitude using any one of these ideas.
• The Kindness Elf  – Looking for an alternative to your Elf on the Shelf? Utilize him during the Thanksgiving season to be on the lookout for kind acts.
• The Giving Jar  – Start this jar with the intention of it getting passed on and on and on. Free printables explain this fun tradition!
• Gratitude Posters – Five different poster options to hang on the wall and have your family and friends add to.
• The 12 Days of Gratitude – Each day for 12 days leading up to Thanksgiving, these cards provide a simple activity that is great for teaching children thankfulness.
• You’ve Been Gobbled  – My favorite memories of Thanksgiving activities are those that involved service. Drop off some goodies to a neighbor in need for a special holiday.
• Blessing Bag  – Fill bags to take to others in need and bless their lives. A great
• The Turkey Ticket  – Keep track of all of your many blessings and watch the list grow and grow and grow!

As you are planning your holiday season, don’t forget to add in some of these Thanksgiving games. It is surprising how much a simple game can change the whole family environment. We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with your family and make many memories that might even become traditions in the future!

Now that you have your Thanksgiving games all picked out here is a little help for you to plan your meal! Check out our Thanksgiving Meal Planner as well as these delicious Thanksgiving Recipes.

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