Pass the Cranberries –
Create
Thanksgiving
Memories
& Good Times
with These
Family
Games
— by Pam Molnar
I
n a recent American Time Use
Survey, it was discovered that
families spent more time watch-
ing 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 Fri-
day 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 con-
nected 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
10 WNY Family November 2018
a mound of mash potatoes for Thanks-
giving.” Keep repeating and adding until
the whole party is stuffed!
Stuffed Turkey – Wrap a
piece of candy in brown box tape. Con-
tinue 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 roll-
ing for doubles. If you get doubles, you
can start unwrapping the ball to get can-
dy 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 tur-
key 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 tur-
key. 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!
Using a turkey baster, pick up a cran-
berry 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.
Pam Molnar is a freelance writer and
mother of three. It wouldn’t be Thanks-
giving at her house without games! Fol-
low her on Etsy at Pam’s Party Printa-
bles for more party and game ideas.
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 bal-
ancing 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 Mexi-
can 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 avail-
able in a variety of versions, including
a Jr. version.