15 Thanksgiving Games for All Ages

1. Thanksgiving Would You Rather No supplies

Read a question and let everyone choose a side, raise a hand, or explain their answer.

1. Would you rather eat only mashed potatoes or only stuffing?
2. Would you rather cook Thanksgiving dinner or wash every dish?
3. Would you rather have pumpkin pie for breakfast or dinner rolls for dessert?
4. Would you rather watch a parade or play backyard games?
5. Would you rather host 20 guests or travel to three houses?

Make it work for all ages: Younger children can point instead of explaining; adults can defend their funniest answer.

2. Dinner Menu Memory

Start with, “For Thanksgiving dinner, I’m bringing mashed potatoes.” The next player repeats that item and adds another. Keep going around the table as the list grows.

Easy mode: Give everyone one helpful reminder. Challenge mode: Remember the foods in the exact order.

3. Thankful Guess Who

1. Give everyone a scrap of paper to write or draw something they’re thankful for.
2. Fold the slips and put them in a bowl.
3. Read one aloud; everyone guesses who wrote it.
4. Let the writer reveal themselves, with no pressure to explain.

Variation: For a more playful round, ask for “a tiny thing that made you happy this week.”

4. Thanksgiving Categories

Choose a category, such as Thanksgiving side dishes, fall colors, kitchen tools, or things found at a family gathering. Go around the circle naming something new. If someone gets stuck, let the group help rather than eliminating them.

Try this: Set a goal of 20 unique answers together.

5. Thanksgiving Charades

1. Write the prompts below on separate slips and place them in a bowl.
2. Divide into two mixed-age teams.
3. One player acts without speaking while their team guesses within 60 seconds.
4. Switch teams each round; one point for each correct guess.

Ready-to-use prompts: carving a turkey, stirring gravy, watching a parade, carrying too many plates, falling asleep after dinner, making a pie, raking leaves, setting the table, looking for leftovers, and burning the rolls.

For younger kids: Let them choose an easy prompt or act with a partner.

6. Draw the Feast

It’s Thanksgiving-themed drawing and guessing. Each artist gets 45 seconds to draw a prompt while teammates guess. No letters or words on the paper.

Prompts: pumpkin pie, turkey, cornucopia, gravy boat, football, leaf pile, oven mitt, mashed potatoes, parade balloon, and a crowded dinner table.

Budget tip: Use the backs of old printouts as drawing paper.

7. DIY Thanksgiving Bingo

1. Draw a 3-by-3 grid on each sheet.
2. Ask players to fill squares with nine different words from this list: turkey, pie, leaves, pumpkin, stuffing, gravy, rolls, family, cranberry, corn, candles, football.
3. Call the words in random order. Players mark matching squares.
4. First to complete a row, column, or diagonal wins.

For nonreaders: Draw simple pictures in the squares. Use pencil marks or reusable buttons for markers, keeping small objects away from young children.

8. Gratitude A-to-Z

Work as one group to name something you’re thankful for beginning with each letter of the alphabet. For example: A for apples, B for books, C for cousins. Skip difficult letters or invent silly answers.

Variation: Each person chooses the first letter of their name and shares one thing.

9. Holiday Trivia Teams

Split into teams and read these ready-made questions. Award one point for each correct answer.

1. What month is Thanksgiving celebrated in the United States? November.
2. On which weekday is U.S. Thanksgiving observed? Thursday.
3. What is the name of the red sauce often served with turkey? Cranberry sauce.
4. Which orange squash is used in a traditional Thanksgiving pie? Pumpkin.
5. What is the name for a collection of leaves that fall from trees? Leaf litter or fallen leaves.
6. Which kitchen tool is used to mash cooked potatoes? Potato masher.
7. What do we call food saved from a previous meal? Leftovers.
8. Which season includes Thanksgiving in the United States? Fall or autumn.

Make it fair: Mix younger and older guests on teams and allow discussion before answers.

10. Who Am I? Holiday Edition

Write a Thanksgiving-related word on a sticky note and place it where the player can’t see it, such as on their back. Players ask yes-or-no questions until they guess their word.

Word ideas: turkey, pumpkin, pie, chef, football, leaf, scarecrow, gravy, and oven. Use pictures for younger players.

11. Paper Feather Hunt

1. Cut 10–20 large feather shapes from scrap paper.
2. Hide them in safe, easy-to-reach places around one room.
3. Invite players to find them or point them out.
4. Count the feathers together at the end.

Adaptation: Make some feathers easier to spot, and let seated players be the clue-givers. Avoid hiding anything near the stove or fragile decorations.

12. Turkey Bowling

Arrange bottles in a triangle. Roll a soft ball toward them from a taped starting line. Each player gets two rolls per turn, and one point per bottle knocked down. Reset and play three rounds.

Make it festive: Tape paper turkey faces to the bottles. Move the starting line closer for younger or seated players.

13. Pumpkin Pass Relay

Form two lines or circles. Teams pass a soft “pumpkin” from person to person without throwing. When it reaches the last player, they walk it back to the front. Complete three rounds.

Seated version: Play around the dining table, passing the ball hand to hand. Prioritize cooperation over speed.

14. Fall Color Scavenger Hunt

Ask guests to find or point to something orange, red, yellow, brown, green, and gold. Add a bonus challenge: find something soft, something round, and something shaped like a leaf.

House rule: No touching food, opening private rooms, or moving decorations without permission. Seated players can call out clues.

15. Minute-to-Win-It Cup Stack

1. Set out 10 cups on a sturdy table.
2. Give each player 60 seconds to build a pyramid with four cups on the bottom, then three, two, and one.
3. Challenge players to unstack the cups into one neat pile before time runs out.

Adaptation: Allow younger players 90 seconds or use just six cups. Skip the timer for anyone who prefers a calmer challenge.