Annie's Thanksgiving Games & Activities Page

"In every thing give thanks: for this is the will
of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
~1 Thessalonians 5:18~

Pin the Tailfeathers on the Turkey:
"Paint a turkey without his tailfeathers on a large piece of paper, or buy a large cutout turkey wall decoration and cut off the tailfeathers. The tailfeathers must, of course, be pinned on by the blindfolded players. Give a prize to the one farthest off the mark."
Source: Festive Fall Parties - 1997 Hallmark Booklet
Another Idea: You can either do as mentioned above and give the prize to the person who gets farthest away or give one for both the CLOSEST & the FARTHEST from the right place. Consider a price for each person and just a bigger or more special one for the closest and farthest players.

Thanksgiving Hash:
"Provide each player with a list of "hashed" (or mixed up) words, all relating to Thanksgiving such as:
YEKUTR...........(turkey)
GSINSERD.......(dressing)
MIRGPIL.......(pilgrim)
TVESHAR...........(harvest)
The first player to unscramble his/her list, wins a small prize."
Source: Festive Fall Parties - 1997 Hallmark Booklet
Another Thought: You can add more words to the list. Also consider having a timer. Give a prize to the first done and also the last. As mentioned above a prize for all is always a good idea. Here are some cute prize ideas for this game: A nice set of Thank You Notes, Pencils, Pens, Crayons, Markers, Stationary or even some Crossword Puzzle Books would be a cute prize idea.

Wild Turkey Hunt:
"Give each guest a paper bag marked with his or her name. Now they are ready to hunt "turkeys". The "turkeys" are cellophane-wrapped sugar cookies in turkey shapes, which have been hidden around the room. Allow ten minutes for the hunt. At the end of that time guests stop hunting and count their turkeys. Prizes are the cookies they found."
Source: Festive Fall Parties - 1997 Hallmark Booklet
Another Thought: If the weather is nice you can do this outside too. If you have time or want to keep the kids busy then give them all baskets to collect them in and put out a large amount for them to find. The miniature pumpkins and harvest colored corn can be substituted for the cookies. Then just call it a "Pumpkin Hunt" or "Harvest Hunt".

Cranberry Relay:
"Have guests form two lines. Each player in turn must carry a spoonful of cranberries from the front of the line to a given point and back, then hand the spoon to the next player in line. If any of the cranberries drop off, the player must stop and replace them before continuing. The first team to finish wins."
Source: Festive Fall Parties - 1997 Hallmark Booklet

Annie's Thanksgiving Game & Activity Ideas:
Thanksgiving Games: 1) Play a Turkey Scavenger Hunt. Make a list of different items that need to be found. You can divide the people in to teams or they can play individually. It would depend on the number of guests you have or the ages of the players how difficult you make the list.
2) Play Cover the Cookie Sheet Game. Gather some fall, harvest or Thanksgiving items and put them on a cookie sheet. Small items are best and using a theme is fun too. Maybe a mini pumpkin, a cranberry, colored corn husk, pie server, remote (to symbolize the Football or Parade that you watch on TV each year) and even a feather are just a few examples. Cover the cookie sheet with a dishtowel and put it aside. Give each person a pencil and paper. Set the timer for 1 minute. Uncover the items and let everyone look at them for the minute but they can't write anything down. After the timer goes off cover up the cookie sheet again. Set the timer for 3 or 5 minutes. Everyone is suppose to write down what they saw. The person who remembers all the items if the winner.
Thanksgiving Activities: 1) Have a Thanksgiving craft planned ahead for the younger children. Set up a card table with all the things they will need and place a cute centerpiece on the table for them. The older kids may enjoy this too and even the adults so have some extra supplies just in case. 2) Some families volunteer at homeless shelters serving the meals. Consider doing this as a regular event each year. 3) The week before Thanksgiving have your kids help you gather canned goods or other non-perishables to donate to the church if you have a "white gift Sunday" or give them to your local Salvation Army or Red Cross. Use this as another opportunity to teach them to be THANKFUL for all that the Lord has blessed you with this year. 4) Make a special Thanksgiving Banner. Use different fabrics and designs to show the special events that you are thankful for each year or to symbolize Thanksgiving in your house. Bring the banner out each year for the whole month of November. You can make a new one each year or just update the old one. 5) Make a collage with photos and pictures of your year together as a family. You can choose to frame it or put them in a scrapbook that you add to each year. 6) Sit down as a family and brainstorm together. I'm sure the kids will have some great ideas to create some new family traditions for your Thanksgiving celebration.

Annie's Party Favor & Place Setting Ideas
Party Favors: Give party favors this year. They can be homemade or even bought gifts for that matter. Make the party favors for the visitors and your family too. Or you may consider having them make their own party favors and let them take them home. When you are deciding on table decorations have the party favors in the back of your mind.
Place Settings: Special Name Cards or items at their place at the table can be taken home too. You could also make or buy cotton or linen table napkins. Fold them in a fancy design and put them in a special glass or cup on the "top plate". They can be removed from the table and set to the side for them to take home after dinner. You can even tape or write their name and the year on the bottom of the cup with special pens from the craft store.
For more related ideas check out:
Annie's Thanksgiving Grace Page & Annie's Thanksgiving Decoration Ideas Page
Edible cornucopia favors from Lisa's Holiday Ideas

Thanksgiving Helpers:
Don't be afraid to accept help when it is offered for your Thanksgiving Dinner. Whether you are just having your immediate family for the day or over 20 remember to be gracious and let them be a part of the preparation for the special day. From the beginning stages to the dishes there is always room for another pair of hands to help. Have the kids work on the menu with you or do it as a family. If you prefer to have the kitchen all to yourself then let people help with the decorating or setting the table. People can bring beverages or even special Thanksgiving Paper napkins. You might want to consider making a list of all the different jobs and then sit down as a family to decide how to divide up all the work. Then post the list on the fridge with detailed instructions to make it a little easier for everyone.

Annie's Christian Game & Activities:
Mixed up Bible Verses: Select Bible verses to unscramble that relate to being "thankful". Create them and print them out ahead to make things easier for you. Make sure you have pencils with erasers on top and Bibles to hand out to each participant. You can give the first person that completes unscrambling the verses a prize or just use this as an activity without the pressure to "win".
Bible Verse Hunt: Make a list of the Bible verses that you feel relate to Thanksgiving. Just list the Bible references and put enough space for them to print out the verses too. If you have enough people you can make teams with two people in each team. One can write out the Bible verses and the other person can look up the Bible verses. Just as in the "Mixed Up Bible Verses" make sure you have pencils with erasers on top and Bibles to hand out to each participant. This can either be a game or activity which ever you prefer.
For more related ideas check out: Annie's Thanksgiving Grace Page
Jakes "Thanksgiving Trivia Game" Page
Jake's "Thanksgiving Word Search" Page - to print out and play!

Thanksgiving Games to Play from Other Sites:
Here are just a few of the many different games available online to enjoy!

Visit some more of Annie's Related Pages:

Fall is here and Winter is just around the corner.
This is the time of the year to start looking forward to Christmas. As you leave why not send a Thanksgiving Day Greeting Card from Annie's Card Shop

Make Faith Your Focus This Thanksgiving!