Thanksgiving games for the whole family

Thanksgiving has two slow moments: the hour before dinner, when everyone is hungry and the kitchen is busy, and the hour after, when nobody wants to move. A simple game fills both. Here are 12 that work around a dinner table with grandparents and children together. The first four use printables, three of them free on our site; the other eight need only a pumpkin, a bowl or a box.

Games with printables

1. Thanksgiving bingo

All ages

Bingo keeps the whole table playing while the turkey rests. Hand out one card per player and a few candy corns to mark squares, call a Thanksgiving word, and the first full row wins. Our five free Thanksgiving bingo cards come with a caller list. For a bigger group, the Thanksgiving Games pack has 50 cards, all different.

2. Thanksgiving trivia

Ages 8 and up

Play in teams of two or three across generations, so grandparents and children answer together. Read each question aloud and give one point per right answer. Our 15 Thanksgiving trivia questions keep the answers hidden until you open them.

3. Thanksgiving word scramble

Ages 7 and up

A quiet game for the kids' table before dinner. Give everyone the same list of scrambled words and five minutes on a timer; the most words unscrambled wins. There is a 15 word Thanksgiving scramble with answers next to the trivia.

4. I am thankful for cards

All ages

Before dinner, everyone fills in a card with three things they are thankful for this year and drops it in a bowl. During dessert, read the cards aloud one at a time and let the table guess who wrote each one. Index cards work, or use the printed cards from the Thanksgiving Games pack.

Games with nothing to print

5. Pass the pumpkin

Ages 3 and up

Sit in a circle and pass a small pumpkin while music plays. When the music stops, whoever holds the pumpkin says one thing they are thankful for, then the music starts again. No one is out, so little ones can play the whole game.

6. Thanksgiving charades

Ages 5 and up

Write Thanksgiving words on slips of paper and put them in a bowl: turkey, carving the turkey, falling asleep after dinner, watching the parade, raking leaves, mashing potatoes. One player acts out a slip without talking while their team guesses before a one-minute timer runs out.

7. Name five

Ages 6 and up

Call a Thanksgiving category, such as pies, side dishes or things that are orange, and pass a timer to the first player. They have ten seconds to name five things in that category. Pass to the next player with a new category. It is quick, loud and works with any number of people.

8. Thanksgiving this or that

All ages

Call two choices and everyone points to one: pumpkin pie or apple pie? Stuffing or mashed potatoes? Turkey leg or white meat? Parade or football? Leftover sandwich or leftover pie? Good while guests arrive and dinner is not ready yet.

9. Feed the turkey toss

Ages 3 to 8

Draw a big turkey on a cardboard box and cut a hole for its mouth. Children throw bean bags or rolled-up socks into the hole from a line on the floor, stepping back after each round. Keep score or just keep cheering.

10. Gratitude ABC

Ages 6 and up

Go around the table through the alphabet. The first player names something they are thankful for that starts with A, the next with B, and so on to Z. Help younger players with hard letters; Q and X always get a laugh.

11. Guess the candy corn

All ages

Fill a jar with candy corn and count it before guests arrive. Everyone writes a guess with their name on a slip of paper. Reveal the number after dessert; the closest guess takes the jar home.

12. Two truths and a lie, Thanksgiving edition

Ages 10 and up

Each player tells three short Thanksgiving memories, two true and one made up. The others vote on the lie. Families who meet once a year always learn something new.

Games for Friendsgiving

With friends instead of family, pick games that get people talking. Trivia in teams, Thanksgiving this or that and two truths and a lie all work for adults. Name five gets louder as the evening goes on. Keep bingo for a big group where not everyone knows each other, because nobody has to perform.

All the printables in one pack

Our Thanksgiving Games pack has bingo with 50 different cards and a caller list, a word scramble and a word search, 15 trivia questions and I am thankful for cards, with a how to play page and answer keys. 60 pages in US Letter and A4.

While the turkey rests, the children can do our Thanksgiving scavenger hunt with 20 free rhyming clues.

Hosting Christmas too? See 15 Christmas party games for the whole family.