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Keep everyone laughing with Thanksgiving jokes. iStock
Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to get together with family and friends and share a meal. And while we adults might love the idea of sitting down together and talking and connecting over food and drink, for many kids the thrill wears off rather quickly. And how do you fill the time during the day before and after the meal?
We’ve gathered up some fun ideas to breathe a little light and levity into your gathering this year. And if you’ve got a budding performer on your hands who loves a spotlight, send them the list of Thanksgiving jokes below so they can start working on their delivery today!
Fun Thanksgiving activities
Musical chairs flip cups: Everyone walks around the table while music plays, and when the music stops, grabs a cup off the table and flips it over. The last person to flip their cup is out (or has to do the dishes)!
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Thanksgiving scavenger hunt: Create a scavenger hunt around your home or yard with Thanksgiving-themed clues and items to find, like a mini pumpkin or a turkey figurine.
Mystery ingredient dinner: Have everyone bring one mystery ingredient to the meal that must be used in a dish, resulting in some wacky culinary creations! Or, gather all the mystery ingredients together and make one crazy side dish using them all. Who will be brave enough to give it a try?
Thanksgiving tic-tac-toe with a twist: Divide your guests into two teams and clear out the furniture for this one! Using painter's tape mark out a large tic-tac-toe board on the floor. The teams line up on the other side of the room, one holding paper plates the other with plastic cups. Someone yells "Go!", and one player from each team races to the tic-tac-toe board to put their item into a square. The first team to get three in a row wins! For extra slippery fun, play on a wooden floor and make sure everyone is wearing socks (be careful!).
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Thanksgiving Mad Libs: Create Thanksgiving-themed Mad Libs for everyone to fill out during (or after) dinner, leading to some laugh-out-loud stories. No time to make your own? Don’t worry, you can find printable Thanksgiving Mad Libs online.
Turkey costume contest: Encourage everyone to dress up in silly turkey-themed costumes and have a runway show though the living room after dinner. Bonus points for creativity!
Gratitude jar challenge: Each family member writes down something they’re thankful for on colorful paper, but with a twist — everyone also has to include their funniest holiday memory or a wacky Thanksgiving story. Older kids can act as scribes for younger siblings or cousins who might need some help.
Thanksgiving karaoke: Break out the microphone for karaoke featuring Thanksgiving-themed songs or parodies of popular songs with lyrics about the holiday. (Yes, Thanksgiving songs do exist!)
Family Thanksgiving Olympics: Set up silly games like a turkey toss, cornhole, or a relay race with Thanksgiving-themed challenges for everyone to compete in.
Thankful talent show: Set up a stage and invite each guest to showcase a unique talent, but it must be related to gratitude or Thanksgiving in some way — sing a song about thankfulness, tell a joke or perform a skit. You might want to let folks know ahead of time about this one so they can prepare something for the big day.
Thanksgiving around the world: Pick a different country’s Thanksgiving or harvest celebration each year and incorporate their traditions, food or games into your feast. (This one requires a little planning ahead of time.)
Turkey bowling: Set up a bowling game using empty plastic bottles decorated as turkeys and a small pumpkin as the bowling ball. Strike!
Thanksgiving movie marathon: Instead of the usual football games, gather everyone for a marathon of quirky fall-themed movies, complete with cozy blankets and popcorn.
Turkey trivia night: Create a trivia game focused on Thanksgiving facts, history and pop culture references, and give out silly prizes for the winners. Here are a few trivia questions to get you started.
Thanksgiving wish tree: Have a small tree or branch where family members can hang paper leaves with their wishes or hopes for the coming year.
Doodle Thanksgiving: Rather than a tablecloth, cover the dining table with paper and provide art supplies for everyone to create their own turkey doodles or drawings during dinner. Display the masterpieces on the wall afterward!
Gratitude dance party: After dinner, turn up the music for a fun dance party where everyone can show off their best moves in a celebration of gratitude.
Leftover crafting contest: Challenge family members to create a dish or craft using leftovers, and have everyone vote for the most creative entry.
Turkey time capsule: Have everyone write a letter to their future selves and put together a small time capsule with memories to open in a few years.
Thanksgiving bingo: Create bingo cards with Thanksgiving-themed items or activities (like “pumpkin pie” or “awkward family photo”) and play after dinner. If you don’t have time to make your own bingo cards you can find free, printable options online.
Food face contest: Challenge family members to make the most creative face using their Thanksgiving dinner items. Snap photos of the masterpieces!
Pinecone turkey crafting: Instead of traditional crafts, gather pinecones and craft supplies to make goofy turkey decorations to display.
Pumpkin spice taste test: Gather (or invite guests to bring) various pumpkin spice-flavored products (coffee, cookies, cereal, etc.) for a taste-testing competition.
Pumpkin launch: Get some Styrofoam balls at a craft store that are about the size of a small pumpkin. Decorate them anyway you’d like and head to a nearby open field (or your own backyard!). Load the Styrofoam “pumpkins” into a slingshot (a water balloon launcher will do the trick) and see whose can fly the farthest.
Need more fun? Try these Thanksgiving jokes at your gathering!
- Why did the turkey cross the road? To prove it wasn’t chicken!
- What sound does a turkey’s phone make? Wing, wing!
- Why did the cranberries turn red? Because they saw the turkey dressing!
- What did the turkey say to the computer? “Google, google, google!”
- Why did the scarecrow win an award? Because he was outstanding in his field!
- What do you get when you drop a pumpkin? Squash!
- What do you call a turkey on the day after Thanksgiving? Lucky!
- How do you keep a turkey in suspense? I’ll tell you at Thanksgiving!
- What did one turkey say to the other at Thanksgiving? “I think we’re in a bit of a jam!”
- Why was the Thanksgiving soup so expensive? Because it had 24 carrots!
- Why did the turkey refuse dessert? Because it was already stuffed!
- Why did the Pilgrims’ pants always fall down? Because they wore their buckles on their hats!
- Why did the turkey join a band? Because it had the drumsticks!
- Why did the turkey get a penalty? For fowl play!
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