45 Best Thanksgiving Youth Games and Activities for Kids
Thanksgiving is a fun time for families to get together and celebrate. There are plenty of great Thanksgiving games that the whole family can enjoy. Whether you are having a large family gathering with large groups of people or a whole group of a youth ministry organization, there are lots of great Thanksgiving crafts and games.
Here is the scoop on some of the best Thanksgiving games for kids!
1. Thanksgiving Quiz
This is a classic game that can be played with any number of people. All you need is to split your guests into 2 teams and quiz them on Thanksgiving trivia. You can write your questions on index cards to ask questions during this fun game.
If you are a teacher, this is a great way to have your students learn about the Thanksgiving season. You can ask them questions about the first Thanksgiving, quiz them on Thanksgiving day, or a little bit of both.
2. Turkey Race
The object of the game is to be the first person to get from the starting line to the finish line. Have each of your family members race while doing their best turkey impression.
3. Turkey Day Scavenger Hunt
A scavenger hunt is another one of our favorite Thanksgiving party games! Make a list of
This is also a great choice of youth group games
4. Turkey Trot
The object of the game is to be the first team to get from the starting line to the finish line.
5. Thanksgiving Dinner Table Quiz
This is a great game for families with older children. The object of the game is to answer all of the Thanksgiving trivia questions correctly.
6. Thanksgiving Recipe Swap
This is one of the best great ideas on this list! Kids with big families or who want to try their hand a cooking can bring copies of their favorite recipe and swap with other guests to create their own recipe book.
Have everyone write their recipes on slips of paper, then exchange a slip of paper with each person until you have one of everyone’s recipes. Recipe swaps can be the best part of the holiday season.
7. Thanksgiving Time Capsule
Time capsules are another great activity for the Thanksgiving holiday!
Get an under bed storage container and put in small items that are important to you or your family. These items may be random things like small corks, plastic straws, or even popsicle sticks but if they are important you can add them.
Bury your time capsule and set a date in the future to open it up!
8. Turkey Bowling
Turkey bowling is another fun Sunday school game. Decorate bowling pins with colorful craft paper to look like turkeys and start bowling.
9. The Price Is Right
List all of the ingredients that go into your Thanksgiving meal, and have the kids guess how much each item costs. Add up their totals and the closest guess wins a prize.
This is a fun game idea because it is a Thanksgiving edition of classic holiday programming.
10. Thanksgiving Family Feud
Split your group into two teams or “families” and have each team member go against the other team when giving answers in a category window about popular Thanksgiving topics. This is a fun way to get to know how everyone’s minds work.
11. Pin the Feather on the Turkey
One person wears a blindfold and tries to pin a turkey feather in the correct place on a turkey picture. After their turn, the next person goes until all feathers are placed. The closest feather wins!
12. Thanksgiving Mad Libs
Mad libs are another great option for Thanksgiving activities. Get Thanksgiving stories with missing words or phrases and take turns adding great additions of themed words based on the part of speech necessary.
You can write them on a pad of sticky notes or directly in the story. When you are done, read them aloud and have fun!
13. Thanksgiving I Spy
Pick different Thanksgiving items like fake flowers or a turkey, or metal spoons and have people describe what they see while others guess.
You can turn this into a gratitude game by having people play I Spy with things they are grateful for.
14. Turkey Corn Hole
Decorate your corn hole game to look like a turkey and play a round! There are many different ways to dress up your corn hole set, so get creative and have fun!
15. Pie Eating Contest
Give everyone a slice of pumpkin pie and have them race to finish eating. The first player to finish eating their pie slice can win a price.
For a more extreme version you can play with entire pies, but if you want a smaller round it is best to stick with individual slices. Another option is to set a time limit and see who eats the most within that time.
16. Keep Up the Turkey Feather
Give each different person their own turkey feathers and on your go, they will blow the feather up in the air and keep doing so until it falls to the ground. The last person with their feather still in the air wins.
18. Thanksgiving Minute to Win It Games
Play classic Minute to Win It games with a Thanksgiving twist. Everyone will find lots of creative ways to do their best.
17. Thanksgiving Word Search
There are so many great things about Thanksgiving, so include those words in a word search. You can also turn it into a Sunday school game by seeing who can finish the word search the fastest.
18. Thanksgiving Sudoku
You can search for a free printable Thanksgiving game online! The good news is that there are lots of free resources where you can find Thanksgiving sudoku games.
This is another great choice of the best Thanksgiving youth games!
19. Thanksgiving Crossword Puzzle
Find or make a crossword with Thanksgiving words and phrases like candy corn, native Americans, and the month of November to give it a Thanksgiving theme.
20. Turkey Trot Obstacle Course
Design an obstacle course in your backyard and have the kids run through it. You can add anything fun like a hula hoop or balance beam.
21. Thanksgiving Charades
Charades is always a fun game, and there are so many great things to mime about Thanksgiving like your favorite activity or a food item.
22. Musical Chairs
Find some Thanksgiving music to play during this fun game!
23. Hot Yam
This is a fun Thanksgiving game that will put a twist on the classic game Hot Potato. Instead of a potato, you can have everyone passing raw yams.
24.Thanksgiving Bingo
You can either make your own Bingo cards on a piece of paper or print some out. This Thanksgiving edition of the classic Bingo game is sure to be fun.
25. Balloon Pop
Blow up fall-colored balloons and full them with pieces of candy or other small prizes. Then, have the kids pop the balloons to see what they won.
26. Bean Bag Toss
For more thanksgiving fun, have a bean bag toss! This is another awesome choice of the best Thanksgiving youth games!
27. Have a Thanksgiving Feast
Invite everyone for a Thanksgiving feast and have guests bring their favorite Thanksgiving staples. Whether their favorite Thanksgiving food is stuffing or cranberry sauce, they are sure to love this delicious feast.
28. Coloring Pages
There are lots of free Thanksgiving coloring pages available, so find your favorites and print them out. Then, give the kids some crayons or markers and let them get creative.
29. Thanksgiving Marshmallow Toss
Have the kids pair up in groups of two and stand across from their partners. Give each pair a marshmallow and they will toss it back and forth until one of them drops it. The last group remaining wins!
30. Pin the Nose on the Pumpkin
Similar to Pin the Feather on the Turkey, this is another great Thanksgiving game!
31. Piñata
Fill a Turke-shaped piñata with candy and other treats. Have the kids take turns hitting the piñata with a stick or bat until it bursts, then they can collect the candy.
32. Sack Race
Give everyone a potato sack. They will put both lets inside and race, hopping along inside the bag. The first person to cross the finish line wins!
33. Spoons
Play the classic party game Spoons, but instead of with regular playing cards, play with a Thanksgiving deck.
34. Turkey Hunt
Get stuffed animal turkeys and hide them around your house or in a certain room. Treat this just like an Easter egg hunt!
35. Tic Tac Toe
Tic Tac Toe is always a great game because it is very quick and fun. The winner can win a Thanksgiving-themed prize.
36. Thanksgiving Basketball
Another Thanksgiving-themed physical activity is Thanksgiving basketball. You can set up a mini basketball hoop and have a thanksgiving shooting competition.
37. Duck, Duck, Turkey!
Duck, Duck, Turkey is a Thanksgiving twist on the classic Duck, Duck, Goose game. Everyone is sure to love playing this game and running around.
38. Thanksgiving Costume Contest
Have everyone dress up as their favorite thing from Thanksgiving. The person with the best costume can win a prize.
39. Thanksgiving Pictionary
Pictionary is another super fun game that everyone can enjoy, so why not keep it Thanksgiving-themed?
40. Thanksgiving Word Jumble
Make a list of Thanksgiving words and jumble up the letters. Then, give the list to the kids and see ho can unscramble everything the fastest.
41. Make Your Own Cornucopia
Get craft supplies like construction paper, flowers, pipe cleaners, and more to design your very own cornucopia.
42. Indoor Football
Make some paper footballs and play with them inside. This is a great way to let kids get out their extra energy!
43. Turkey Crafts
Draw a turkey in the center of a paper plate and color the border to look like feathers!
Then, attach some jute rope to the back so the turkey can hang up on the refrigerator or wall!
44. Thanksgiving Relay Race
Get turkey costumes and split your party into two teams. Each team member will race while wearing the turkey costume, then have to take it off and give the costume to the next runner. This silly race is sure to be a lot of fun.
45. Hand Turkey
Give everyone a piece of paper and a pencil to trace their hand. Then color the fingers to look like feathers and make the thumb the turkey’s face!
Final Thoughts on Thanksgiving Youth Games
These are just a few of the best Thanksgiving games for kids. There are plenty of other great games out there that your family can enjoy. Just use your imagination and have fun!
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