Thanksgiving is a wonderful time of year to come together as
family and friends and eat delicious food. But we also know that, between cooking,
hosting guests, watching children, and catching up with loved ones,
Thanksgiving can be a bit hectic!
As one way to reign in the chaos, we’ve provided some simple, minimal-supply Thanksgiving activities that are both fun and a great reminder of what this holiday is all about—enjoying the company of those we love and showing gratitude for what we’ve been given.
Name That Baby
Gather old baby photos of you and your family, and ask
guests to send old childhood photos as well. Print these images, and put them
somewhere everyone can see, such as on a wall or spread out on a table. Put
numbers next to each photo, and have people write down their guesses about who
is in each numbered image. Whoever gets the most correct guesses wins!
Guess What I’m Grateful For
This Thanksgiving activity is sure to bring out some laughs! If you and your guests are a fan of Telephone or Pictionary, this game is for you. Here are the basic rules:
Person 1: Writes something she is grateful for.
Person 2: Draws an image of what person 1 wrote.
Person 3: Writes what he thinks person 2 drew, without
looking at the original word.
Person 4: Draws what person 3 wrote.
This pattern continues until everyone has had a chance to
either write or draw. As for supplies, you can play this game with a small
notebook, writing what you are grateful for on the first page and the next
person drawing it on the following page, and so on. Each person should look only
at the previous page. Or, if you want to play it simple, you can fold a piece
of paper, making sure to cover earlier guesses and drawings as you go along.
You can play this game at the dinner table, passing around a
single notebook between bites. Or, if you want a more involved game, you can
give participants a notebook or paper to start their own chain. The game ends
when everyone has his or her notebook back.
At the end, you can see how far off everyone was from the original
word and enjoy all the fun family drawings!
Family Trivia
Do you know how your parents met or what your sister’s
favorite hobby is? Play this fun trivia game at the dinner table to learn more
about each other! The rules are simple:
- Give everyone a piece of paper or small whiteboard.
This is what members of the group will use to write their answers on. - Have participants ask a question about
themselves, such as “What is my favorite color?” The others must then write
down what they think the answer is. - After writing down the answer to the question, they
all share their answers. Each person who wrote down the correct answer gets a
point. - Rotate around the room so that each person gets
a chance to ask a question.
Participants can either come up with their own questions, or they can check out sites such as this one with a long list of “get to know you” questions that are perfect for this game.
Who Looks More Like Who?
Ever wondered if you look more like your dad than your mom? We have a fun and easy Thanksgiving activity that will quickly settle the debate! FamilySearch’s Compare-a-Face feature allows you to upload and compare facial features between you and your family members. You can even compare some of those baby photos from the Name That Baby activity!
Not only can you compare two uploaded images, but if you already have a FamilySearch account with uploaded family images, you can compare your face to the faces of relatives and ancestors! Here’s a quick how-to.
I’m Grateful for T.H.A.N.K.S.G.I.V.I.N.G.
This game is a lot like Scategories, but with a Thanksgiving twist. Hand out a sheet of paper to all your family members or guests with the word “Thanksgiving” down the side, like an acrostic. Then explain these rules:
- While being timed, write down something you are
grateful for that begins with each letter in the word Thanksgiving. For example, you might write for the first letter of Thanksgiving
that you are grateful for “Turkey.” - After the timer is up, participants share what
they wrote for each letter in Thanksgiving. You get a point if you wrote down
something that no one else wrote. You don’t get a point if there are any
repeats—even if it was repeated later in the acrostic.
Set a timer for 3–5 minutes—3 minutes if you want a
challenge, 5 minutes if you and your family need a little more time. If your
family enjoys this game, you can try the same game using other words such as “Turkey”
or “Gratitude.”
For more Thanksgiving activities—and family activities for any occasion—check out FamilySearch’s In-Home Activities page.
Source: Family Search
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