20 Fun Games to Play on Thanksgiving With Family

A Thanksgiving with family is not one long event. It is four or five short ones: people arriving, cooking noise, a long meal, a food coma and then a second wind. The games that work best match each of those moments. Here are 20, in the order the day tends to go.

Before dinner: while people arrive

Guests drift in over an hour, so these have to be easy to join halfway.

1. Guess the dish: the cook writes the name of each side on a slip, and arrivals guess which dish is “the one that nearly went wrong”. Everyone gets a laugh and the host gets a free review.
2. Name that smell: hold a spice jar (cinnamon, sage, nutmeg) under someone’s nose with their eyes closed. Kids love it, adults are surprisingly bad at it.
3. Thanksgiving word chain: the first person says a food. The next says a food starting with the last letter. No repeats. Stuck for five seconds and you are out.
4. Family photo scavenger hunt: each guest gets a short list on their phone (“a photo with someone wearing red”, “a photo of the oldest thing in the room”). Share the best ones at dinner.
5. Guess the age: put up baby photos of the adults and let kids match them to the faces. Ask a parent to dig them out in advance.

At the table: talking games

You are seated, plates are full and hands are busy. Choose games that need only a voice.

6. Would you rather, holiday edition: read one per person around the table. Try the would you rather game for a mix that is easy to share with kids and adults.
7. Thanksgiving trivia in teams: split the table down the middle and answer questions from the free Thanksgiving trivia game, or pick from the trivia questions list and read them out.
8. Story of the dish: each person says where their favorite dish came from: who made it first, which year, who ruined it. You learn a lot about your family this way.
9. One-word year: everyone sums up their year in a single word, then the table guesses why.
10. Question jar: write a few good questions on folded paper and pass the bowl. The Thanksgiving questions list has plenty to copy.

After dinner: on the couch

Nobody wants to stand. These work with a blanket and a plate of pie.

11. Charades: a classic for a reason. Use the Thanksgiving charades generator for cards, or just let people act out the football game.
12. Family Feud, at home: two teams guess the most popular answers. The Family Feud style questions have ranked answers and points.
13. Telephone Pictionary: everyone writes a phrase, passes it on to be drawn, then the next person guesses the drawing from the picture only. The reveals at the end are the whole point. Needs paper and pens.
14. Bingo while the movie plays: put on the parade replay or a holiday film and hand out Thanksgiving bingo cards. Squares are things that will definitely happen.
15. Heads up with a phone: one person holds a phone to their forehead with a word on it, the rest give clues. Takes one device and no setup.

Prefer one app over many? Duoo Games has 15 two-player and group games on one phone, with no setup, so it is a handy backup when the group wants something new.

Outside: for the ones who need air

Even in November, a short break outdoors helps, especially for kids.

16. Leaf toss: two teams stand on opposite sides of a rake. Each gets one minute to toss as many leaves as they can into the other team’s yard. Messy but ridiculous.
17. Turkey trot relay: pick a lap around the block, tag a teammate, and the team that finishes first picks the first slice of pie.
18. Football toss through a hoop: hang a hula hoop or place a laundry basket and score points for a successful toss from three distances.
19. Sharks and minnows on the lawn: one person tags, everyone else runs, and anyone tagged joins the tagger. Great for kids and short-lived adults.
20. Nature bingo: a short walk with a list of things to find: an acorn, a red leaf, a bird. First to find all of them wins.

How to choose the right ones

• Pick one per moment. Four games across the day beats a stack of ten at the table.
• Mix ages on teams. Put a teenager with a grandparent. It is more fun for both.
• Stay flexible. If the first game gets a lukewarm reaction, drop it and move on.
• For more ideas, try our 30 Thanksgiving games, or the more social Friendsgiving games for a gathering with friends.