22 Fun Thanksgiving Activities for Families to Dig Into

Shila said:  Playing a lively board game has been a long-standing family Thanksgiving tradition in my parents' house for years. Every Thanksgiving, we play a different game into the night! I'm partial to family board games like Taboo, Pictionary, or Apples To Apples because they're best enjoyed by multiple players and appropriate for all ages to play. Plus, they're so fun.

Sarah Calamita said:  I love this easy, cute and festive recipe!

Vanessa M. said:  We've enjoyed the tradition of creating a Thankful Pumpkin the past few Thanksgivings, and it has become something my whole family looks forward to doing together on Thanksgiving Day. Using permanent markers, have each person write what they are most thankful for on a pumpkin. It is a wonderful visual reminder of all we have to be thankful for, and makes a great table centerpiece.

Sarah Calamita said:  Do Thanksgiving crafts together! I love the thankful turkey.

Shila said:  One of my fondest activities for Thanksgiving growing up was watching the annual Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV. Even if nobody was in the room sitting and actually watching, it was still on for our family to hear all the excitement and cheer. The parade typically showcases popular musicians, Broadway talent, gigantic floats and more. My kids enjoy the extra TV time, and I try to sit down for a minute with them to enjoy it too.

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Sue Krawitz Tandoc said:  Kids love to help out in the kitchen and making dessert together is a fun way to get them involved in the meal preparation. Try a new recipe or have the kids help choose something that says Thanksgiving to them. You could also use a generations-old family recipe and teach them how it's important to your family.

Kelly R. said:  With a white tablecloth or runner on your table, have everyone present for the Thanksgiving dinner write something they are thankful for in Sharpie or fabric marker and sign their name. Carefully launder the tablecloth, and you can bring it out again each year to repeat as an annual Thanksgiving activity and enjoy looking back on past years!

Kelly R. said:  For a fun spin on the ugly holiday sweater contest, try a silly socks contest instead! Have everyone come to Thanksgiving dinner wearing the craziest pair of Thanksgiving socks they can find.

Shila said:  Two lucky members at the table each grab a side of the wishbone and pull. Whoever gets the larger piece of the bone gets to close their eyes and make a wish! If you want to skip the 2-3 day wait time for a dry and brittle wishbone that snaps nicely instead of bends, you can pop it into the still-warm oven while you eat and it should be ready by dessert!

Shila said:  Watching football is one of the essential Thanksgiving activities for many families, and I like to create football bingo sheets or football squares to place fun, no pressure bets on. Earn points on which team scores the first touchdown, what the score is by halftime, heads or tails on the coin toss, etc.

If you have kids or family members in the house that aren't necessarily interested in the game itself, but still want to enjoy the company of others that do, this is a great way to engage everybody in the room on an activity together.

Kelly R. said:  We have had a lot of fun filling out Thanksgiving Mad Libs stories together! The kids like taking charge of this Thanksgiving activity and surveying the adults for funny words to fill in the blanks.

Kristy Pepping said:  Expressing gratitude on Thanksgiving is a great lesson for kids. For a fun Thanksgiving activity, assign one family member each year to give a toast. Even younger kids can get in on that fun by giving them a turn to lead. And kids love to clink the glasses once it's over too!

Kristy Pepping said:  One of our favorite fun things to do on Thanksgiving is to go on a walk around the neighborhood or a nature preserve to help digest all that food. Depending on the weather, this could be a short couple block walk or a longer stroll. Either way, it's a fun way to unwind after dinner and get some exercise at the same time.

Shila said:  Wake up early on Thanksgiving morning and head out for a family run, or race in a community Turkey Trot with others. My husband's family does this every year with the ending point meeting at Grandma's house for donuts and coffee.

Kelly R. said:  Set out a big puzzle, and people can work on it as they please throughout the day. I love low-key family Thanksgiving activities like this that encourage people to sit together and chat, and it works well for a wide range of ages. Puzzles with a harvest or holiday theme are a fun choice.

Shila said:  The Thanksgiving holiday encourages us to carve out some time to be thankful and show gratitude by paying it forward. There should be many local events where families of all ages can volunteer together to help the community or an important cause. Examples include: food bank depositories, cleaning up parks, volunteering time to assist schools, churches, senior homes, etc. There are many at-home volunteer opportunities, too.

Alexandra F. said:  In the days leading up to Thanksgiving we break out our poster paints and paint a big tree, minus the leaves, on big sheets of paper. We also cut out large leaves using colorful construction paper and put the tree up in a prominent area with a big pile of paper leaves nearby. Throughout Thanksgiving, we each write down things that we’re grateful for on a leaf to add to the tree (and invite any guests to do the same) - it’s such a fun and visual way to see and recall the many things we have to be thankful for!

Shila said:  Have a mini pumpkin "egg" hunt! Buy a dozen of those adorable mini pumpkins and hide them throughout your home for a fun thing to do this Thanksgiving. Hide them inside, outside, high and low. Kids can hunt for them and win prizes. Later, use the pumpkins as dinner table décor!

Shila said:  One of the most common Thanksgiving activities for families involves giving everyone a chance to say what they are thankful for. It's sweet to hear what each person has to say! You can turn this into a fun Thanksgiving game by going around the table and working your way through the alphabet from A to Z.

Sue Krawitz Tandoc said:  My kids and I have gone to the Thanksgiving Day Parade in Philadelphia about five times and we always have a blast. We leave early, bring hot chocolate and bundle up to watch the bands, floats, dancers and their favorite, the giant balloons. They love watching the balloon holders spin and joining in the excitement with the crowd!

Sarah Calamita said:  I love this gratitude one (that you can play with leftover Halloween M&M's).

Shila said:  Head outside for flag football or just toss around the pigskin as you catch up with family. Make fun teams like grown-ups versus kids or boys versus girls. There are many other backyard games that are perfect Thanksgiving activities for families with a range of ages in the group.