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Thanksgiving day can be a long one, and you may need activities to fill up the time as you wait for the turkey to cook or as you recover between turkey and pie. If you’re gathering with a small number of loved ones this year—or even looking to reconnect with friends and family through digital portals—it’s a great time to get some party games going. Here are ideas for games to suit all ages and, especially, games that all ages can play and enjoy together.
This version of bingo is for adults and is probably the most fun if you’re the cynical type. Flavor Wire has created four humorous bingo cards and participants cover the squares as the day progresses and they observe things like running out of gravy, a drunk uncle, a pet stealing food, or someone starting a story with “When I was your age…”
There are plenty of games and plugins that you can add to your next Zoom session with friends and family. (Some are even free.) For friends who really get each other’s sense of humor, try Quiplash, a digital game similar to Cards Against Humanity where friends vote on the funniest answer.
This outdoor game from Let’s Get Together is for kids and adults and is a Thanksgiving-themed version of flag tag. The gist is that each person wears three clothespins on their clothing and then everyone runs around trying to remove clothespins from everyone else.
A good card game for a mixed-ages group is Uno, if you have a deck, or Exploding Kittens if you’re up to buy something new (it’s fun and suitable for ages 7+) Other games that are easy to learn are Crazy Eights, Hearts, I Doubt It and Spoons. If you’re fuzzy on some of the rules for a card game, Bicycle Cards has a free app with rules to 75 card games that you can download. For young children not ready for true card games, I’m a fan of the Spot It cards that don’t require reading or counting (my kids beat me all the time so it’s still fun for grown-ups). The original is fun and there are a ton of spin-offs so you’re sure to find one to suit your group.
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Drinking Game
If watching the televised parade is a part of your family’s annual tradition, mix it up by making it into a drinking game (and not necessarily alcoholic!). A few years ago Chicago Now published their ideas for prompts like “Drink every time a musical performer messes up the lip syncing.” The bloggers at Cookies & Sangria have a similar list (although they suggest doing exercises instead of drinking!) including doing a set of jumping jacks when “the hosts refer to bad parade weather in the distant past (>25 years ago).”
This year’s parade will be virtual, like many reimagined traditions this year, and you can imagine that the television pundits will note this many times—yet another reason to take a drink!
Parlor games are games for groups to play that don’t require a board or anything purchased. The most classic and well known is charades. If you don’t know any, here’s a list of classic parlor games. Or consult our list of the best party games for some fun, modern takes—best of all, many of these games translate easily to Zoom hangouts.
This game from Creative Youth Ideas is a contest to see who can draw the best turkey without looking. The version described here involves putting a book on your head and using that as a drawing surface, but it seems simpler to just blindfold people with a sleep mask or a dish towel.
The Idea Room describes this game which can be played any time of year. You divide into teams and compete in silly contests like who can stand on one foot the longest, who has the tallest thumb and any other contests you can invent.
Don’t worry, this is not a version of passing an orange from neck to neck, but with a small nut—that sounds a bit too intimate, and like the exact opposite of social distancing. This game from Improvements Catalog is essentially a relay race where teams carry small objects like nuts and cranberries from bowl to bowl with chopsticks.
This is less of a “game” and more of a fun way to spark conversations, especially as you’re sitting around the table. Either have guests write a few of their own questions or write them yourself ahead of time and then draw them from a bowl and go around the table taking turns answering them. Questions can be anything you like, such as “Where have you always wanted to travel, but haven’t yet?”, “What is your least favorite food?”, “What’s something most people here don’t know about you?”
– Re-edited from a post originally published 11.13.2014 – EC
Carrie McBride
Contributor
Carrie is a former Apartment Therapy editor and the original editor of Apartment Therapy Media’s first site for kids: Ohdeedoh. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two kids..
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