Games provide a wonderful way to add fun and entertainment to your Thanksgiving celebration. I always arrange for amusing and interactive games during our family gatherings. I find they liven up the celebration and there is always tons of laughter in addition to the fabulous memories each family member takes away with them. Every year I introduce different games with a combination of “Individual Best” and “Team Champions,” generally playing them between dinner and dessert. They are a lively way of burning off the calories from the turkey feast. Don’t forget to award small prizes for the individual winner and teams!

Here’s what we have planned for this year:

Candy Corn Hunt
Hide candy corn around a room. The goal of the game is for each guest to find the candy corn in a three-minute time limit. The winner is the player with the most candy corn.

Corn Pitching
I have a lovely, rather large, orange pumpkin bowl that I use as the target. Each player is given 10 candy corns. They have the opportunity to pitch the candy corns, one at a time into the bowl from a marked distance. The winner is the guest with the most candy corn in the bowl.

Where is the Thanksgiving Turkey
The guests are separated into two teams.  On each team, one player is chosen to be the hunter and the others are helpers. The hunter leaves the room and the helpers hide a small, toy turkey.  The hunter returns and starts to search for the turkey.  The helpers gobble to give the hunter clues.  When the hunter is close to the turkey the helpers gobble very loudly and when the hunter is not close, the helpers gobble very quietly. The time is stopped when the hunter has found the turkey.  The second team does the same.  The winner is the team that finds the turkey is the shortest amount of time.

Pumpkin Roll Relay
You will need two large pumpkins and two sturdy sticks. Separate the guests into two teams, with half of each team on the starting line on one side of the room and the other half across from them on the other side of the room. On the signal to go, the first racer, rolls the pumpkin, with only the stick across the room to his team mate, hands over the stick and that racer rolls the pumpkin back across the room to his next team mate. This continues until the last player rolls the pumpkin to the finish line. For young players, we allow them to use their hands instead of the stick.

Thanksgiving Prayer to you
For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.

– Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)