Thanksgiving is not my favorite holiday. Sorry, it's just not. For as long as I can remember, I've spent it either sitting in my uncle's living room under my grandma's supervision, counting down the long hours until my parents would return from their day of working Denver's Turkey Trot race, or working at the Turkey Trot myself and counting down the eve longer hours until the sun would come out and relieve at least some of the morning's intolerable cold. My parents, sister, and I would finally arrive home to take turns showering and changing before rushing over to my uncle's house, inevitably several hours later than they had told us they would be eating, and often with my parents having stacks of unfinished work to complete after the dinner was over. That's not to say I didn't love spending time with my family, it's just by the time we'd actually get to that part of the day, I was usually exhausted and bored and just wanted it to be the weekend, when we would start our Christmas decorating and shopping for the season.
Our Thanksgiving tradition was always to spend the evening with my dad's side of the family, but a few years ago, my aunt on my mom's side moved out to Colorado, so we spent the following Thanksgiving at their house. Last year, my family spent several weeks prior to the holiday debating which house we would go to. We still hadn't made a final decision on Thanksgiving morning, but a wrench was thrown into our (lack of plans) when coincidentally someone from both sides of the family ended up testing positive for COVID. We suddenly went from having two places to celebrate to having zero. So, when we returned home from the race, while our parents and family friend who was staying with us unloaded trucks at their warehouse, Ashley and I made a mad dash to the grocery store to gather up some semblance of a meal. They had not one turkey, not even frozen turkey breast, so we settled for packaged ground turkey that we made into cranberry meatballs (of course that didn't phase us since we are vegetarians, but we did feel a bit guilty to not serve the central Thanksgiving dish). However, we toiled away in the kitchen the rest of the afternoon, cooking as many dishes as we could in the short time we had, and by seven-thirty or eight we presented a table full of potatoes, casserole, homemade bread, cranberry sauce, several desserts, and of course the turkey meatballs. And it was an absolute blast. Anyone who knows me knows I love cooking almost as much as I love hosting a party, so despite its thrown-togetherness I was still in my sweet spot. For the last few months, I've been dropping hints about how much I wished we could do Thanksgiving at our house this year, and when those hints turned into all-out persuasion, my wish came true!
I promised my family (some were much more weary than others about this change in tradition) that this would be the most fun Thanksgiving ever, so of course Ashley and I have spent weeks researching and Pinterest-ing every idea of dish, decoration, and DIY game we could find. We probably went overboard with the number of activities we've prepared for our feast, but as I said earlier, Thanksgiving has generally felt like somewhat of a boring holiday, and we're determined to change that! So, I wanted to share with you some of the easiest game and activity ideas I found in case you're looking for ideas to add some excitement to your Thanksgiving get-together, whether it's with twenty people or two. Let me know what your favorite Thanksgiving pastimes are, or what you think if you try any of these in the comments below!
1) Thanksgiving Dice Game
Why not make the traditional "what are you thankful for" roundtable into l little game? Pass a die around, and on each player's turn, they have to answer the prompt. This fun twist means everyone can go multiple times, and maybe you'll even spark some interesting conversations or recall old memories. You can buy pre-made game cards on Etsy, but I just created my own prompts, that way you can tailor them to the people who will be present!
2) Gratitude Cards
This one might seem basic, but I came across so many creative ideas of people who might deserve a thank-you card this holiday. I am planning to set up a card-making station with construction paper, stickers, colorful pens and pencils, and envelopes. The younger kids can have fun coloring pictures for their family or friends, but I'll also set out a list of ideas for meaningful thank-you notes that everyone can create. When was the last time you got a handwritten card out of the blue? Think outside the box about who might need a little extra holiday cheer. Imagine handing a card to the cashier on Black Friday to thank them for their hard work, or mailing a letter to a teacher from many years ago who had an impact on your life.
3) Thanksgiving The Price is Right
We all know that game show The Price is Right. Actually, that's a lie. I've never seen the show, but my roommate has gone to a few live tapings, so through her and a little Googling, I think I understand the premise. If you're doing the Thanksgiving grocery shopping this year, I thought this was a fun idea: keep track of the prices of the ingredients you buy, and then see if your family can guess the price of Thanksgiving staples this season. It goes without saying, but this should be a game for fun, so if the idea of tracking and sharing what you spent on Thanksgiving dinner sounds stressful, feel free to use the prices of other random items. For the game I created, I looked up things like the price of a catered Thanksgiving meal and a night's stay at a Macy's Parade route hotel.
4) Turkey Cookie Crafts
Whether you've got bakers, crafters, or just cookie-lovers in the house, these adorable turkey cookies make a great activity because they'll keep your guests busy and also leave you with a fun dessert! For the turkeys pictured below, all you'll need is Oreos, candy corn, and edible googly eyes. If you can't find eyes, you could use chocolate chips or M&Ms instead. Technically, this picture uses butterscotch chips as the nose, but for simplicity's sake you could just as easily use another piece of candy corn. If you're feeling extra crafty or you have more advanced company coming over, there are lots of more elaborate cookie turkeys on Pinterest that you can explore!
5) Gratitude Tablecloth
Did you know you can buy "Color-Your-Own" tablecloths to write on? Some come pre-made with activities or pictures to color, but you can also buy blank ones and challenge your dinner guests to write down what they are thankful for as they eat. It will be fun to see and read what others write as the night goes on! Some versions of this that I came across use a fabric tablecloth and fabric markers instead, and they add to the same tablecloth each year. What a great way to preserve and look back on your family memories!
