Looking for a fun game to play with your family between Thanksgiving dinner and the Pumpkin Pie?
Our family tested our knowledge of Thanksgiving traditions and history at our family dinner last Thanksgiving. I came up with the questions and printed them off on half sheet papers. We followed basic TV Jeopardy rules and adapted as necessary for our situation.An example of answers and questions for the “First Thanksgiving” topic are as follows:
First Thanksgiving Answer Key
100: When was the first thanksgiving? 1621
200: The president who made Thanksgiving a national holiday? Abraham Lincoln
300: How long did Thanksgiving last? 3 Days
400: How many people where at the first thanksgiving? 140
500: What Indian Tribe? Wampanoag
You can download a pdf file of the Jeopardy game we used by clicking on the link below. It’s ready to print with 1/2 sheet question cards and a list of answers. Heading cards are on a half sheet and feature the graphics shown in the photo above. Take a quick look at the questions before printing and make sure they are still applicable. Happy Thanksgiving!
FREE Thanksgiving Jeopardy printable
Family Thanksgiving Turkey Trot
Start a new Thanksgiving tradition this year with a family 5K.
I ran into an awesome young man at our local 5K fun run in July. It was his Turkey Trot shirt that caught my eye and I had a fun time talking to him about this fun family tradition.
Every Thanksgiving, this family hosts a 5K race for all visiting family members and friends. All that want to participate, bring their running or walking shoes and burn off all those weighty Thanksgiving dinner calories before the turkey even comes out of the oven.
What a fun idea to have t-shirts made for the big race- a fun memento of a fun day. I love any activity that gets family members up off their seats and moving and a family turkey trot certainly does that whether you trot or waddle across the finish line.
Lemon Jell-O to Feed a Crowd
A Favorite Family Reunion “Side”
I love this salad, it’s inexpensive to make, quick to put together (it takes awhile to set though) and everyone loves it. I’m not really sure that you should call it a salad, there’s no fruit in it, let’s just call it a “side”. The fun thing about this side dish is that it separates and looks like you’ve spent a lot of time working on layers. In reality, it just makes the layers all by itself.
Lemon Jell-O for a Crowd
3 (3 oz.) pkg. lemon Jell-O
4 c. boiling water
1 (12 oz.) can frozen lemonade consentrate
1 (12 oz.) container Cool Whip
1 (12 oz.) container Cool Whip- for the top layer
Mix Jell-O and water until Jell-O is dissolved. Add lemonade and stir. Refrigerate until syrupy.
Fold in the whipped topping to the Jell-O and pour into a clear glass dish (I used a 10 x 15 Pyrex glass dish) and refrigerate until firm.
In the above photo you can see the layers beginning to form even as I’m folding in the whipped topping.
Spread a top layer for whipped topping over the Jell-O when set.
You change this recipe up to make it a fun side dish for using orange Jell-O with a can of orange juice and serving at your Halloween or Autumn gathering.
I’m not a great food photographer, I’m more of a, “I’ve got 80 people to feed how do I do that easily, inexpensively and deliciously” type of person. This lemon “side” is the answer for our family reunions and parties.
Thanksgiving Jeopardy Printable Game
Just print off this game and you’re ready to go- a fun Jeopardy inspired printable game.
FREE DOWNLOAD!
Thanksgiving is at my house this year and as I’ve made my plans for food and activities I thought it might be fun to test every ones knowledge with a Thanksgiving Jeopardy inspired game. The great thing about this game is that you can print it off on 8.5x 11 paper, cut each sheet in half and after hanging on your wall you’re ready to play. (Don’t forget to write “100”, “200” etc on the back of each card for points.) Not much prep work involved with this activity. Hope you enjoy the fruits of my labor and that you and your loved ones have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Click on the link below for your free Thanksgiving Jeopardy game
Thanksgiving Jeopardy
Thanksgiving Gumdrop Turkeys
Thanksgiving gumdrop turkeys for your Thanksgiving table.
I’ve searched all over the internet for gum drop turkeys as cool as the ones my brothers and I made when we were growing up, but it appears those turkeys were one of a kind creations from my Mom.
My Mom always put her four children in charge of making the 30- 50 gum drop turkey favors for our Thanksgiving family gathering. The turkeys were so simple to make that we required no supervision and popping a few raisins or candy corns in our mouth as we were creating them took the edge off our Thanksgiving hunger. In fact, making gum drop turkeys soon became a tradition at my house when I had children of my own.
Over the years I exchanged the raisins we used to use for Craisens and brown toothpicks for brightly colored ones. Hint- always use Braches candy corns- they are softer and don’t crumble as easily when you stick a toothpick in them. Large gum drops can be difficult to find, but after extensive searching, I was able to find some on the bottom shelf, hidden behind a garbage can, (no kidding) on the Wal-mart candy isle.
As I was writing this blog, my 32 year old son walked into the kitchen where I was taking pictures and said, “Gum drop turkeys, I remember making those!” Just proves that something doesn’t have to be expensive, complicated or elaborate to make a lasting family memory.
Gobble, Gobble, Gobble!
Aunt MO
May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have nary a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!
– Author unknown
Gumdrop Turkey Favors
Thanksgiving gumdrop turkeys for your Thanksgiving table.
I’ve searched all over the internet for gum drop turkeys as cool as the ones my brothers and I made when we were growing up, but it appears those turkeys were one of a kind creations from my Mom.
My Mom always put her four children in charge of making the 30- 50 gum drop turkey favors for our Thanksgiving family gathering. The turkeys were so simple to make that we required no supervision and popping a few raisins or candy corns in our mouth as we were creating them took the edge off our Thanksgiving hunger. In fact, making gum drop turkeys soon became a tradition at my house when I had children of my own.
Over the years I exchanged the raisins we used to use for Craisens and brown toothpicks for brightly colored ones. Hint- always use Braches candy corns- they are softer and don’t crumble as easily when you stick a toothpick in them. Large gum drops can be difficult to find, but after extensive searching, I was able to find some on the bottom shelf, hidden behind a garbage can, (no kidding) on the Wal-mart candy isle.
As I was writing this blog, my 32 year old son walked into the kitchen where I was taking pictures and said, “Gum drop turkeys, I remember making those!” Just proves that something doesn’t have to be expensive, complicated or elaborate to make a lasting family memory.
Gobble, Gobble, Gobble!
Aunt MO
May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have nary a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!
– Author unknown
Squirrel’s Thanksgiving Dinner Game
A large group game for all ages- perfect for Thanksgiving fun!
For two teams you will need 4 bowls and a set of chopsticks for each person playing the game. Collect 2 of several kinds of nuts that a squirrel might eat for Thanksgiving dinner- 2 shelled peanuts, 2 almonds, 2 acorns, and 2 unshelled walnuts.
Place 2 of the bowls at one end of the room and put one of each kind of nut in each bowl. Place the other 2 empty bowls directly across from them at the other end of the room.
Divide those that want to play into 2 equal teams. Give each person a set of chopsticks and line teams up in a row from the full bowl to the empty bowl.
On the word “go”, the person nearest the full bowl will pick up one of the nuts with their chopsticks, and will pass it down the line to the next person, also using chopsticks. Once they have passed the first nut they can pick up the second nut and begin passing it- the don’t need to wait for the first nut to get passed to the end.
Participants can not use their fingers. If they drop one of the nuts they must run it back to the starting bowl and begin passing it again.
The team that gets all four nuts to the empty bowl first wins!
NOTE: You can easily involve more players by adding more teams or repeating the game after the first 2 teams face off ending with the “championship” game.
You can usually purchase chopsticks from Oriental restaurants or from Amazon (100 sets for under $10.00- with prime shipping)
