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
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)
Turkeys and Robbers Thanksgiving Game
If you’ve played “Cops & Robbers you can play “Turkeys and Robbers”.
Feeling a little “stuffed” after your Thanksgiving dinner? Here’s a fun game to get your Thanksgiving guests up and moving. Before you know it they’ll be ready for pumpkin pie.
How To Play:
- Divide participants into two groups-the "Turkeys" and the "Robbers." If you have an odd number of people, add extra people to the robbers. It is better to have more robbers than turkeys.
- Make a “nest” for your turkey eggs by making a circle (hula hoop) and placing soft balls or bean bags in the center. Start with three “eggs” but for a longer game you use more eggs.
- Mark off an area to be the "barnyard". When a turkey tags a robber they take the robber to the barnyard. The barnyard could be a tree or an area you mark off.
- Mark off a home base for the robbers. Turkeys may not enter the home base.
- Robbers can get their friends out of the barnyard by touching them.
- To win the game, the robbers must take the eggs while not getting captured by the turkeys.
- The turkeys can tag the robbers to remove them from the game or send them to the barnyard (jail).
- The robbers win if they successfully steal the turkey eggs and take them back to their "home base."
- The turkeys will win the game if they capture all of the robbers and send them to the barnyard.
- You will need to decide if the robbers can throw the turkey eggs from one another to keep them from the turkeys. We like that option especially when playing with an older group.
- If a robber is tagged while running back to the safe zone with a turkey egg, the turkeys must return the object directly to their nest. At no other time may the turkeys carry the eggs.
Turkeys and Robbers is basically just Cops and Robbers with a Thanksgiving twist. There are many variations to the game and I’m sure you have your favorite rules so feel free to tweak as necessary. For instance,you may want to create a safety zone around the nest for the robbers or decide on a time limit for robbers to be inside any of the safety zones.
Whatever variations your family decides on, Turkeys and Robbers is a great way to burn off that stuffed feeling after you’ve gobbled up Tom Turkey and all the trimmings.
