Thursday, November 21, 2024
Time is ticking…
Are you ready for the BIG day?
Hopefully you’re close to having your grocery lists set,
especially if you’ll be hosting, like Laurie.
Or, perhaps, you’ll need to get your suitcases packed, like Laura.
Either way, we pray that your preparations will go well
for a seamless, stress-free and safe holiday next week!
We know many families love to go for walks after the big meal
and/or settle in for the parade, holiday movies or football on the screen
and that’s all great… we’re all about relaxing!
In addition though,
one of the things we each love to have ready on Thanksgiving
- whether at home or traveling -
is some kind of memorable activity that our family would enjoy together!
So, today, we’re sharing a few SIMPLE, EASY & FUN ways to do just that!
You can set up each of these games quickly (SIMPLE),
each requires very few materials (EASY)
and
each will provide loads of giggles, too (FUN)!!!
AND, as an added bonus,
each game could easily be adapted and played
during the upcoming holiday season, as well!
🎄 We'll explain how! 🎄
MATERIALS NEEDED
One deck of playing cards with Jokers included
DIRECTIONS
1. Deal out all cards, face down, to all players. It does not matter if some people have a few more cards than others.
2. Players take turns flipping over their top card and placing it in the middle.
3. When a card with the rank of 2 to 10 is flipped over, no action is taken. These are safe cards and the next player will then flip over their card.
4. The action begins, when a face card, like an Ace or a Joker is flipped over. Each card has its own action (described below) that must be performed before players race to slap their hands on the center pile.
5. The first player who does the action (see below) and slaps their hand on the middle pile, gets to “gobble up” all the cards in the stack and add them to the bottom of their personal pile. They then start the next pile by flipping over their top card and placing it in the middle.
THE ACTIONS EXPLAINED
When the special Thanksgiving cards are turned over, the players must do these actions before slapping their hand on the pile.
KINGS: The KINGS are the king birds and players must flap their arms like turkey wings.
QUEENS: The QUEENS (the “moms” of the cards) want you to eat your carrots. Players make a triangle with their hands over their heads like a carrot top.
JACKS: The JACKS (the young men of the cards) love to eat, eat, eat their Thanksgiving feast. Show this by rubbing your tummies.
ACES: The ACES (the “youngest”) are so full from their meal they hug their arms around their body to say “no more food!”
JOKERS: The JOKERS are the gravy of the meal. Players will smooth their hands back and forth in the air like smoothing gravy over everything.
These are all extra special cards. Not only does the player who slaps the pile first get the pile, they also get the top card of every player’s stack.
WINNING THE GAME
There are two ways a player can win the game.
1. Be the first person to gobble up all the cards in the deck.
2. If you want more control over the length of the game, set a timer for 15-20. minutes. The person with the most cards when time is up is the winner.
The Littles around you will love watching all the grown-ups
do the silly actions that are part of this game!
Before you know it... everyone will be in stitches!
GOBBLE! GOBBLE!
The game Gobble! might be a little tough
for your preschoolers or kindergartners to play.
There are a lot of actions to keep track of!
If you want to make it simpler,
play our version of the card game, Slap Jack, which we call Slap Turkey!
MATERIALS NEEDED
One deck of playing cards
Sticker (or paper) turkeys - Stick or tape one turkey on the front side of each Ace
DIRECTIONS
This game is essentially played the same way as Gobble! (which is described above). However, only when a “turkey card” is uncovered, is action required! Players quickly say “Gobble, gobble!” as they slap the turkey in the middle. The first player to slap the turkey card collects it and all the cards underneath and adds these cards to their own pile. Play continues until one player has collected all the cards (or until a timer signals the end of the game and the person with the most cards wins)!
How fun would it be to introduce this game at Thanksgiving
and then revisit it with your Littles in the weeks that follow?
Littles love repetition and this game transitions well from holiday to holiday!
GOBBLE! GOBBLE!
All ages - from toddlers to GRANDS - can play this one!
Let the competition begin!
MATERIALS NEEDED
1 bag of fresh cranberries
Painter’s tape
DIRECTIONS
Before the game begins, put a line of painter’s tape along one end of a table with the sticky side facing up.
1. Pass out 5 cranberries to each player.
2. Set a timer for five minutes.
3. Players take turns rolling the cranberries across the table, trying to get them to stick to the tape. Remove your cranberries from the tape when your turn is over, and move to the back of the line. Keep track of the number of your cranberries that stuck to the tape..
4. When time is up, be sure to finish up the round so everyone has had equal turns.
5. The player who manages to stick the most cranberries to the tape is the KING TURKEY!
Imagine playing “Roll the Cranberries” game during your Thanksgiving gathering
and then again at Christmas!
You could even up the ante and give each player a bowl of cranberries
and see how many stick to the tape within one minute!
Just be sure to do a quick clean-up between turns!
No one (especially the host) wants squashed cranberries when you’re done!
GOBBLE! GOBBLE!
We’ve shared other Thanksgiving games in past years, as well. We’re briefly sharing a few of our all time FAVES below!
🔶 TURKEY BASTER FEATHER RACE! (best for Preschool & Older Littles)
Here’s a fun game that uses craft feathers! Each player needs one feather and a turkey baster. When someone says “Go,” each player continuously squeezes his/her turkey baster to expel air, pushing a feather towards a finish line. (We used a roll of craft paper and put a piece across the table with an official "Finish Line" written on one end.) The player with the first feather to pass the finish line in a minute or less is the winner! Older Littles could be directed to see how many feathers they can get across the Finish Line in one minute!
🔶 BAG THE TURKEY! (best for School Age Littles & Adults)
Decorate some paper or plastic cups to look like turkeys… you can also decorate the cups with turkey stickers or google and copy turkey clipart and print, as shown.
To play, stack the cups into a pyramid shape at the end of the table. Each player must try to knock the cups off the table by shooting rubber bands at the cups. Whoever knocks the most cups off the table in 60 seconds wins!
🔶 WOULD YOU RATHER? (a great conversation starter for all!)
This game is very easy to put together, even at the last minute which, of course, we LOVE! Either pull up the Would You Rather? image provided below on your phone or computer (easiest) or write each question on a little strip of paper and put them all into a basket. To begin, someone reads the question (either from the list posted or by choosing a strip and reading the chosen question) and everyone takes turns, sharing their answer.
For a more interactive version of the game... As you ask each question, point to one side of the room for the first answer choice and then to the other side of the room for the other answer. Everyone then moves quickly to the side of the room that matches the answer they choose. You can even attach points to the game... everyone standing on the side with the most people gets a point. Before sharing the next question, have everyone return to the middle of the room. Repeat as many times as desired.
You've still got time before the BIG day!
Hopefully today’s post has given you some GRAND inspiration
as you prepare for next Thursday’s holiday!
While the star of the show is most definitely the Thanksgiving feast
any of the THANKSGIVING GAMES we’ve shared will only add to the day’s festivities!
What does your family do to make your celebration extra special?
We’d love to hear your Thanksgiving ideas!
Feel free to comment at the bottom of this post
or you can always email us directly at ourgrandlives@gmail.com.
WE LOVE LEARNING FROM YOU!
Tomorrow is Friday, so we’ll be back with a new Fall Fave!
We invite you to subscribe to our blog!
We’d love it and that way, you’ll never miss a thing!
You can always find us on our social media sites, too!
(or tap any of the links above to go directly to each site)!
Tomorrow is Friday so that means we’ll be back with a new Fall Fave!
We’ve got one more Thanksgiving game for your family!
It is definitely a FAVE!
See you soon!
SPECIAL THANKS TO
Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot from Scratch Made Food for Hungry People
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These are all great games! What a great way to spend time together as well. I hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We've been on a short break, and The Crazy Little Lovebirds link party will resume this Friday, December 6th. I hope you will join us.
Steph@CrazyLittleLovebirds
All these games sound like so much fun!
These games sound like such fun!! can't wait to try them! - Patty
Laura and crew, We need more family time games! One of my features for this week's WTJR, thanks so much for sharing with us! Melynda @scratchmadefood!
what fun - Thanks for sharing with Create-it Link Party. https://tryit-likeit.com/link-party-it/