- Nov 17, 2023

THANKSGIVING! gobble, gobble! family fun!

Friday, November 17 , 2023

The countdown has begun…

Are you and your loved ones ready for Turkey Day?

Since Thanksgiving is less than a week away

we’re coming to you a bit earlier than normal!

We’ve got one more THANKSGIVING post for you,

dedicated to family fun!

During the month of November,

we’ve shared two other THANKSGIVING posts with you all!

THANKSGIVING:

Practicing Gratitude… Teachable Moments with Our Littles!

AND

THANKSGIVING:

Table Decor with Our Littles!

These past posts have focused on experiences shared with our Littles

❤️ our grandchildren ❤️

where we described ways to express and grow gratitude with each other

and then

festive ideas for adding child-created touches to your holiday table!

TODAY, our post is devoted to FAMILY FUN!

We’re sharing a few ways to build memorable moments into your day’s plans!

If you and your family - including your Middles and your Littles

love the fun and laughs that come with activities and games,

we’ve got a few options for you all to enjoy…

before, during or after you’ve taken the time to count your blessings!

This is actually a game that lasts all day long and involves all your guests!

Read on for the details!

To begin, you, as the host, hide a chocolate turkey somewhere in the space where you and your guests will be celebrating Thanksgiving together (this could be inside your home or even outside in the yard)! We found our turkey at a local grocery store - google "Chocolate Turkey" for availability near you!

As people arrive at the gathering, explain the game to each participant! You may want to have a second chocolate turkey (or a photo of one) to show your guests so they know what they are looking for! (If you purchase two, you could even have two winners - an adult one and a Little one!

Don’t worry… as the day progresses,

your guests will quickly catch on to how the game is played!

Whenever someone finds the turkey, that person, without drawing attention to him/herself, writes his/her name on a sheet of paper, followed by a tally mark, to show one point earned. Then secretly that person hides the turkey in a new place.

A Grand Tip!

You have to be sneaky!

If you make a big deal of it,

everyone will be watching you to see where you hide the turkey next!

This play continues throughout the day! Your Littles will think that the chocolate turkey is having quite an adventure all day long!

Whoever has recorded the most points at the end of your celebration gets to take the chocolate turkey home!

You might want to make a rule that the turkey has to always have part of it showing…

Especially if young Littles will be joining in the fun!

No hiding it in a drawer or a box...

Unless, of course, you don’t mind people going through your closets and cupboards!

Do you and your family like fast paced, competitive games?

If so, one, two or more of the games described below would be fun to play

and can be easily adapted as individual or team events!

For many of these activities, you can either time individuals as they complete a task independently OR activities can be completed by multiple players at the same time, as in a race or contest. Just remember… Each task should take a minute or less!

You can make the set up for one or more of these activities easy... the supplies are few and, for the most part, easy to gather! You could also make it more involved with a chart to keep track of different events and then record results accordingly. You could also provide prizes although we find that the fun of the game is reward enough!

😊 Of course, for little Littles, you may want to adjust time limits! Be sure to check out our Grand Tips, along the way, for additional ways to adapt/challenge players of all ages!

And now.. on to the games!

✱ A Feather Hunt! (Best for Toddler & Preschool Littles)

This activity/game works for all ages but this one will especially delight your youngest Littles! Before everyone arrives for the gathering, hide craft feathers around your home (inside and out, when possible). Be sure to hide them in easy to find spots (for young Littles) and others in more obscure places to challenge older Littles!

To play, say “Go” and see how many feathers each player can find in one minute!

To adapt this game for younger Littles, don’t forget to extend the time limit! For older Littles (school age and older) you could challenge them to only find feathers that are a certain color!

A Grand Tip!

This activity would be a wonderful stand alone one for your younger Littles!

Think of it as a Thanksgiving Easter Egg Hunt!

✱ Pumpkin Seed Toss! (Best for All Ages)

Using pumpkin seeds (or pumpkin candy corns) and empty containers, see how many pumpkin seeds you can toss into a cup (or cups) on the other side of the table... one seed at a time and all within one minute!

To make the game more interesting for older players, you could assign different points to two or three cups, label them ahead of time and then at the end of the minute add up each player's score and compare it with the other players. The person with the highest score wins!

A Grand Tip!

Extend or shorten the space between you and your target(s)

depending on the age of the players!

For little Littles, use a larger target (like a pie plate) to collect the pumpkin seeds that have been thrown!

For older Littles, add the challenge of having one arm behind their backs for the entire minute!

✱ Candy Corn Chopsticks! (Best for Preschool & Older Littles)

To play this game, each person will need 2 bowls (with one filled with candy corn) and a pair of chopsticks. On “Go”, each player has to use the chopsticks to pick up a piece of candy corn and transfer it to the other dish. After 1 minute, count how many pieces of candy corn have successfully been transferred! The player who gets the most in his/her bowl in one minute wins!

A Grand Tip!

To make this activity more challenging for older players,

have them run across the room while holding the chopsticks/candy corn

to then drop each piece of candy corn into the second bowl.

This play continues for 1 minute, as well!

✱ Pumpkin Head! (Best for Preschool and Older Littles)

Each player will need to choose a mini pumpkin that they will balance on their head.

To play, each person must move - by walking or running - from one side of a room to the other or even across the backyard. If the pumpkin falls off the player's head, he/she must return to the starting place and begin again! NOTE: This task may not take a full minute to complete... the winner is determined by who crosses the finish line first!

A Grand Tip!

To make this activity more challenging for older Littles or adults,

you can increase the distance from start to finish OR even set up an obstacle course!

✱ Who's the Turkey? (Best for Preschool & Older Littles)

You’ll need craft feathers for this activity. Each player will need one. The object of the game is to keep your feather in the air by blowing on it! Once a feather lands on the ground, that player is out! Play continues for one minute or until only one player (the Turkey) is left!

While this one may seem easy it's not!

We speak from experience!

✱ Turkey Baster Feather Race! (Best for Preschool & Older Littles)

Here’s another fun game that also 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, thus 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!

A Few Grand Tips!

#1 - You can time each person and take turns if you only have access to one baster.

#2 - You can also use straws instead of basters!

#3 - You could use also use autumn leaves (real or silk) instead of feathers!

So many options!

✱ Bag the Turkey! (Best for School Age & Older Littles)

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!

A Grand Tip!

To adapt this activity for younger Littles,

let them roll a small ball or a mini pumpkin at the turkey cups to knock them over!

✱ Stack the Apples! (Best for School Age & Older Littles)

For this task, all you need is a bowl of apples!

Each player works to build a stack, or tower, of apples! The goal is to stack as many apples on top of each other without your tower falling down! (A Grand Hint - Removing the stems from the apples before you stack them really helps! 😉).

As an added challenge, your tower needs to remain standing, without any help, for at least 5 seconds!

✱ A Pie in the Face! (All Ages Will Want to Participate!)

This activity will get your family giggling long after dessert has been served! Put 3-5 candy corn pumpkins in the bottom of each pie plate. (NOTE: We didn’t have these pumpkins available so we used what we had - three miniature Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups instead.) Fill the pie pan with whipped cream, covering the candy inside. Add as much (or as little) whipped cream as you'd like... the more whipped cream, the messier the game!

Set a timer for a minute and see who can get the most candies out… hand behind your back and using only your mouth and tongue to do so!

While this game is definitely messy, it is also super fun

and will leave the Grands, the Middles and the Littles

with a fun memory of your Thanksgiving Day celebration!

Last year we shared the graphic below as part of our

It’s Turkey Time post…

our first content based post, ever!

Many of our readers shared that they liked having this game available

as a conversation starter with loved ones gathered during dinner and after!

That’s why we’re re-sharing it here! ENJOY!

This game is very easy to put together, even at the last minute! We LOVE that! Either pull up the Would You Rather? image above 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.