Fun Thanksgiving Games for Adults

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1. Would you rather gobble like a turkey every time someone says your name or flap your arms every time someone says “Thanksgiving”?
2. Would you rather wear a gravy boat as a hat or oven mitts on your hands for the entire meal?
3. Would you rather cook the entire Thanksgiving dinner or clean up every dish afterward?
4. Would you rather give up mashed potatoes or stuffing?
5. Would you rather have Thanksgiving dinner at noon or at 8 p.m.?
6. Would you rather eat only Thanksgiving leftovers for a week or have no leftovers at all?
7. Would you rather sit at the kids’ table or be responsible for carving the turkey?
8. Would you rather have pumpkin pie or apple pie for dessert?
9. Would you rather spend Thanksgiving in a cozy cabin or somewhere warm by the ocean?
10. Would you rather make everything from scratch or have the entire dinner catered?
11. Would you rather have ten extra dinner guests arrive unexpectedly or discover the turkey is still frozen?
12. Would you rather have whipped cream on every bite of dinner or gravy on every bite of dessert?
13. Would you rather watch football all afternoon or play games all afternoon?
14. Would you rather discover that all the forks have disappeared or that every chair has been replaced with a tiny stool?
15. Would you rather wear a turkey costume through dinner or give a five-minute Thanksgiving speech before everyone can eat?
16. Would you rather have perfectly cooked food but no dessert or slightly overcooked food with three desserts?
17. Would you rather eat the same Thanksgiving meal every year or try a completely different menu every year?
18. Would you rather be in charge of entertaining the guests or cooking the meal?
19. Would you rather wear a pilgrim-style hat three feet tall or a giant turkey tail through dinner?
20. Would you rather have to announce everything you are thankful for in song or perform a dramatic reading before dessert?
21. Would you rather have everyone stay until midnight or have the house completely empty by 7 p.m.?
22. Would you rather walk like a turkey or sound like a turkey?

Don’t Say It is one of my favorite kinds of party games because nobody has to stop what they’re doing to play. Start it when guests arrive and let it run in the background while everyone talks, eats, and goes about the day.

Choose a few ordinary Thanksgiving words that nobody is allowed to say. Give each person three game pieces: clothespins, feathers, tokens, or even pieces of candy.

Whenever you hear someone say one of the forbidden words, catch them before anyone else does and take one of their game pieces. If you say a forbidden word yourself, someone can take one from you.

Running out does not knock you out of the game. As long as people are still playing, you have a chance to catch someone else and win a few pieces back.

Keep the game going throughout the gathering. Before dessert, after dinner, or whenever you decide to stop, the person with the most game pieces wins.

This game works especially well on Thanksgiving because it becomes part of the day instead of interrupting it. Even people who aren’t particularly interested in sitting down for an official game tend to get involved once they start catching each other saying the forbidden words.

Thanksgiving Charades is lively enough to wake everyone up after dinner. Split into teams, draw a word or phrase, and act it out without talking while your team tries to guess.

Write the prompts on slips of paper and toss them into a bowl, or simply work from a prepared list.

Thanksgiving Charades Ideas

• carving the turkey
• making mashed potatoes
• stirring the gravy
• setting the table
• washing a mountain of dishes
• taking a Thanksgiving nap
• watching football
• burning the rolls
• sneaking a taste before dinner
• passing the stuffing
• dropping a dinner roll
• carrying a very heavy turkey
• eating too much pie
• arguing over the last piece of pie
• making whipped cream
• raking leaves
• jumping into a pile of leaves
• taking a family photo
• arriving late for dinner
• trying to fit everything into the refrigerator
• packing up leftovers
• forgetting something in the oven
• loosening your waistband after dinner
• falling asleep on the couch
• pretending you still have room for dessert

Add a few prompts based on your own Thanksgiving traditions or family habits too. Those usually end up being the funniest ones because everyone immediately knows exactly who or what you mean.

4. I Thought of It Too

Good fit for: Around the table · Conversation · Groups that know each other · Very little setup · Printable game

I Thought of It Too is a matching game that gets more interesting the better everyone knows each other. The goal is to write something you think other people will write too.

Give everyone a game sheet and read one Thanksgiving-themed category at a time, such as a Thanksgiving dessert, an autumn decoration, or something you might find in a cornucopia. Each player writes an answer privately.

Then compare answers.

• If nobody else wrote the same answer, that player earns 0 points.
• If two people wrote the same answer, each earns 2 points.
• If three people matched, each earns 3 points.
• Continue the same way for larger matches.

The person with the most points at the end wins.

For a more challenging version, have everyone write only one answer for each category. With one chance, you have to decide what the rest of the group is most likely to say.

For an easier, higher-scoring version, ask for three answers. That gives everyone more opportunities to match and usually creates more discussion when the answers are revealed.

This one fits naturally around the Thanksgiving table because everyone can play without getting up or interrupting dinner. It also tends to reveal the obvious answers everybody was thinking…and the completely unexpected ones that occurred to exactly one person.

I have a ready-to-print I Thought of It Too Thanksgiving game in the shop if you would like to have the categories and game sheets already prepared.

5. Stuff the Turkey

Good fit for: After dinner · Movement · Large groups · Minimal supplies

Stuff the Turkey is a very simple toss game, but somehow calling it Stuff the Turkey makes tossing crumpled paper into a grocery bag considerably more entertaining.

Place a paper grocery bag on the floor and crumple sheets of paper into balls to use as the “stuffing.” Mark a throwing line several feet away.

Each player gets the same number of pieces of stuffing and tries to toss them into the bag.

You can play it a few different ways:

• Quick round: Give each person 5 or 10 tosses. The player who gets the most stuffing into the bag wins.
• Timed round: Give each player 30 seconds to toss as many pieces in as possible.
• Team game: Divide into teams and let players take turns tossing one piece at a time. The team with the most successful tosses wins.
• TURKEY version: Play it like HORSE. One player chooses a throwing spot and makes a shot. The next player has to make the same shot or gets a letter. If the player before you misses, you can attempt a different kind of shot. Whoever spells TURKEY is out.

Move the throwing line closer to make the tosses easier or farther away if your group is getting a little too confident.

After dinner is a good time for this one, when everyone is ready to get up and do something but perhaps not quite ready for anything requiring actual athletic ability.

6. Thanksgiving Dice Game

Good fit for: Around the table · Conversation · Very little setup · Mixed generations

The Thanksgiving Dice Game belongs naturally at the table. All you need are two dice and a list of prompts numbered 2 through 12.

One person rolls both dice, adds the numbers together, and answers the prompt that matches the total.

Thanksgiving Dice Game Prompts

2 — Name someone at the table you are thankful for and say why.
3 — Share one Thanksgiving memory that still makes you laugh.
4 — Name a Thanksgiving food you would happily skip.
5 — Tell us something small you are grateful for this year.
6 — Choose one person at the table and give them a compliment.
7 — Name your favorite Thanksgiving food.
8 — Share one family tradition you would never want to give up.
9 — Tell us something you are looking forward to before the end of the year.
10 — Name one thing that always makes Thanksgiving feel like Thanksgiving to you.
11 — Share the funniest thing that has ever gone wrong at a holiday meal.
12 — Choose someone else to answer any prompt you want.

Keep passing the dice around for as long as people are enjoying it.

For a more playful version, swap a few of the prompts for sillier ones:

• imitate a turkey for five seconds;
• name three Thanksgiving foods in three seconds;
• tell us which person at the table would survive longest if Thanksgiving dinner turned into a disaster movie.

I like the idea of simply leaving the dice and prompt card on the table. People can play a few rounds between dinner and dessert, return to it later, or ignore it completely until somebody feels like rolling.

7. Pumpkin Artist

Good fit for: Around the table · Very little setup · Small or large groups · Silly competition

Pumpkin Artist is one of those games where the worse the drawing looks, the better the game gets.

Give each person a paper plate and marker. Plain paper works too, but clip it to something sturdy such as a lightweight clipboard or piece of cardboard. Everyone holds the drawing surface on top of their head while drawing.

Alternatively: We have played this by drawing on a plain paper on the table with eyes closed trusting that nobody is peeking.

For the simplest version, give everyone 30 seconds to draw a pumpkin. You could make it even shorter—perhaps 10 seconds.

For a more challenging version, create a complete scene by reading the instructions one at a time. Nobody gets to look at the drawing until the round is finished.

A Pumpkin Patch on a Sunny Day

1. Draw several pumpkins.
2. Draw a sun in the sky.
3. Place a hay bale in the pumpkin patch.
4. Add a scarecrow to protect your pumpkin patch.
5. Put a coffee mug on the hay bale.

Pumpkin in the Field

1. Draw a large pumpkin.
2. Add a stem.
3. Draw three leaves beside it.
4. Add a face to the pumpkin.
5. Draw a slice of pie next to it.
6. Add a fork beside the pie.
7. Draw a little turkey standing behind the pumpkin.

When everyone is finished, bring the drawings down and compare them.

You can simply vote for the funniest drawing. Or, for Pumpkin in the Field, award points for things such as:

• 1 point if the stem is actually touching the pumpkin
• 1 point for each leaf that landed somewhere near the pumpkin
• 2 points if the face is mostly inside the pumpkin
• 2 points if the pie and fork are recognizable
• 3 points if the turkey somehow looks like a turkey

The player with the most points wins.

Change the scene and drawing instructions another year and the same game feels different again.

8. Thankfulness Basket

Good fit for: Around the table · Conversation · Very little setup · Mixed generations

Thankfulness Basket is a Thanksgiving conversation game, but the guessing keeps it from turning into a formal gratitude exercise.

• Give everyone a couple of small slips of paper and ask them to write one thing they are thankful for on each slip. It can be meaningful, funny, specific, or completely ordinary.
• Have each person put a small identifying mark or initials in one corner, then fold the papers and place them in a basket.
• Pass the basket around and take turns reading the answers. Everyone else guesses who wrote each one; the person reading does not guess.

You can keep score if your group enjoys a little competition, or simply play for the conversation that comes from the answers.

Around the Thanksgiving table, those answers often wander into stories, memories, and a little teasing. The guessing keeps it light, but the best part is finding out why someone wrote what they did.

9. Thanksgiving Pictionary

Good fit for: After dinner · Teams · Large groups · Very little setup

Thanksgiving Pictionary is fun whether your group includes a talented artist or someone who has absolutely no idea how to draw a turkey.

• Divide everyone into two teams. Write Thanksgiving words and phrases on slips of paper and place them in a bowl.
• One player draws a prompt while their team tries to guess it before time runs out.
• Set a timer for about 60 seconds per turn. If the team guesses correctly, they earn a point. If they miss it, the other team gets one chance to steal the point.
• Then the other team takes a turn drawing while their teammates guess.

Thanksgiving Pictionary Ideas

• turkey
• pumpkin pie
• mashed potatoes
• gravy boat
• cornucopia
• wishbone
• cranberry sauce
• dinner roll
• autumn leaves
• football
• parade
• leftovers
• carving the turkey
• setting the Thanksgiving table
• making pumpkin pie
• stirring the gravy
• washing the dishes
• taking a nap after dinner
• fighting over the last dinner roll
• sneaking a bite before dinner
• packing up leftovers
• dropping the turkey
• burning the rolls
• eating too much pie
• trying to fit all the leftovers in the refrigerator

For an easier round, use mostly single words and familiar objects. For a harder one, add the longer phrases and actions.

Mix in a few prompts based on your own Thanksgiving traditions too. Inside jokes and familiar family moments usually make much better Pictionary clues than another drawing of a turkey.

10. Guess the Number of Candies

Good fit for: While guests are arriving · Large groups · Very little host involvement · Printable game

Set out a Guess the Number of Candies jar while everyone is arriving, and guests can make their guesses whenever they happen to walk by.

Fill a clear jar with candy and count the pieces as you add them. Set it out with guess cards, pens, and a basket where guests can drop their completed cards.

Near the end of the gathering, reveal the actual number. Whoever comes closest wins the jar of candy or another small prize.

A More Playful Tie-Breaker: Candy Slide

If two people are equally close, I wouldn’t use the usual “closest without going over” rule. They were both equally close, so they deserve a proper showdown.

Give each tied player one wrapped candy and choose a leaf, pumpkin, or another small object as the target. Each player slides the candy toward it. Whoever lands closest wins.

For Thanksgiving, fill the jar with whatever fits your table: wrapped caramels, chocolate candies in autumn colors, pumpkin-shaped sweets, harvest candy, or a mixture.

My Gnome Thanksgiving Games collection includes a Guess How Many sign and coordinating guess cards if you would like to have everything ready to set out. Just add the candy jar and pens.

11. For Thanksgiving Dinner, I Ate…

Good fit for: Around the table · No supplies · Small or medium groups

This memory game needs no supplies at all, which makes it useful when you want a no-prep Thanksgiving game.

The first person says:

“For Thanksgiving dinner, I ate…”

and names one food.

The next person repeats that food and adds another. Keep going around the group, with each person repeating the entire list in order before adding something new.

For example:

“For Thanksgiving dinner I ate turkey.”

“For Thanksgiving dinner I ate turkey and mashed potatoes.”

“For Thanksgiving dinner I ate turkey, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie.”

The list gets surprisingly difficult once people start adding cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, dinner rolls, gravy, sweet potatoes, and Aunt Becky’s mysterious salad.

You can play it two ways:

• Elimination version: If someone forgets an item or repeats the foods in the wrong order, they are out. Keep going until one player remains.
• Everybody-stays-in version: If someone makes a mistake, simply start a new round with a fresh list. This keeps things lighter when you’re playing casually around the table.

For a harder version, require players to name foods in alphabetical order as the list grows.

This is one of those handy Thanksgiving dinner games you can start whenever there is a lull.

12. Feathers Out

Good fit for: After dinner · Movement · Large groups · Very little setup

Feathers Out is a wonderfully silly race that requires very little setup and gets everyone out of their chairs for a few minutes.

• Give each player a feather and mark a starting line and finish line across the floor or table.
• Players place their feathers at the starting line. When you say go, everyone must move the feather toward the finish using only their breath.
• The first feather to cross the finish line wins.

If you’re looking for Thanksgiving games for large groups, run Feathers Out in heats and have the winners compete in a final round.

You can also turn it into a team relay. The first player blows the feather to a designated handoff line, then the next teammate takes over and continues toward the finish.

This is a good one for after dinner when everyone could use a little movement, but nobody is looking for anything that resembles actual exercise.

13. Find the Guest

Good fit for: Icebreaker · Large groups · Guests who don’t all know each other · Printable game

Find the Guest is a Thanksgiving icebreaker game for a gathering where not everybody already knows everything about everyone else: Friendsgiving, extended family, neighbors, coworkers, or a larger mixed group.

Give each person a game sheet filled with statements such as:

• has hosted Thanksgiving before
• loves pumpkin pie
• has traveled for Thanksgiving
• prefers stuffing to mashed potatoes
• has watched a Thanksgiving parade in person
• has made a pie from scratch
• likes cranberry sauce
• has eaten Thanksgiving dinner outdoors
• is wearing something orange
• has already started decorating for Christmas

Guests mingle and try to find someone who matches each statement. When they do, that person writes their name in the corresponding space.

Decide ahead of time whether one guest may sign more than one space. For a smaller group, I would allow it. For a larger one, limiting each person to one or two spaces makes everyone circulate more.

Set a time limit of about 10–15 minutes. When time is up, everyone counts the spaces they filled. The player with the most matches wins.

My Gnome Thanksgiving Games collection includes a ready-to-print Find the Guest game so you can skip making your own list of statements.

14. Pumpkin Pie Race

Good fit for: After dinner · Movement · Messy groups 😆 · Small groups

Pumpkin Pie Race is one of the messier games on the list, which is probably exactly why people remember it.

For each player, place five pumpkin candies in a disposable pie pan and cover them completely with whipped cream. Set a napkin beside each pan for the candies they find.

When you say go, players have to find all five candies using only their mouths and place them on the napkin. Eating them is optional.

The first person to collect all five wins.

Make sure players know how many pieces are hidden in each pan so they don’t keep searching forever after they’ve already found them all. It would make a funny joke, but it’s also a little cruel…

For a small group, everyone can race at once. With more players, run several heats and let the winners compete in a final.

This is definitely one of those games where you need to know your crowd. I can imagine the right group finding it hilarious, but I would not personally volunteer for this one. 😂 If your family loves messy, ridiculous challenges, though, they may think it’s the best game on the list.

I’d play it somewhere that is easy to clean or outside if the weather cooperates. Nobody needs to look dignified while searching for candy in whipped cream.perates. Nobody needs to look dignified while searching for candy in whipped cream.

15. What’s Your Gnome Name

Good fit for: While guests are arriving · Icebreaker · Large groups · Very little setup · Printable game

What’s Your Gnome Name is a Thanksgiving icebreaker game that gives everybody something funny to call one another for a while.

Each person uses the chart to create an autumn gnome name from the last digit of their age, the first letter of their name, and their favorite color. Don’t want to reveal your age? Use any number you like.

Once everyone has a name, have people introduce themselves with it or keep using their gnome names for the next few minutes.

You can add a rule or two:

• everyone has to answer to the gnome name until dinner;
• anyone who accidentally uses someone’s real name loses a point;
• vote for the funniest gnome name;
• give a small prize to the person who commits most enthusiastically to their new identity.

It works especially well for Friendsgiving, workplace Thanksgiving parties, or larger family gatherings where people may need a reason to start talking.

My Gnome Thanksgiving Games collection includes a ready-to-print What’s Your Gnome Name chart along with the other coordinating games..

16. Autumn Songs

Good fit for: Around the table · Music Lovers · Printable game · Very little setup

This one is for the people who recognize a song title after seeing only part of it. Players fill in the missing word from 12 autumn-related song titles, using the word bank for help. I added a few extra words to the bank to keep it from being too easy.

There is a mix of songs from different decades, including titles connected with September, October, November, harvest time, and autumn itself. Some will probably be immediate. Others may have everyone staring at the word bank, wondering why a title suddenly looks completely unfamiliar.

Give each player a game sheet and pencil, and let everyone work individually, or have people pair up if you want it to be more conversational. Award 1 point for each correct title. The player or team with the most points wins.

For a different way to play, use short song clips as extra hints. Preview each clip first and choose a section that doesn’t include the missing word in the title; otherwise, Autumn in New York could give itself away very quickly

The Autumn Songs game is included in my 15-game Gnome Thanksgiving Games collection along with word games, conversation games, and icebreakers.

17. Candy Game

Good fit for: Around the table · Sweet tooths· Small or medium groups · Printable game

The Candy Game starts with a pile of wrapped candy, so it doesn’t take much persuading to get people interested. The rules take about a minute to explain, and then the candy starts moving from person to person.

Give each player a small pile of candy leaving some in the middle of the table, too. Players take turns drawing a card and following whatever the prompt tells them to do.

The prompts might tell you to:

• take candy from another player;
• give candy away;
• collect candy from everyone who matches a certain statement;
• or lose a piece because of something you did.

For example, one card might say:

“Take 1 piece of candy from everyone who ate corn today!”

Keep drawing cards until you reach the end of the deck. The player with the most candy wins. You can also shuffle the cards and keep playing if nobody is ready to stop yet.

My Autumn Candy Game has 32 ready-to-print prompt cards with autumn gnome illustrations, so all you need to add is the candy.

Creating the Right Thanksgiving Game Mix

You probably don’t need a full afternoon of organized games. I like having a few different options ready and letting the day decide what actually gets played.

For a longer Thanksgiving gathering, you might start a background game, such as Don’t Say It when everyone arrives, have a conversation or table game available during dinner, and save something more active for later when people are ready to get off the couch.

If everyone already knows each other well and conversation is flowing, one game may be plenty. If the group needs help getting comfortable or people don’t all know each other, an icebreaker or conversation game can do more useful work early in the day. I have also noticed that a lively group may enjoy having two or three very different games ready, so there is somewhere to go next.

Two Ready-Made Thanksgiving Game Plans

For a Family Thanksgiving

• Don’t Say It — while everyone is arriving. Start it at the door and let it continue in the background.
• Thanksgiving Dice Game — around the table. Leave the dice and prompt card within reach and play whenever the conversation needs a new direction.
• Feathers Out — after dinner. It gets everyone out of their chairs for a few minutes without turning the afternoon into an athletic event.

This gives you one background game, one conversation game, and one funny little burst of movement.

For a Larger or Mixed Group

• Find the Guest — while everyone is arriving. It gives people an easy reason to talk when guests don’t all know one another well.
• Thanksgiving Would You Rather — around the table. Everyone can join in without much explanation or preparation.
• Stuff the Turkey — after dinner. Play individual rounds, teams, or the TURKEY version depending on how many people want to participate.

This combination does a little more of the social work for you: get people talking first, bring everyone together at the table, then give the willing participants something active to do later.

Printable Thanksgiving Games for Adults

Prefer a More Traditional Thanksgiving Look?

I also have an 8-game Thanksgiving collection with pumpkins and warm autumn colors. It includes games such as I Thought of It Too, Find the Guest, and Autumn Categories.

Shop the Thanksgiving Game Collection

A Storybook Note

Thank you for spending time in Storybook Celebrations today. If you enjoy turning ordinary gatherings into stories worth remembering, I’d love to welcome you to Storybook Cottage as we create a beautiful home one small story at a time.

With warmth and a storybook sprinkle,
Tuula
The Storybook Cottage Grandma