Add Some Fun: Games Before Thanksgiving Dinner

The turkey is roasting in the oven. The cranberry sauce is chilled and ready to serve and you have plenty of delicious desserts on hand. At this point all you have left to do is wait for the turkey to finish cooking. Rather than just sit around and wait for the food, you can try several parlor games to while the time away. Indoor games are great for visitors who prefer relaxing and sitting around a fireplace.

Turkey Bingo

One popular game in any gathering is Bingo. Since this is Thanksgiving, you can call the game Turkey Bingo. It is very similar to the regular game Bingo. You will need to have one person who calls the numbers picked from a basket. The letters and numbers are similar to the regular bingo, except that the bingo cards have turkey and pumpkin drawings around the edges of the card.

You can even have Thanksgiving phrases and comments printed on the cards. The cards can have the colors of Thanksgiving, like brown, red and orange. It brings out the Thanksgiving theme. You can play different Bingo games, such as making the letter T or complete shutout, until dinner is ready.

Thanksgiving Day Scavenger Hunt

If you have a large yard with many leaves strewn around the garden, you can have everybody join in an outdoor Thanksgiving scavenger hunt. You can ask them to look for different colors of leaves, such as gold, brown, orange and red. Since it is autumn, there should be a lot of leaves with different colors. But depending on where you live and how your yard is landscaped, you may need to list other items for your guests to find.

You can also ask them to get items like rocks or pebbles, sticks, pine corns, acorns and possibly walnuts. Other items that you could include in your scavenge list are seeds, barks of trees and different types of berries. To make things more interesting, you can include an item that is difficult to find, like a bird feather or a rock like the one above. Just paint on a special message and place the rock in a not too obvious place.

You can add to the excitement of the game by providing small prizes for the winner(s). This helps encourage participation and adds interest. Plus, it will give everyone something to talk about during dinner.

The great thing about running around outdoors before a Thanksgiving dinner is you work up an appetite. It makes eating more enjoyable. This is another Package From Santa idea that will help ensure your Thanksgiving Day guests are entertained and enjoying themselves.