Thanksgiving Games for the Whole Family: 6 Printable Games for Your Table
The turkey needs another hour, the kids are circling the kitchen and Grandpa has asked twice when dinner is. This is the moment a good game saves the day. Here are six Thanksgiving games for the whole family that you can print at home: one new card game that plays like the dinner itself, and five table games for before, during and after the meal.
1. Pass the Dishes – the card game that plays like Thanksgiving dinner
At a real Thanksgiving table, the dishes go around and everyone takes a helping. Pass the Dishes turns that into a quick card game for 2–8 players, ages 6 and up. Everyone gets a hand of dish cards. At the same time, everyone picks one card and puts it face down. Then everyone turns their card face up onto their plate and passes the rest of their hand to the left. Repeat until the cards are gone.
Every dish scores in its own way, and that is where the fun is:
- Turkey is worth 2 points.
- Gravy is worth 1 point plus 1 point for every Turkey on your plate.
- Mashed Potatoes grow: 1, 3, 6, then 10 points for 4 or more.
- Cranberry Sauce only counts in pairs – 6 points each pair.
- Corn: the most Corn gets 7 points, the second most 3.
- Green Beans are worth 1 point – but the player with the fewest loses 3 points.
- Pumpkin Pie is worth 3 points, and only 3 Pies count.
Do you take the Turkey now or the Gravy that makes every Turkey better? Do you grab a first Cranberry Sauce and hope a second one comes your way? Because everyone picks at the same time, nobody waits for their turn, and a whole dinner takes about 10–15 minutes.
In the full edition, one of 9 Tonight’s Guest cards comes to every dinner and changes one rule for everyone: Grandma Rose makes Turkey worth 3 points, Cousin Max can eat 5 Pies, and Biscuit the Dog loves Mac & Cheese.
2. Thanksgiving picture bingo
Bingo works for every age at the table, from 4-year-olds to great-grandparents. The pack has 30 different picture cards with turkeys, pies, pumpkins and scarecrows, plus 24 caller cards. Use paper squares or coins as markers, and the first player with 5 in a row shouts “Gobble!”
3. Thanksgiving trivia in 3 levels
45 questions with answers, sorted into Kids, Family and Expert levels, so a 6-year-old and an uncle who loves history can play together. Kids answer what color cranberries are; experts answer which president moved Thanksgiving one week earlier in 1939.
4. Thanksgiving charades
48 cards to act out without words – from “eating too much pie” to “Grandpa asleep on the couch”. Easy cards have a green dot and tricky cards a red dot, so younger players always have something they can act out.
5. Who’s Thankful?
Everyone secretly writes what they are thankful for on a slip. The slips go into a bowl, and one player reads them out while the others guess who wrote each one. It is the gentlest way to bring “what are you thankful for?” to the table – and the answers are often the best part of the day.
6. Turkey Feather Hunt
An adult hides 12 feathers around the house, each with a rhyming clue that leads to the next. At the end, the children tape the feathers onto a big turkey. Every hiding place is low and safe, and an answer key for the adult is on the rules page.
When to play which game
- While dinner is cooking: the Turkey Feather Hunt and bingo keep the kids busy.
- At the table: Who’s Thankful? before the meal, Pass the Dishes while everyone waits for dessert.
- After the pie: trivia and charades for the whole family.
Looking for very easy games for the little ones? See our Thanksgiving games for kids and the printable Thanksgiving activities for kids.
Free edition and full pack
The free edition has the Pass the Dishes base game with 63 cards, the rules and a score sheet, plus 6 bingo cards. The full Thanksgiving Family Game Pack adds the 9 Tonight’s Guest cards, 3 new dishes, 30 bingo cards and the trivia, charades, Who’s Thankful? and feather hunt games, in US Letter and A4.
Download the free editionSee the full game pack
What you need to print
A printer, cardstock (90–110 lb cover / 250–300 gsm) for the cards, plain paper for the rest, scissors and a pencil. Print at 100% / Actual size. Everything is in English. The full rules, scoring examples and answers to common questions are on the How to Play Pass the Dishes page.
More ideas on the topic
- Printable Thanksgiving bingo: picture cards for kids and the whole family
- Thanksgiving games for adults: 8 ideas for after dinner
- Thanksgiving charades: 30 ideas to act out
Personal use only; teachers may print copies for their own class · Not suitable for children under 3 (small parts).