5 Activities Your Family Can Do On Thanksgiving

We have an extremely small family consisting of me, my husband, and our two kids. Add in one 90-year old mother-in-law and Thanksgiving can get rather...boring quickly. My mother-in-law is very demanding, so on major holidays we need something to dilute the intensity of the time we spend together.

Thanksgiving carries a lot of pressure when you're hosting!

Directed activities are great because they take the focus off individual issues and place everyone's attention elsewhere. Also, since I do the majority of the work on Thanksgiving, they give me a much-needed breather! So here are my favorite

5 Activities For Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Bingo – A favorite with Nana, this site has free, printable bingo cards. Use pennies or candy as markers and it's a blast for kids of all ages.

What's Missing – Grab a tray and place Fall and Thanksgiving-related objects (candy corn, different leaves, a pine cone, an acorn, etc.) on it. Have players look carefully at the tray for 30 seconds. Take the tray away and see if they can guess which object is missing. 

Hidden Pictures – Print out these sheets and invite everyone to spot the hidden objects in the Thanksgiving picture.

Balloon Volleyball – Blow up a balloon, clear some space, assign teams, and play volleyball with the balloon. This is a great way to channel some of the energy of active kids and is one of my favorites! Okay, so the 90 year old can't play, but when the balloon comes near her she can swat it. 

Bring Out The Board Games And Playing Cards – You know all those board games the kids ignore in favor of their electronics? Now's the time to bring them out! Grab Sorry, get ready for some Trouble, and cut the deck of cards for a rousing game of War.  You can even have a tournament!

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because it's something we can ALL celebrate, no matter what religion we belong (or do not) belong to. Games are fun for everyone. 

Give the activities above a try, have fun and deflate some of the intensity of the holiday!

This is pretty much what I look like the night of Thanksgiving - I'm pooped!

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I've written quite a few Thanksgiving posts. Read them, won't you?

 



10 Ways To Deal With Family At Thanksgiving 

10 Tips For Helping The Kids Enjoy Thanksgiving 


My 20 Favorite Thanksgiving Jokes 

    
5 Pumpkin Cocktails To Make Your Thanksgiving Sparkle 


10 Thanksgiving Movies For Kids Of All Ages

My 20 FAVORITE Thanksgiving Jokes

Source:  Google Images

Sometimes Thanksgiving can be a bit, stale, especially if those around you are a bit dry.  To combat that I give you (drumroll, please):

 20 Thanksgiving Jokes!

They may not have you rolling on the floor, but if they keep you from hitting your mother-in-law with a 2'x4', I'll have done my job. Hint: they work better either told by a cute, little kid or if your audience is either a little or very tipsy.
  
Here we go:

1. What happened when the turkey got into a fight?
   He got the stuffing knocked out of him.

2. Why can't you take a turkey to church?
   They use fowl language!

3. What do you get when you cross a turkey with a banjo?
   A turkey that can pluck himself.
   

4. Why don't turkeys fly?
   They can't afford plane tickets.

5. What did the turkey say to the computer?
   Google, google, google!
   
   
6. A man buys a parrot only to have it constantly insult him. He tries everything to make the parrot stop, but nothing works. Finally, in a fit of frustration, he puts the parrot in the freezer. After a few minutes the insults stop. The man panics, thinking he might have killed the parrot, so he opens the freezer and takes the parrot out. The parrot is shivering, but it stammers, “S-s-sorry for being r-r-rude. Please f-f-forgive me.” Then, after a moment, the bird hesitantly asks, “W-w-what exactly d-d-did the turkey do?”
   

7. What sound does a limping turkey make?
   Wobble, wobble.
   
   
8. What do you get when you cross a turkey with an octopus?
   Enough drumsticks for Thanksgiving.

9. What happened to the Pilgrim who was shot at by an Indian?
   He had an arrow escape.

10. If you call a turkey a gobbler, what do you call a small one?
    A goblet.
    
    
11. “Thanksgiving is an emotional holiday. People travel thousands of miles to be with people they only see once a year. And then they discover that once a year is way too often.” - Johnny Carson
    
    
12. On Thanksgiving Day, all over America, families sit down to dinner at the same moment ..... halftime.

   13.  Why did the turkey sit on a tomahawk?
           To hatchet.

   14.  Can a turkey jump higher than the Empire State Building?
          Yes, because buildings can't jump.

   15.  What are unhappy cranberries called?
           Blueberries.

   16.  Want to freak your guests out?  Add two extra legs to the bird when it's in the oven.

   17.  What did General Patton do on Thanksgiving?
           He gave tanks.

   18.  Why did the Pilgrims eat turkey on Thanksgiving?
           Because they couldn't get the moose in the oven.

   19. "You know that just before the first Thanksgiving dinner there was one wise, old Native
         American woman saying, "Don't feed them.  If you do, they'll never leave." - Dylan
         Brody

   20.  "An optimist is a person who starts a new diet on Thanksgiving Day." - Irv Kupcinet.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving and a safe (seriously, be careful) Black Friday!  Special thanks to my 8-year old who caught some typos that were originally on this page.  I'm thankful for your proofreading skills, Honey.

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Thanks for reading and remember to please bookmark this blog! Thanks!


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Note: Sources for jokes in this post included: www.jokes4us.com, www.coolest-holiday-parties.com, www.hellokids.com, www.godweb.org, www.hellokids.com