Thanksgiving Games for Multi-Age Get-Togethers

Thanksgiving is right around the corner! Cooperative games help bring everyone together over the dinner table or in the pre-dinner festivities.

Before dinner, consider bringing out some cooperative board games to keep guests happy while the cooks finish up in the kitchen. Board games, such as Max by Family Pastimes, are great for intergenerational play. Or, for kids and adults playing together, consider the board game Pandemic. Active games are also a great alternative! Here is one with a Thanksgiving theme that works well when young children are present:

Gobble-Happy

Directions: A player leaves the room while those left behind hide small treats or funny objects. When the player returns, the group guides him or her to the treat by saying "gobble, gobble" louder and louder as the player gets closet to the prize. Gobble very softly or not at all when the player is "cold" and raise the gobbling to a happy cacophony as the player nears the sought-after object. 

When friends and family of multiple ages are gathered around the table, here’s a fun game for intergenerational cooperative play.

Thanksgiving Joke-a-Thon

Directions: Put two strips of paper under each dinner plate. One strip has a joke, and the other has a punch line to a different joke. On each player's turn, they read their joke from their joke paper. Anyone at the table who thinks they have the punchline, reads it from their paper.

Here are some corny Thanksgiving jokes and punch lines you can use: 

Joke: Why did the turkey play the rock band? Punchline: Because he was a drummer.  

Joke: April showers bring May flowers, what do May flowers bring? Pilgrims.

Joke: What has feathers and webbed feet? A Turkey wearing scuba gear.

Joke: What kind of vegetable do you like on Thanksgiving? Beets me!

Joke: Why can't you take a turkey to church?  They use FOWL language.

Joke: Can a turkey jump higher than the Empire State Building? Yes--a building can't jump at all.

Joke: Who is not hungry at Thanksgiving? The turkey because he's already stuffed!

Joke: What does Dracula call Thanksgiving? Fangs-giving.

Joke: Which side of the turkey has the most feathers? The outside.

Joke: What did the turkey say before it was roasted? I'm stuffed!

Joke: Why did the turkey cross the road? It was the chicken's day off.

Joke: Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!