Thanksgiving Party Ideas

Thanksgiving Party Ideas

Track the turkey to these great Thanksgiving party ideas.

A few ideas that go beyond food for Thanksgiving crafts and more Thanksgivings games.

Thanksgiving Pinatas
Turkey
Pilgrim hat

Thanksgiving Invitations
On the back of a print out of a turkey write: Get ready to gobble up the fun and food. Track the turkey to a Thanksgiving party at Joe’s house.

Or you may want to print up one of these Thanksgiving invitations.

Orange Dinner Plates

Brown Cutlery Set

Inflatable 3 In-A-Row Game

Fishing Game

Cakes
Turkey

Decorations
Colors should be autumn colors – red, orange, yellow, brown and a dusting of gold.

Make a banner of turkey feathers –or any feathers. String them up and hang across your windows and around your doorways

Fill a cornucopia with mini squash and mini pumpkins

Set out squash, gourds and Indian corn (those beautiful ears of corn that are multi-colored, yellow, red and brown)

Stack some hay bales near your front door. Tie stalks of corn around a pillar on your front porch or lean against a wall.

Make a bouquet of autumn leaves, place a few branches in a vase, or tie with a ribbon and lay on your table as a centerpiece.

A bowl of shiny apples makes a lovely centerpiece as well.

Technically, this is not a decoration but adds to the ambience. If you want your home to smell like you’ve been baking all day, just put 2 Tbsp. of butter, 2 Tbsp. ground cinnamon and 1 Tbsp. clove (whole or ground) in a small baking dish. Put it in a warm oven (250�F) about � hour before your Thanksgiving party and it will smell delightful.

Costumes/Dress up
Turkey headbands – cut a strip of paper to wrap around the head and paste or staple a print out of a turkey on it.

Make pilgrim hats. Print up this pilgrim hat and fasten to a strip of black paper and wrap around the guests’ heads like headbands.

Make Native American vests out of brown paper bag grocery sacks. Cut the bags into the shape of a vest by cutting along the center of the front of the bag. Cut out the bottom of the bag. Then add two holes in the side for arms. Crumple the bag and get it wet – somewhere between damp and soaked. Allow it to dry. This gives it more of a leathery look. You can get it wet a second time and allow it to dry. Give the guests markers to decorate their own vests.

Games and Activities
Follow the Turkey Tracks (ages 3-8)
Place several printouts of the turkey tracks in a circle and play musical chairs. The guests walk around the circle as music plays and stop on a set of turkey tracks when the music stops. Anyone left without a track is out of the game. Then, remove one set of tracks and play some more music. Repeat until there is only one guest left. Use the link above for a printout and more Thanksgiving party game ideas using turkey tracks.

Turkey Hunt (ages 3-12)
There are two variations of this game. Let the guests take turns hiding a turkey in a room, and then allow the other guests to search for it. The first one to find it gets to hide it the next time. The other version is have a guest dressed as a turkey (or even just a name tag that says: turkey), hide and the guests try to find him or her. The first guest to find the “turkey” becomes the turkey and hides.

Squash Stomp (ages 3-16)
Inflate 9” orange, yellow and green balloons. Tie a die cut of a squash leaf around the knot on the balloon with green curling ribbon, and voila, it’s a balloon squash! Make it a relay game. Split the guests into two teams. Each member of the team takes turns running to a chair and stomping or sitting on a balloon to squash it and pop it. Run back to the line for the next member of the team to go.

Bobbing for Apples (ages 3-16)
In the traditional version of this game the guests take turns trying to get an apple from a bucket of water, using only their mouths. A more sanitary version is to eat a doughnut that’s dangling from a string, using only your mouth.

Pie Eating Contest (ages 3-16)
Fill mini pie tins with a pie filling of your choice (pudding is easiest, cheapest, and messiest) and let the guests select a pie. Holding their hands behind their backs the guests should eat their pies. First one done wins. You choose if they win a prize or a tummy ache--it's your Thanksgiving party.

I Went to a Thanksgiving Party (ages 7-16)
All the guests sit in a circle. Pick someone to begin the game and reciting: I went to a Thanksgiving party and I brought….and then they have to say something that begins with the first letter of your name – and everything that was said before you, in order.

Plymouth Rock Word Find (ages 8-16)
How many words can you make from the letters in: Plymouth Rock?

Set the Table (ages 8-16)
Split the guests into two teams and have them race to set a proper place setting at the table, with oven mittens on. If you’re not doing this over carpet, use plastic table ware or something that won’t break when dropped. Show the guests how you expect everything to look, where a fork and spoon should be, etc. Then have each guest from each team take turns putting on oven mittens, setting a proper place setting, then putting all the dishes, and oven mittens in a basket for the next team member to try.

Match the Foods (ages 8-16)
Some foods go together naturally, like peanut butter and jelly, or turkey and stuffing. Match the foods that go together. This is a natural at a Thanksgiving party.

Crafts
Make a Leaf Wreath (ages 3-7)
Use die cuts of leaves and glue the leaves around the outer edges of an upside down paper plate. Punch a hole in the top and hang with string or yarn.

Placemats (ages 3-12)
Tape two pieces of construction paper together and decorate to create your own placemat. Use markers, paint, stamps, and stickers. You may laminate or cover with clear contact paper.

Apple Turkeys (ages 3-12)
Make an apple turkey with an apple, marshmallows, gum drops, raisins and toothpicks. String some raisins on a toothpick, with a marshmallow at the top and stick into one end of the apple for the turkey’s head. At the back of the apple turkey, for tail feathers, stick in toothpicks strung with gumdrops.

Stuff the Turkey with Gratitude (ages 3-16)
Make the body of a turkey – cut the outline of a bowling pin from brown paper (you can use a brown paper bag) and add eyes, a yellow triangle beak, a red waddle and a couple legs. Have all your guests write what they’re thankful for on a feather and stuff the feathers behind the body of the turkey. You can also send the feathers with the invitations and ask the guests to bring them, filled out, for the party. Have extra feathers for the guests who forget their feathers.

Gratitude Pies (ages 3-16)
Cut pictures from magazines of things you are grateful for and paste inside a pie tin. Maybe one of the guests at your Thanksgiving party will be grateful for pie!

Playdough Pie (ages 3-16)
Provide mini pie tins and colored playdough and instruct the guests to make their own Thanksgiving pie.

Napkin Rings (ages 4-12)
Wrap sparkly pipe cleaners around shower curtain rings. Try two of one color and one of a coordinating color for a nice effect.

Apple Candle Holders (ages 6-16)
Use a potato peeler to carve out the center of an apple. Put in a candle. I love simple Thanksgiving crafts.

Ice Candles (ages 8-16)
Provide each guest with an empty and clean milk carton. Put in a wick. Fill it with ice cubes, pour hot, melted paraffin wax over and allow to cool. Peel away milk container. May add glitter or stickers for more decorations if desired.

Refreshments
Turkey sandwiches. Mix cranberry sauce with mustard for a nice spread.

Mini pies – cut out pie dough with a circle cookie cutter and line cupcake tins with dough. Add pie filling and top with more pie dough.

Take Home Gift Ideas
If you’re serving a traditional Thanksgiving meal, you’ve done enough, you don’t need to send your guests home with more.

Otherwise…. Consider sending your guests home from your Thanksgiving party with a set of napkin rings or even cloth napkins.

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