Thanksgiving is a fabulous holiday. It’s a great time to get together with your family and friends and to consider all that you are thankful for. However, most family Thanksgiving dinners are, well, just that. They are dinners and sometimes a little on the boring side. This year, why not spice up a little more than the pumpkin pie? Here are some family-friendly activities and games for every age to put a fun spin on your Thanksgiving gatherings.

Traffic Yam

Supplies: metal spoons, uncooked yams, and painter’s tape (or anything to make a straight line on the floor)

Make a line of tape at one end of the room. Each player is given a yam and a metal spoon. Place each player's yam on the floor at the opposite end of the room as the tape line. The players must then race to get their yam across the room to the tape line and back to the starting line. The yam can only be moved with the spoon; no hands. Whoever gets across the finish line first wins. Players can play defense as well and push other people’s yams.

The Feather Float

Supplies: Small, light feathers

This one is super simple and can be played individually or in teams. Each player gets a feather. Players must blow their feathers in the air, keeping them afloat for as long as possible. You could also give a time limit, and the players have to keep their feathers in the air for that amount of time.

The Mayflower

Supplies: small corks, fake flowers, large under-the-bed containers, plastic straws (optional)

Fill the under-the-bed container with water. Attach a fake flower to the corks and give one to every player. To play, each person must place their cork in the water at one end of the container and then blow it to the other end. The first boat or cork to reach the other end wins. Players can use a plastic straw to blow if they would like.

Corn to the Copia

Supplies: empty cornucopia, small fake corn, blindfold

This is a team game with two players on each team. One player stands blindfolded on one side of the room with the empty cornucopia. The other stands about ten feet away with a bucket of fake corn. The player with the corn must hike the corn like a football to their teammate with the cornucopia. The idea is for the blindfolded player to catch the corn as it is hiked. 

Try out a few of these ideas for your Thanksgiving gathering this year to make things a little more fun and encouraging for all. From all of us here at Best Brains, Happy Thanksgiving.