Thanksgiving is such a fun time of year for adults and children alike, and if you plan on throwing a party for thanksgiving it is important to provide children with entertaining activities to take part in. Here are a few examples of festive and fun Thanksgiving activities for kids.

The Turkey Trot is a simple activity for young children. To do the turkey trot, find an open area to play in like your yard. Instruct the children to form their arms into wings and imitate turkeys. This is a silly activity that will have everyone giggling and the best part is it involves imagination. The kids can be fancy turkeys, scary turkeys, baby turkeys, or whatever they can imagine!

Free the Fowl is a festive version of Kick the Can. One player is chosen as “it” and a can or football is placed in an open space. “It” will count to a predetermined number while the other children hide and when “it” is finished counting, he or she will try to tag the others. If a player is tagged, he or she must freeze. Any unfrozen player can kick the can. If it’s kicked, the frozen players are freed. If all the players are frozen, “it” wins.

Wall Football is a variation of Pin the Tail on the Donkey. To prepare for this game, design a large field goal on a wall using paper and tape. Cut out football shapes using brown paper with a tape roll on the back and have kids write their name on their football. Spin blindfolded kids around three times and have them stick their football on the wall. Getting the ball inside the field goal boundary is worth three points. After several rounds, the child with the most points wins.

Teaspoon Pass will keep little hands busy. Place five shelled peanuts on a plate. The object of the game is for children to pass the nuts along using their spoons without dropping any nuts.

Hand Turkey – a time-tested favorite activity is tracing your hand and decorating it like a turkey! Children can use glue, yarn, glitter, markers, and crayons. Hanging the festive art on your walls will give the children a sense of pride.

If you’re occupied with cooking, no worries! Simply call TalkLocal to be connected with professionals. They’ll help you find a party planner who can give you a hand and make the day seamless, fun, and stress-free. Happy Thanksgiving!

For many people, Thanksgiving provides a time and venue for families to spend time with one another. If you have a large family, this can mean a lot of children running around or a lot of guests who want entertainment as well as food. Keeping some inexpensive playing cards on hand can give your guests something fun to do as they socialize with friends and family. Read on to learn more about some classic card games for Thanksgiving that you can use to make your holiday lively and entertaining for all your guests.

Go Fish

The game “Go Fish” has seemingly been around forever, and many kids and adults of all ages enjoy it. The game works for 2-6 players. Each player begins the game with 5 cards. The rest of the cards form the draw pile. Players take turns, and on each turn the player asks an opponent for a specific type of card, saying something like, “Bob, give me all your fives,” or “Lucy, give me all your diamonds.” If the player being asked has any of the types of cards requested, he or she must give them to the player who requests them. If he or she does not, the player says, “Go Fish.” The person who asked for the card now must take a card from the draw pile. The goal of play is to collect four of a kind—all the kings, all the twos, etc.–and discard them from one’s hand. The first player to run out of cards ends the game, and the person with the most sets of four wins.

Crazy Eights

This game works for 2-6 players as well, and many people like to add variations and twists on the basic game to make it more complicated or more fun. Each player begins with 5 cards, and the cards that are left form the draw pile. The dealer flips over the top card of the draw pile to create a discard pile. Play rotates in a clockwise direction with each player attempting to run out of cards by discarding them. To legally discard a card, it must match either the rank or suit of the card already on top of the discard pile. If, on your turn, you don’t have any cards to discard legally, you must take a card from the draw pile until you receive one you can discard. Eights are considered wild, and players can place an eight on the discard pile at any time. The person who plays the eight can simultaneously call for a change in suit. Only another eight or a card matching the suit change can be discarded on top of an eight.

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