23 Thanksgiving Table Games to Play Between Dinner Courses

You spent two days cooking. The least everyone can do is stay at the table longer than 14 minutes.

That’s the whole reason I started bringing Thanksgiving table games to dinner. Nothing fancy, just a few cards, a die, and some printables tucked under the napkins.

This list is for hosts who want people to linger and actually talk, without anyone leaving their seat. You’ll get 23 easy ideas to play between courses, at the kids’ table, or over pie, plus tips for timing them so nobody’s gravy goes cold.

1. Thanksgiving Would You Rather Game

This is my favorite opener once everyone’s plates are full. It needs zero setup, and nobody has to put down their fork.

Write a stack of “would you rather” questions on index cards and leave them in a small bowl near the rolls. Whoever’s holding the bowl draws a card, reads it out loud, and the whole table answers. Then they pass the bowl to the left.

A few to get you started:

Would you rather give up stuffing or pie forever?
Would you rather host next year or do every dish tonight?
Would you rather eat cold leftovers or wait 20 minutes for hot ones?

The debates get loud fast. My dad once spent ten minutes defending canned cranberry sauce like it was a court case.

2. This or That Matching Game

Want to find out which couple at the table actually knows each other? This game settles it in about five minutes.

Pair people up with whoever’s sitting next to them. Read a “this or that” choice out loud. On the count of three, both partners hold up a paper card with their answer (just write “A” on one side and “B” on the other). Matching answers earn a point.

Table-friendly pairs:

White meat or dark meat
Whipped cream or ice cream on pie
Nap after dinner or walk after dinner
Paper plates or the fancy china

Grandparents tend to dominate this one, since they’ve had 50 years of practice. Siblings, on the other hand, almost never match. My brother and I went 2 for 10 last year. Brutal.

3. Thanksgiving Wishes Majority Vote Game

Here’s a game where the weirdest answer loses. You win by guessing what most of the table will say.

Hand everyone a sticky note and a pen. Ask a question like “What do you wish we had more of on this table?” or “If you could wish one dish off the menu forever, what would it be?” Everyone writes an answer and slaps it face down by their plate.

Flip them over together. Anyone who matches the most common answer scores a point.

More wish prompts:

I wish Thanksgiving lasted…
I wish someone would finally make…
I wish the kids’ table had…

The “wish one dish off the menu” question gets dangerous fast. Somebody always names the host’s signature casserole. Make sure the host can laugh first.

4. Trivia Quiz Game For Thanksgiving Day

Tuck a trivia sheet under every plate, and watch people start answering before grace.

Keep it short, around 10 questions, so it fits between the main course and dessert. Mix easy ones with a few stumpers:

How many Wampanoag people joined the 1621 harvest feast? (About 90)
Which president moved Thanksgiving a week earlier in 1939? (Franklin D. Roosevelt)
What year did the Macy’s parade first march? (1924)

Everyone answers solo with a pen from the junk drawer. Swap sheets with the person on your right to grade.

I print mine on cardstock in fall colors so they double as a little table decoration. Hand the winner the first slice of pie. Second place gets the second slice. Everyone’s a winner, technically.

5. Thanksgiving Price Is Right Guessing Game

This one’s sneaky. It makes everyone realize how much the host spent on dinner.

Before the meal, jot down the prices of a few things on the table from your grocery receipt. The turkey, the cranberry sauce, a stick of butter, the canned pumpkin. During dinner, point at an item and have everyone guess the price.

Closest without going over gets a point. Just like Drew Carey would want.

Easy ways to run it:

Have guests write guesses on napkins.
Keep score on the back of the receipt.
Save the turkey for last as the “Showcase” round.

The younger crowd usually guesses way too low, and Grandma sticks with 1985 prices. Either way, the host gets a little appreciation. Which, honestly, is overdue.

6. Thanksgiving Menu Matching Game

Every dish on the table has a story. This game makes people guess it.

Before dinner, write a small number card for each dish and set it next to the serving bowl. Then hand out a sheet with every cook’s name. As people fill their plates, they guess who made what.

Twist for a non-potluck dinner: match each dish to the family member who loves it most. Grandpa and the green bean casserole. Your niece and the rolls.

Reveal answers over dessert. One point per right guess.

It’s a sweet way to thank the cooks, too. People notice the work behind each dish instead of just shoveling it in. Everyone credits my aunt’s sweet potatoes to my mom every year, and she’s never gotten over it.

7. Thanksgiving Scattergories Word Game

Scattergories works great at the table because all you need is paper, pens, and a little brainpower the turkey hasn’t stolen yet.

Pick a letter (pull a magnetic letter off the fridge or use a letter die). Read five Thanksgiving categories out loud. Everyone gets two minutes to write an answer for each one that starts with that letter.

Categories that work:

Something on the table right now
A reason to be thankful
Something you’d find in a pantry
A word to describe this meal
A fall smell

Read answers around the table. Only unique answers score. If two people both wrote “stuffing” for S, neither gets it.

Expect arguments over whether “stretchy” describes a meal. Let the host make final calls.

8. Thanksgiving Danger Word Team Game

This one’s for the competitive side of the table. It’s like Taboo, with a trap built in.

Split the table down the middle: left side vs. right side. One person gets a secret target word, like “cranberry.” They give one-word clues until their side guesses it. Meanwhile, the other side secretly writes a “danger word” on a napkin, something they think might slip out, like “sauce” or “red.”

If anyone on the guessing side says the danger word, the other team shouts “DANGER!” and steals the point.

Good target words: wishbone, leftovers, gravy, pilgrim, nap.

You don’t need to move a single chair. Just pass a pen across the table between rounds. It gets tense in the best way, especially once someone figures out the other team’s strategy.

9. Thanksgiving Outburst Category Game

Fair warning: this is the loudest game on the list. Play it after the main course, not during the blessing.

Split the table into two teams. One team gets a Thanksgiving category, like “Things you put on a turkey” or “Side dishes.” They have 60 seconds to yell out answers. The host secretly holds a list of 10 answers on an index card and checks off any matches.

Categories that work at the table:

Pie flavors
Things in this room right now
Famous football teams
Reasons you’re full

One point per match. Then switch teams. It’s chaos, but the good kind.

Write your lists ahead of time so you’re not scrambling mid-meal. And maybe move the gravy boat away from anyone who talks with their hands.

10. Thanksgiving Bingo Printable Game

Dinner bingo runs quietly in the background all meal long. That’s what makes it perfect for the table.

Print bingo cards with things that tend to happen at Thanksgiving dinner:

Someone asks for the gravy twice
A kid spills their drink
Someone says “I’m so full” (then takes seconds)
The dog begs under the table
Someone brings up football

Tuck one card and a pen at every place setting. People mark squares as things happen. First to get a line calls “Bingo!” and wins a small prize.

Little kids can play a picture version with turkeys and pies, using candy corn as markers. Grab a free printable on Pinterest or make your own on Canva. Watching everyone secretly hope the dog begs is half the fun.

11. Thanksgiving Family Feud Survey Game

Survey says… your relatives are hilarious.

A week before Thanksgiving, text a few questions to everyone coming:

Name a food you’d never want on the table.
Name something people do after a big meal.
Name the first thing you’d grab from the fridge at midnight.

Tally the top answers on an index card for each question.

At dinner, split the table into two families. One person from each side answers first, and the faster, better answer wins control of the board. Their team keeps guessing until they get three strikes. Then the other side gets one shot to steal.

The magic here is that your own family wrote the answers. When “Uncle Ray’s chili” shows up as a top answer for “food you’d never want,” the table loses it.

12. Floor Inspired Thanksgiving Image Quiz

Fans of The Floor on Fox will get this right away. Everyone else will catch on in about 30 seconds.

Make a short slideshow of Thanksgiving pictures on a tablet or laptop. Think close-up shots of pies, famous parade balloons, NFL logos, and classic side dishes. Prop it up at the end of the table where everyone can see.

How to play at the table:

Two neighbors go head-to-head.
Each player gets a 20-second clock on a phone.
Name the picture, and the clock flips to your opponent.
Whoever runs out of time first loses.

The winner challenges the next person down the table. Keep going until one champ is left.

Set it up a few days early. Google Slides makes it easy to reuse next year.

13. Gratitude Dice Compliment Game

Going around the table to say what you’re thankful for can feel forced. A die takes the pressure off.

Write a number key on a card and set it in the middle of the table:

Compliment the person on your right.
Name something you’re grateful for this year.
Share a favorite memory with someone at this table.
Thank the cook for one specific dish.
Compliment someone across the table.
Your choice.

Pass the die around between bites. Roll, answer, pass.

The best part is how specific the compliments get. Last year my 12-year-old nephew told my sister her mashed potatoes “taste like a hug.” She cried a little. A wooden die from a craft store (about $5 for a pack) looks nicer on a set table than a game piece.

14. Gratitude Skittles Question Game

Candy before dessert? At this table, yes.

Set a small dish of Skittles in the middle with a color key next to it. Each person takes two without looking and answers the matching questions:

Red: What made you laugh this year?
Orange: Who at this table do you appreciate most?
Yellow: What’s a food you’re thankful exists?
Green: What’s one thing you’re proud of?
Purple: What’s something you’re looking forward to?

Answer, eat, pass the dish.

It works best between the main course and pie, when people are full and chatty. Shy relatives open up more because the candy picks the question for them. Swap in M&M’s if that’s what’s in the pantry. Just rewrite the key so the colors match.

15. Gratitude Tree Leaf Writing Activity

This one isn’t a game exactly. But it’s the one guests talk about on the drive home.

Stick a few bare branches in a vase or mason jar as your centerpiece. Cut paper leaves from orange, red, and gold cardstock and punch a hole in each one. Tie a short piece of twine through the hole.

Set the leaves and some pens at each place setting. During dinner, everyone writes one thing they’re thankful for and hangs it on the tree.

Make it more fun:

Read a few leaves out loud over dessert.
Let people guess who wrote which leaf.
Save the leaves in a jar and reread them next year.

Hobby Lobby and Michaels sell leaf punches for around $10. Or just freehand them with scissors. Nobody’s grading the shapes.

16. Gratitude Plate Message Activity

Picture this: someone finishes their turkey and finds a message hidden under the food.

Before dinner, write a short note of thanks on a paper plate for each guest. Think “Thanks for always saving me a seat” or “Your laugh makes every holiday better.” Keep it to one line. Then stack a second plate on top so the message stays hidden.

Once people clear their top plate, they find their note underneath.

Easy upgrades:

Use a food-safe marker so nothing smudges.
Let kids decorate the edges with stickers.
Have guests write a note back on the same plate for the host.

It takes about 20 minutes to prep for a table of 12. And nobody throws these plates away. I’ve seen grown men slip them into their coats.

17. Get a Turkey Dice Rolling Game

Every table needs one game that keeps the kids busy while the adults finish talking. This is it.

Give each player a napkin or scrap paper, a crayon, and one turn with the die. Each number stands for a turkey part:

Body
Head
Eye
Beak
Feather
Leg

You can’t draw anything until you roll a 1 for the body. After that, draw whatever you roll. Feathers and legs can repeat. Everything else, you pass. First person with a full turkey (two legs and at least five feathers) yells “Gobble!”

Grown-ups get way into it, too. My uncle once refused dessert until he finished his turkey. Set a little dish in the middle for rolling so the die doesn’t land in the cranberry sauce.

18. Turkey Talk Gobble Circle Game

No cards, no pens, no supplies. Just your voice and some self-control.

The person at the head of the table starts by saying “gobble” to the person on their right. It travels around the table one person at a time. Here’s where it gets tricky:

“Gobble gobble” flips the direction.
“Turkey” skips the next person.
“Stuffing” sends it straight across the table.

Mess up, pause too long, or laugh, and you’re out. Outs still get to eat. They just have to heckle quietly.

Speed it up every round. By round four, the whole table is red-faced and wheezing.

I save this for the lull between dinner and dessert, when people start drifting toward the couch. Nothing pulls them back faster than a grandpa yelling “STUFFING!”

19. Kraft Paper Doodle Table Game

Skip the tablecloth. Roll out brown kraft paper down the whole table and let everyone draw on it.

A 30-inch roll from Target or Amazon runs about $15 and covers a long table with plenty left over. Tape the ends underneath. Then set out cups of crayons or markers every few seats.

Game ideas to write on the paper:

Tic-tac-toe grids at every seat
“Draw the person across from you” challenges
A running Pictionary round passed down the table
Write one thing you’re thankful for next to your plate

Kids go nuts for this. But adults get pulled in too, usually by round two of tic-tac-toe.

Bonus: spills soak into the paper, not your good tablecloth. When dinner’s over, roll it up and toss it.

20. Thanksgiving Placemat Games Printable

Printable placemats are the easiest way to turn every seat into a game station.

Most Thanksgiving placemat printables pack a bunch of mini games onto one page: a maze, a word scramble, a “find the turkey” picture hunt, a crossword, and a spot to write what you’re thankful for. Print them on 11×17 paper, or shrink them to standard letter size if your printer can’t handle big sheets.

Put out:

One placemat per seat
A pencil or two crayons
A small sticker sheet for finishers

These aren’t just for kids. Grab an adult version with harder puzzles and trivia, and watch your in-laws compete in silence. Etsy has nice ones for $3 to $6. Laminate a set at Staples if you plan to reuse them every year.

21. Thanksgiving Word Search Printable

Some guests want to chat. Others want a quiet task between bites. A word search keeps the second group happy.

Pick a Thanksgiving word search with words like gravy, harvest, pumpkin, cornucopia, and gratitude. For mixed tables, print two levels:

Easy: 10 words, straight across or down, big font
Hard: 20 words, backward and diagonal

Set them at each seat with a pen. Or turn it into a race: first person to find every word gets to pick the first pie.

Here’s a fun trick. Make a custom search on a free puzzle maker site and hide the names of everyone at the table. People get weirdly excited to find their own name. Grandma found hers in about four seconds and acted like she’d won the lottery.

22. Thanksgiving I Spy Printable Game

I Spy sheets are perfect for the kids’ table, especially for little ones who can’t read yet.

Each sheet crams in tiny Thanksgiving pictures (turkeys, acorns, pies, pilgrim hats) scattered all over the page. Kids count how many of each item they spot and write the number in the key at the bottom.

Make it a table game:

Give everyone the same sheet and race to finish.
Pair a big kid with a little kid as a team.
Hand out a sticker for every correct count.

You’ll find free versions on Pinterest and teacher blogs. Print a stack, plus a few extras for cousins who show up late.

Pro tip: slide each sheet into a sheet protector with a dry-erase marker. Gravy wipes right off.

23. Place Card Guessing Game

Turn your place cards into the first game of the night. People play it before they even sit down.

Instead of writing names, write a clue about each guest on their place card. Something like “Once ate an entire pie on a dare” or “Has never missed a Lions game.” Guests have to figure out which card is theirs before they can sit.

Clue ideas:

A funny family story
A baby nickname
A favorite Thanksgiving dish
A weird talent

Watching people wander around the table reading cards is pure entertainment. And the clues spark stories that last the whole meal.

Write each guest’s real name on the back so nobody ends up in the wrong seat. Keep the clues kind. This is a dinner, not a roast.

How to Plan Games Around the Dinner Table

The trick is matching the game to the moment. A table full of hungry people and a table full of pie-stuffed people want totally different things.

Before Everyone Sits

Start with the place card guessing game. Lay out placemats, word searches, and kraft paper at the kids’ end so they’re busy while you fill plates.

During the Main Course

Pick games that don’t need hands. Would You Rather, This or That, and the gratitude dice all work between bites. Dinner bingo can run quietly the whole time.

Between Dinner and Dessert

This is the energy dip. Pull out the bigger Thanksgiving table games now: Family Feud, Outburst, Danger Word, or the Turkey Talk circle. They wake everyone up without anyone leaving their chair.

Over Pie

Wind down with the gratitude tree, the plate messages, or a trivia sheet. People are full and cozy by then, so something a little sweeter fits.

Host tip: keep a small basket under your chair with dice, pens, index cards, and printables. You’ll never have to get up and dig through drawers mid-meal.

Tips for Keeping Every Age Involved at Dinner

A table with a 5-year-old, a 15-year-old, and a 75-year-old needs a little planning. Here’s what works for my crew.

Seat by mix, not by age. Put a grandparent between two kids, or a teen next to a toddler. Built-in teams form without anyone feeling stuck.

Offer two levels. Print easy and hard versions of word searches, trivia, and bingo. Nobody feels babied, and nobody feels lost.

Let kids run something. A 7-year-old can roll the gratitude die for everyone or read the Would You Rather cards. They take the job very seriously.

Give teens the tech. Hand the Floor quiz or the Family Feud scoring to a teen. Suddenly they care.

Read out loud for non-readers. Bingo and This or That work for pre-readers if someone reads the squares and options aloud.

Watch the energy. If the little ones get squirmy, send them to the kids’ end with crayons and kraft paper. If the adults start yawning, bring out Outburst.

Make opting out easy. Some people just want to eat and listen. That’s fine. They usually end up shouting answers anyway.

FAQs

What are the best Thanksgiving table games?

The ones that don’t need anyone to stand up. Would You Rather, gratitude dice, dinner bingo, and Family Feud are easy wins. For the kids’ end, printable placemats and the turkey dice game keep little hands busy.

How many games should you plan for dinner?

Three or four is plenty. One while people sit down, one during the meal, and one or two before dessert. Plan too many, and dinner starts feeling like a work retreat.

Which games work for kids and adults together?

This or That, Turkey Talk, Get a Turkey, and the gratitude dice work for nearly every age. Pair younger kids with an adult for word-heavy games like Scattergories or trivia.

What supplies do these table games need?

Mostly paper, pens, index cards, a die, and some candy. A few need printables or a roll of kraft paper. You can cover just about everything for under $25.

Can these games be played while eating?

Yes, most of them. Talking games like Would You Rather, This or That, and the gratitude dice work fine between bites. Save the writing and louder games for after the main course, so nobody’s juggling a pen and a drumstick.

Conclusion

This mix of Thanksgiving table games gives you easy options to play between courses, at the kids’ table, or while the pie settles. Pick a few that fit your crowd, and you’ll have a table everyone lingers at.

Start small this year. Toss a stack of Would You Rather cards in a bowl next to the rolls and see what happens. My guess? Somebody ends up defending cranberry sauce for ten minutes.

Pin this list so it’s ready when you’re setting the table.