🦃 Thanksgiving games for the whole family

Six games for a big Thanksgiving table, from the four-year-old cousin to Grandpa: Pig while the turkey cooks, Twenty Questions while you wait, Beetle at the kids' table, Crazy Eights and Spoons after dinner, and Yacht after pie. All you need is a deck of cards, a few dice, paper and a pencil. Print the rules on one page and leave it on the table. 🔊

• 6 games
• Ages 4+
• Up to 10 players
• A deck of cards, dice, paper

The six games, in the order of the day

• While the turkey cooks

  🐷 Pig

  Ages 5+ · 2 to 6 players · about 15 min

  One die and quick turns, so the cooks can drop in and out between bastes.

  You need: one die, paper and a pencil

  How to play Pig

• Waiting at the table

  ❓ Twenty Questions

  Ages 5+ · 2 to 10 players · about 10 min

  Needs nothing at all, works for ten people, and stops the moment the food arrives.

  You need: nothing but your voices, fingers or paper to count the questions

  How to play Twenty Questions

• At the kids' table

  🪲 Beetle

  Ages 4+ · 2 to 6 players · about 15 min

  Every roll draws a bit of a beetle, so a four-year-old can play with a big cousin reading the die.

  You need: one die, paper and a pencil for each player

  How to play Beetle

• Grandparents and grandkids

  8️⃣ Crazy Eights

  Ages 6+ · 2 to 7 players · about 15 min

  Most grown-ups already know it, and a six-year-old can match a number or a suit.

  You need: a deck of 52 cards (two decks shuffled together for six or seven players)

  How to play Crazy Eights

• The big table after dinner

  🥄 Spoons

  Ages 7+ · 3 to 10 players · about 15 min

  Three to ten players and the loudest laugh of the night. Clear the gravy boat first.

  You need: a deck of 52 cards, plastic or wooden spoons, one fewer than the number of players

  How to play Spoons

• After pie

  ⛵ Yacht

  Ages 6+ · 1 to 8 players · about 20 min

  Twenty calm minutes with five dice. The phone keeps score and the kids do the adding.

  You need: five dice, a score sheet or this phone, a pencil

  How to play Yacht · keep score on this phone

How long have you got?

Something to nibble

From the Peabody Kitchen, all made by kids with a grown-up nearby: Turkey Veggie Platter for the hungry players before dinner, Turkey Cookies for the kids' table and No-Bake Pumpkin Pie Cups for the Yacht game after pie.

Questions families ask

Party games with no cards at all, like a feather hunt and Pass the Pie, are on Thanksgiving games for kids, and a question round for every age is Thanksgiving trivia. Every game's rules are on the rules shelf.

Every word is Peabody's own; the rules are traditional games anyone may play. Checked 31 October 2026.