by Crystal Reign Brock

Created on: November 14, 2009

During tough economic times more people are staying home for the Holiday's, versus going away on trips. This being the new trend how does one make the most of it? Family involvement seems to be the key. In a microwave society how does one get the attention of the young? Not by dictating out orders for them to follow like robots. This creates the feeling of a chore instead of fun family involvement.

One way to inspire involvement is with games. There are several Holiday themed games, but lets focus on Thanksgiving. Trying to find ideas led me to a wonderful website called www.amazingmoms.com. It has wonderful craft ideas like "How to make a brown paper bag Turkey" to "How to make a Mayflower Ship". Some interesting games for Thanksgiving were Popcorn Relay Race, Thankerchief, and Where's Mr. Turkey?

How to play:

Popcorn Relay Race: On one side of the room put filled bowls of popcorn. On the other side put empty bowls. Teams must transport popcorn from the filled bowl to the empty one using a measuring cup. The first team to empty the full popcorn bowl wins.

Thankerchief: Arrange children in a circle and pass around the Thankerchief (handkerchief). While passing it around everyone must recite the following poem: Thankerchief, thankerchief, around you go - Where you'll stop, nobody knows. But when you do, someone must say what they are thankful for this day. Once the poem ends, the person holding the Thankerchief must say what they are thankful for. This continues until everyone has gone.

Where's Mr. Turkey: This game is a variation of the classic "Your Hot, Your Cold" game. Instead of using that phrase the kids gobble. One player is the farmer and the other players are the helpers. The farmer leaves the room while the helpers hide a small toy turkey. The farmer must find the turkey. For clues the helpers gobble more rapidly when the farmer is close to finding the turkey. When the farmer is not close they gobble less.

Games for older children are:

Bird, Beast or Fish: Everyone sits facing the leader. The leader points to random people saying either "Bird, Beast or Fish". The person chosen must come up with the name of an animal in the category before the leader counts to ten. There cannot be any repeats. If the person doesn't come up with the name of an animal they are out. Depending on the age range for this game recommend counting fast or counting to five instead of ten. To make it more challenging.

Another good game for the not so young is a traditional one "Twenty Questions", but with a holiday twist. Everything the players must ask questions on in order to guess can be Thanksgiving Day related.

With these ideas from www.amazingmoms.com anyone can have a great time from the comfort of their living room. For other great ideas checkout local party stores for costumes, as well as other websites like www.parents.com, www.akidsheart.com, and www.surfnetkids.com.

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