by Jaimela King

Created on: November 17, 2009

Celebrations are all about friends, family, fun and reflection. They are also about creating memories and lasting traditions. Engaging children in games at special times like thanksgiving, serves to create and build on traditions that can be passed on from generation to generation. Here are some games that children absolutely enjoy playing at Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving Name Game: Write the names of Thanksgiving items like, pumpkin, turkey, and cranberry on paper and place in a bag. Children will pick a name from the bag and this becomes their name. Children are seated in a circle on chairs. The leader will not have a chair. The game starts when the leader calls out two names like "pumpkin and cranberry".

The players with these names have to quickly switch places as any delay could result in both players being ejected from the game. As the leader continues to call pairs of names, he may suddenly call "Cornucopia" When the players hear this everyone including the leader has to find a new seat. The person without a seat at the end of the scramble becomes the new leader.

The Popcorn Relay Race: Children can go wild, down and dirty with this game that is good enough to eat. Bowls are filled with popcorn at one end of a room or outdoors if the weather is nice. Place empty bowls at the opposite end of the room or yard. You can work in teams or solo. You now have to carry the popcorn from the full bowl with a measuring cup. And the winner is the first person or team to empty their popcorn bowl.

The Memory Food Game: Food and a good memory combine to make this a super fun game. To play the game, all children will sit in a circle. The first player will say, "This Thanksgiving, I ate turkey", the second person will say the same thing but add another food to it. For example, "this Thanksgiving, I ate Turkey and potatoes.

The third and other persons will add another food. The object of the game is to remember all the foods mentioned by the previous player and in the correct order. If a player forgets a food, that player must drop out of the game. This continues until only one player is left in the game.

The Thankerchief Game: This a version of the well loved traditional game played at Thanksgiving. Children sit in a circle and pass a handkerchief or scarf around. Children take turns playing the music. When the music stops the child with the handkerchief has to say what she/he is thankful for.

Bird, Beast or Fish: Children just love their animals and they also know them well. They will need to think quickly and also have a good memory. Children will sit facing the leader. The leader starts by pointing to a player and says "Bird, Beast or Fish".The player selected must respond with a name. Names cannot be repeated and the player has 10 seconds to respond. If a child fails to respond with a name within the time limit, she is eliminated from the game. The game continues until there is only one player left in the game.

Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday to teach children about the meaning of thanksgiving in a fun way. In so doing long lasting memories are created and traditions that can be passed on to future Thanksgiving celebration.

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