90 Fun Thanksgiving Charades Ideas + Free Printable Game

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Thanksgiving Charades is a fun and easy Thanksgiving family game that you can play with all ages. Best of all, you can play charades without needing any pre-planning! But if you do like to be a little more prepared, I’ve got a free printable Thanksgiving charades game for you to print at home!

My daughters love playing Charades when we have a family get-together! They always want to play, especially when their Uncles & Aunts are there to make it extra silly. Having a Charades theme can make it a lot easier to keep the game moving and a little easier to guess too.

If you’re looking for more Charades themes to try, grab my free printable Halloween Charades cards, Christmas Charades cards and New Year’s charades cards.

Rules For Charades

Charades is a well-known party game that can be easily adapted to a Thanksgiving theme by using words related to Thanksgiving food, traditions and activities.

There are a few different ways to play with these Thanksgiving Charades cards, which is what makes it extra fun! Below I will share a few variations for you so you can change it up and keep it interesting.

Ideally, you use a timer to play. Although not essential, it does keep things fair and keep the game moving. If you don’t have a timer or similar, you can use the timer on your phone too.

1. Basic Charades

1. Divide players into two teams.
2. Each team will take turns acting out Thanksgiving-related words or phrases for their teammates to guess.
3. The person acting out the word cannot speak, sing, mouth words, use props or make any noises. They can only use body language, movement and facial expressions to convey the word or phrase.
4. Their teammates have a set amount of time (usually one minute) to guess the word or phrase. If a teammate guesses the word correctly, their team gets a point.
5. Then switch to the other team for their turn to guess a word.
6. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins, either when you reach a set number of points (i.e. first team to 10 points) or when you decide to finish playing.

2. Speedy Charades

This version works similarly to regular Thanksgiving party charades, except this time you have rounds for a set amount of time, such as 2 minutes. During this time, teams must try and guess as many Thanksgiving charades words as they can before the timer ends. Then switch to the other team to do the same.

Typically each round has a different person acting out the words so it rotates per round rather than per word.

This can be a much quicker, fast-paced way to play and it’s a great Thanksgiving game for teens and adults for when you aren’t playing with small children who need a slower pace.

3. Thanksgiving Pictionary Charades (Draw It)

For a twist on the traditional game, you can also play Thanksgiving Pictionary using the same word list. This version does require a little extra prep since you will need paper and pencils to play.

A pair of large sketch pads or scrapbooks work great! Alternatively, use a large dry-erase board and some dry-erase markers or a chalkboard and chalk instead.

List Of Common Charades Cues

If you’ve played charades before, you might already know a few of these charades actions that help your team guess a bit easier. Start your actions with these cues to help speed up the process, especially if you’re playing rapid charades!

• Number of words: Hold up the corresponding number of fingers.
• Song: Pretend to sing (without making a sound).
• Movie: Mimic cranking a film camera.
• TV show: Use your fingers to draw a square (a TV shape).
• Book: Open and close imaginary book covers.
• Play: Pull an imaginary curtain open.
• Sounds like: Tug on your ear then mimic the action of a word that rhymes.
• Quote or phrase: Make air quotes.
• Person: Point to yourself.
• Object: Hold out your hand as if presenting an object.

Thanksgiving Charades Word List

Don’t have a printer? That’s okay! You can use this list of Thanksgiving Charades words to make your own DIY charades game for your festivities. Just write them each on pieces of paper or sticky notes and fold them up in a bowl.

Or just go in order in the list (without peeking ahead). If you’re doing it this way, having a person who isn’t playing that can share the words is a good option.

Here is a list of Thanksgiving-themed words and phrases:

Easy Thanksgiving Charades For Kids

1. Turkey
2. Gobbling like a turkey
3. Waddling like a turkey
4. Flapping your wings
5. Pumpkin
6. Raking leaves
7. Jumping in a pile of leaves
8. Pilgrim hat
9. Corn on the cob
10. Setting the table
11. Washing the dishes
12. Scarecrow
13. Going on a hayride
14. Picking apples
15. Making a turkey with your handprint
16. A leaf falling from a tree
17. Hugging Grandma
18. Wearing a paper crown
19. Sniffing a pie
20. Blowing out a candle
21. Saying grace
22. Breaking the wishbone

Thanksgiving Food Charades

23. Mashed potatoes
24. Stuffing the turkey
25. Carving a turkey
26. Basting the turkey
27. Pumpkin pie
28. Apple pie
29. Pecan pie
30. Cranberry sauce
31. Pouring gravy
32. Cornbread
33. Buttering a bread roll
34. Spraying whipped cream
35. Green bean casserole
36. Sweet potato with marshmallows
37. Peeling potatoes
38. Rolling out pastry
39. Mixing a bowl of batter
40. Checking the oven
41. Shucking corn
42. Drinking apple cider
43. Sneaking a taste before dinner
44. Burning your hand on a hot tray

Funny Thanksgiving Charades

45. Ate too much
46. Loosening your belt
47. Falling asleep at the table
48. Fighting over the last bread roll
49. Chasing a turkey around the yard
50. Dropping the turkey on the floor
51. Trying to fit one more thing in the fridge
52. The smoke alarm going off
53. Hiding vegetables under your napkin
54. Feeding the dog under the table
55. Unbuttoning your jeans
56. Falling off your chair
57. The cat getting on the table
58. Pretending to like a dish you hate
59. Going back for fourths
60. Getting stuck talking to a relative
61. Sneaking the last slice of pie
62. A turkey escaping
63. Snoring on the couch
64. Wrestling with cling wrap
65. Trying to carve with a blunt knife
66. Licking the bowl
67. Spilling gravy on your shirt

Thanksgiving Charades For Adults & Teens

68. The Black Friday queue
69. Watching football
70. Playing backyard football
71. The Thanksgiving parade
72. A giant parade balloon
73. Taking a family photo
74. An awkward family conversation
75. Doing the dishes while everyone else relaxes
76. Setting up an extra table
77. Driving for hours to get there
78. Airport security
79. Packing leftovers into containers
80. Putting the leaf in the table
81. Making a toast
82. Cheering at the TV
83. Napping through the second half
84. Running a turkey trot
85. Taking the bins out
86. Untangling Christmas lights
87. Putting up the Christmas tree
88. Online shopping at midnight
89. Doing a jigsaw puzzle
90. Falling asleep in front of a movie

Thanksgiving-themed charades is a simple game that can be enjoyed by people of all ages making it a great game to play with the family or friends as a Thanksgiving day activity. I hope my free printable Thanksgiving charade ideas bring plenty of fun to your Thanksgiving celebrations!

You might also like these Thanksgiving would you rather questions (you will also find a freebie in the library for this game).