Turkey Games

We are transplants to Memphis, and since we moved here we have chosen to stay in town for Thanksgiving and try to make it back to see family around Christmas. We have developed a tradition of having a hodgepodge group of people come over for a Friendsgiving. We are all in this spot of not having family here for the holiday, and sometimes the family you choose is the most fun! Most of them don’t know each other outside of us, but look forward to seeing each other each year for our annual celebration.

A couple of years back we started adding a little fun to our normal meal together: Turkey Games! It was a little hard to get started at first, but once we got into it, it was crazy fun. Our kids love planning for it, and it’s a great way to extend our together time without just turning on football (although we do that too!). If you think you might like to try it out this year but don’t know where to get started, I have compiled a list of some of our favorite games below. Most of these I found with quick Google searches, so if these aren’t your brand, go find something your family and/or will love and make some fun memories this year!

First, the rules. I tend to be a “Monica” when it comes to games, but I try to keep this activity loose…. for the kids.

All videos and pictures are for personal use only. Any posting on social media without the consent of the adults in the videos will get you put on pan scraping duty next year.
We keep score. The prize is knowing you are a winner.
Each team picks one member to participate each time and every member of your team has to participate in something.

And now, the games!

** All pictures are from Pinterest, see rule number 1.

SHAKE YOUR TAIL FEATHERS

Supplies: bag of lightweight feathers, empty rectangle tissue boxes (enough for one for each team), pantyhose.
Directions: Remove all tissues (see the game PLUCK THE TURKEY to double dip), cut slits in the sides of each box and slide a leg of the hose through, place a handful of feathers in each box, them tie the box onto the back of each player. At “go” everyone jumps around and shakes their booties to empty their box first.

PLUCK THE TURKEY

Supplies: Rectangle tissue boxes (enough for one for each team)
Directions: Each player gets a box with the first tissue pulled up, ready to use. They place one hand behind their back and at “go” the first person to empty their box of tissues wins!

TRAFFIC YAM

Supplies: Raw sweet potatoes (enough for one for each team), metal spoons for each team, painters tape
Directions: Tape a line across the floor for each team. Use the spoon to roll your yam to the finish line. Your yam must be on your line to finish. This can be made even more fun and difficult if you require participants to use only their mouth with a spoon in it to roll, but children will find this more difficult.

SWEET POTATO SWING

Supplies: Pantyhose for each team, sweet potato for each team, plastic cups – about 10 per team but however many you have is fine
Directions: place a sweet potato in one leg of the hose and get it to drop to the bottom. Tie the hose around your waist so that the potato is almost to the ground hanging directly in front of you, alternatively, you can put the hose on your head. Either is fine and some people prefer the waist so it doesn’t affect their hair but all players must do it the same way. Make a line of plastic cups turned upside down. At “go” each team will attempt to knock over all of their cups using only the potato in the hose. No hands allowed, only moving your waist or head to make the potato swing. First one to knock over all cups wins.

FEATHER FLUTTER

Supplies: Bag of feathers (can use the same ones from SHAKE YOUR TAIL FEATHERS), turkey baster for each team, painters tape
Directions. Using the same lines for TRAFFIC YAM, use only the turkey baster to shoot your feather toward the finish line. First one to cross the finish line wins.
- Variation: if you do not have turkey basters for everyone you can have them blow a feather into the air and the person who keeps theirs off the ground the longer with only their breath wins.

Tips:

Buy new pantyhose. They have them at the dollar store. It’s best for everyone.
We bought all supplies at Dollar Tree or Hobby Lobby. This is not an expensive game list if you Reuse and Recycle as suggested.
Try to get same sized yams. The Monicas of the world will thank you for your fairness.
If you have more than two teams, you can assign point values to “places” – 1st place is 5 points, 2nd is 3, 3rd is 1 point, etc.
Games can be repeated if you have more team members than games to play. Pair up similarly-abled people for each game if possible.
Have fun and be silly. It’s a great memory

If you have some games your family loves to play, drop them in the comments so we can all get more ideas! Happy Thanksgiving!