5 Thanksgiving Entertaining Ideas

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, which means that at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

Thanksgiving 2020 may be different from years past, but it doesn’t have to be devoid of the typical holiday comforts that we love and cherish. This year our Thanksgiving entertaining may be for a smaller group, or for just your immediate family and here are 5 Thanksgiving entertaining ideas to keep your celebration alive and memorable.

1) Schedule Virtual Time With Your Family & Friends

This year if you’re not going to be spending time with family or friends outside of your household then schedule some virtual time with them. It will keep your spirits up and speaking of spirits, you can even make it special by scheduling pre or post-dinner drinks. Everyone makes some cocktails or pours a glass of wine and then cozies up to their iPad or phone to digitally check in. Or you could set aside a special appetizer time where everyone gets together to set aside a little time to see your family and friends that you may not get to see this year in person.

I’ve been investigating the Facebook portal for this very reason to see if it would be a better tool to connect with digitally. It says on the website that the camera will follow and automatically zoom in/out which would be a great feature to have. Anyone have experience with the FB portal? Let me know in the comments below.

2) Thanksgiving Games

Ok, Thanksgiving entertaining ideas #2. So because of all the planning and work that goes into the holiday itself, any of the extras like this need to be quick and easy. So here are a couple of the games that I find to be just that. Of course you can make them a little more complicated, which is easy for me to do, but I chose these based on the idea that I could prepare them in under 10 minutes.

Thanksgiving Charades

All you will need for this game is a list of Thanksgiving words, which you can easily do a google search on and find many many free printables, and a timer. All the words go into a bowl and each person takes a turn acting out the word they select. Whomever guesses before the timer than takes a turn.

Sweet Potato Race

Simply take a spoon and a sweet potato and have each person roll their sweet potato in a race to the finish line.

Turkey Scavenger Hunt

This is a printable game I found where you hide the numbers around the yard and the kids have to go out and hunt to find them all to win a prize. Quick setup that will get them outside and running around for a little bit.

Roll A Turkey

Here is a free printable for a dice game. All you need to do is print out the game cards, get some m&m’s and a set of dice.

DIY Turkey Tag

This is another great game to get the family outside to burn some energy. Turkey tag involves painted clothespins, and if you want to go the extra mile you can make the clothespins into turkeys which involves adding googly eyes and foam beaks. Each person gets three clothespins and the goal is to grab all three off of someone else to get them out. Check it out over here.

3) Bloody Mary Bar

What’s the first thing you should do after putting the turkey in the oven? That’s right! Throw together a bloody mary bar. I love this idea of having a fun way to kick off the day while you’re all gathering around to watch the parade. This can be as easy and simple as you want it to be and here are some ideas to get you started.

4) Movie Marathon

If you’re spending time with just the people in your household this year and hunkering down for Thanksgiving then why not make it a movie binge day. Pick a theme, Terminator, Die Hard, Harry Potter, Christmas Movies, anything like that and plan a whole day and schedule around watching your favorites. Prep snacks, get comfy, and plan to just run a marathon of favorites for your turkey day.

5) Create some art TOGETHER

Again, for me it has to be quick and easy to set up, so here are some of the craft ideas that fit my no hassle guidelines.

Thanksgiving Coloring Placemats

Something that I can set the little ones up with and then let them be. I don’t have to go through any instructions and when they’re done we can use them as placemats. Love this idea.

Tree of Thanks Craft Kit

This requires some instruction but I love the idea of everyone working on a tree and reflecting on the things we are thankful for.

Turkey Necklace Craft

I thought this just looked really cute, something they could work on and use their own creativity to design the necklace they want.

If you have any Thanksgiving entertaining ideas please list them below in the comments, we’d love to hear what you might be planning.

Disclosure: Some of the links are affiliate links, which means that at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.