Thanksgiving 60-Second Games: 20 Quick Challenges for Kids and Adults

On this page

1. How to run 60-second games on Thanksgiving
2. 60-second games for little kids (ages 4 to 7)
3. 60-second games for big kids (ages 8 to 12)
4. 60-second games for teens and adults
5. All 20 games at a glance
6. Mixing kids and adults
7. Questions hosts ask

Charades is the simplest one-minute game you can run on Thanksgiving. One player acts out a card, their team has 60 seconds to guess, and nobody has to clear a table. Our deck has 52 cards, from carving the turkey to falling asleep on the couch after dinner. You can add your family’s name, print it as a PDF on US Letter or A4, or play it on a phone and hand the phone to each actor.

The other 19 games work like the TV game show Minute to Win It: one player, one task, one timer. Most of the props are already in your kitchen drawers or the craft bin.

How to run 60-second games on Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has a schedule problem. The turkey needs the kitchen, the adults need the table, and the kids need something to do for the two hours in between. These games fit in the gaps, and you can play three before dinner and three more while the pie cools.

1. Pick four to six games that match the ages in the room. Each one below lists its props, and the table near the end shows setup time.
2. Set up stations away from the kitchen: a card table, a patch of hallway, the coffee table. Put a sticky note at each with the goal (“Stack 5 gourds and hold for 3 seconds”).
3. Name a timekeeper who isn’t cooking. A grandparent with a phone timer is perfect. They say “Go,” count down the last ten seconds, and call “Time.”
4. Decide on scoring before the first round: a point for finishing, or a point for the best result. Keep a tally on a paper placemat.
5. Rotate players or teams through the stations. With 15 or more people, run two stations at once and switch every five minutes.

60-second games for little kids (ages 4 to 7)

Set goals most kids can hit, cheer every finish, and let them play twice. For this age, beating the timer matters more than beating each other.

1. Feather fan race

Lay a craft feather on the floor behind a tape line. Kids wave a paper plate to fan it across the room to a finish line, no touching allowed. Feathers drift sideways and float backward, which is the whole joke. Race two or three kids at a time.

2. Cranberry clothespin pickup

Fill a bowl with red craft pom-poms (our pretend cranberries) and set an empty muffin tin next to it. Kids pinch one pom-pom at a time with a wooden clothespin and drop one into each cup. Fill all 12 cups before time runs out. It’s a quiet game, good while the grown-ups are carving.

3. Turkey tail clip-on

Draw a turkey’s head and body in the middle of a paper plate. Kids clip clothespin “feathers” around the rim as fast as they can. Count the clips at the buzzer. Kids who color the clothespins first get a turkey to take home.

4. Turkey waddle

Kids squeeze a small gourd between their knees and waddle to a tape line and back, gobbling the whole way. If the gourd drops, they stop, put it back and keep going. Run it as a team relay for a big family.

5. Stuff the turkey

Draw a turkey on a brown paper grocery bag and stand it open at one end of the room. Crumple a stack of newspaper into “stuffing” balls at the other end. Kids carry one ball at a time with salad tongs and drop it in the bag. Most stuffing in 60 seconds wins.

6. Pumpkin patch pick

Cut 15 small pumpkins out of orange paper and hide them around one room while the kids wait outside the door. Each child gets a minute to find as many as they can. Tape a few at grown-up eye level so the hunt isn’t over in ten seconds.

60-second games for big kids (ages 8 to 12)

Big kids like a scoreboard and a rematch. Write the best score at each station on its sticky note and let them chase the record all afternoon.

7. Cranberry bounce

Set a coffee mug about two feet from the edge of a table. Players drop a fresh cranberry onto the tabletop so it bounces into the mug. Score a point for every berry that lands inside in 60 seconds. Firm, fresh cranberries bounce surprisingly well; soft ones just plop.

8. Gourd tower

Give each player five small gourds and mini pumpkins. They have 60 seconds to stack them into a tower that stands on its own for three full seconds. Lumpy gourds make this much harder than it looks. Younger kids can aim for three.

9. Napkin fan fold

Show everyone how to fold a napkin accordion-style and pinch the bottom into a cup so it fans out like a turkey tail. Then start the timer. Players fold as many fans as they can, and each one has to stand up in a cup to count. You get your table napkins done at the same time.

10. Dinner roll relay

Teams line up at one end of the room with a spatula and a dinner roll. Each player carries the roll on the spatula to a chair and back, then hands off. A dropped roll goes back to the start. Use a day-old roll and keep the fresh ones for dinner.

11. Set the table sprint

Put a stack of plates, plastic forks, knives, spoons, cups and napkins on one end of a table. Players set as many complete place settings as they can in 60 seconds: fork on the left, knife and spoon on the right, cup above the knife. Any wrong setting doesn’t count. Run it right before dinner and you’re done.

12. Lightning trivia (free printable)

Hand a player or team the free Thanksgiving trivia sheet for kids, face down. On “Go,” they flip it and answer as many of the 15 multiple-choice questions as they can in 60 seconds. Then the next team gets a turn with a fresh sheet. The answer key prints on its own page, with a short fact for each question.

13. Thanksgiving charades speed round (free printable)

Same cards as the charades deck above, but faster. One actor works through as many cards as they can in 60 seconds while their team shouts guesses, and they can pass on a card once. Count the cards the team gets right.

60-second games for teens and adults

Grown-up versions need a little more skill or a little more mess. These work on the living room carpet after dinner or at a Friendsgiving. For more table games, our Thanksgiving games for adults covers the after-dinner crowd.

14. Turkey baster race

Line up three cotton balls or ping-pong balls at one end of a table and set a pie tin at the other. Players squeeze a turkey baster to puff each ball across the table and into the tin. A ball that rolls off goes back to the start. Keep ping-pong balls away from anyone under 3.

15. Whipped cream skyscraper

Give each player a can of whipped cream and a paper plate. They have 60 seconds to build the tallest free-standing tower. Measure with a ruler the moment the timer ends, because whipped cream starts sinking right away. Hand out spoons afterward.

16. Cranberry garland

Each player gets a blunt plastic craft needle threaded with about two feet of string and a bowl of fresh cranberries. Most berries strung in 60 seconds wins. The garlands go on the mantel when you’re done, so this one decorates the house.

17. Thankful A to Z

No props, just paper and a pen. Players write one thing they’re thankful for that starts with each letter of the alphabet, in order, as far as they can get in 60 seconds. Read the lists aloud after. Expect a lot of “Q: quiet.”

18. Paper football field goals

Fold a sheet of paper into a small triangle football. One player makes goalposts with their thumbs and index fingers at the end of the table; the kicker flicks the football through from the other end. Most field goals in 60 seconds wins. It’s a good one to play during halftime of the afternoon game.

19. Play dough turkey

Hand each player a lump of play dough. They have one minute to sculpt a turkey, and the group votes on the best, the worst and the one that looks most like a relative. Leftover mashed potatoes work too, if you don’t mind cleaning the table.

20. Pie plate shuffle

Draw three rings on a big paper plate like a target and tape it to the far end of a table. Players slide plastic cups, upside down, along the table and try to stop them on the plate: 3 points for the center, 2 for the middle, 1 for the edge. Count points scored in 60 seconds. A cup that falls off the table scores nothing.

All 20 games at a glance

Print this page or screenshot the table for the fridge. Setup time is how long it takes to get one station ready.

Game	Ages	Supplies	Setup
1. Feather fan race	4+	Craft feathers, paper plates, tape	2 min
2. Cranberry clothespin pickup	4+	Red pom-poms, clothespin, muffin tin	2 min
3. Turkey tail clip-on	4+	Paper plate, marker, clothespins	5 min
4. Turkey waddle	4+	Small gourd, tape	1 min
5. Stuff the turkey	4+	Paper bag, newspaper, salad tongs	5 min
6. Pumpkin patch pick	4+	15 paper pumpkins, tape	10 min
7. Cranberry bounce	8+	Fresh cranberries, mug	1 min
8. Gourd tower	8+	5 gourds or mini pumpkins	1 min
9. Napkin fan fold	8+	Napkins, cups	2 min
10. Dinner roll relay	8+	Spatula, dinner roll, chair	1 min
11. Set the table sprint	8+	Plates, utensils, cups, napkins	3 min
12. Lightning trivia	8+	Printed trivia sheets, pencils	5 min to print
13. Charades speed round	6+	Printed charades cards	5 min to print
14. Turkey baster race	10+	Turkey baster, cotton or ping-pong balls, pie tin	1 min
15. Whipped cream skyscraper	10+	Whipped cream, paper plates, ruler	1 min
16. Cranberry garland	12+	Fresh cranberries, plastic needle, string	5 min
17. Thankful A to Z	10+	Paper, pens	None
18. Paper football field goals	8+	Sheet of paper	1 min
19. Play dough turkey	6+	Play dough	None
20. Pie plate shuffle	8+	Paper plate, marker, plastic cups, tape	3 min

Mixing kids and adults

Most Thanksgiving crowds span four generations, so build teams across ages. Say you’ve got two preschoolers, three kids between 8 and 12, two teens and seven adults. Make three teams with at least one kid on each, and let the youngest player choose the next station.

Give different goals for the same game rather than separate games. In the gourd tower, a 5-year-old stacks three and a teenager stacks five. In the set the table sprint, kids need two place settings and adults need six. Grandparents who’d rather not crawl around the floor make great judges for the play dough turkeys and the whipped cream towers.

Plan for about 20 to 30 minutes of play for every five stations with 12 people. That’s a good fit for the stretch between the turkey coming out of the oven and everyone sitting down, since the bird needs to rest anyway.

For a classroom or church party

Skip the food games and the needle, and run four stations from the little-kids list plus charades. Keep groups at five or six kids with an adult at each station. Our Thanksgiving games for kids has quieter options for a room full of children.

After the timer games

Once the energy drops, switch to the table. Thanksgiving bingo works for every age, and Thanksgiving games for family collects games that grandparents and kids can play side by side. You’ll find all of our holiday printables on the Thanksgiving games page, and the Game Maker lets you add names before you print.

Questions hosts ask

By the Party Game Book editors. Every game here is free to print for personal, classroom and non-commercial use. How we make and check our games.