The holidays can be a wonderful time of year to come together as family and friends and eat delicious food. But we also know that, between cooking, hosting guests, watching children, and catching up with loved ones, Thanksgiving can be a bit hectic!
The holidays can be a wonderful time of year, but for many people, the holidays can also be complex or even difficult. As one way to rein in the chaos, we’ve provided some simple, minimal-supply family activities that will help you foster feelings of gratitude while having fun and deepening family connections.
Name That Baby
Gather old baby photos of you and your family, and ask guests to send old childhood photos as well. Print these images, and put them somewhere everyone can see, such as on a wall or spread out on a table. Put numbers next to each photo, and have people write down their guesses about who is in each numbered image. Whoever gets the most correct guesses wins!
Family Questions and Answers
For this simple activity, you can start a fun and interesting conversation with your family members at the dinner table to learn more about each other and even about other family members who may not be present or who may have passed away.
Have each family member take turns thinking of a get-to-know-you question and ask the question to the group. Then everyone can share their answers. If you have a deceased family member who you remember well, you can share the answers to the questions for them too! For example, if the question is "What do you like to do for fun?" the grandchildren of the family could share what they remember Grandma liked to do in her free time, even if she is no longer present.
If you want to have some fun family memories preserved for yourself and for future generations, it's a great idea to use FamilySearch Memories to make an audio recording of the questions and answers and even take and upload photos of your family to remember the day.
Guess What I’m Grateful For
This activity is sure to bring out some laughs! Here are the basic rules:
Person 1: Writes something she is grateful for.
Person 2: Draws an image of what person 1 wrote.
Person 3: Writes what he thinks person 2 drew without looking at the original word.
Person 4: Draws what person 3 wrote.
This pattern continues until everyone has had a chance to either write or draw. As for supplies, you can play this game with a small notebook, writing what you are grateful for on the first page and the next person drawing it on the following page, and so on. Each person should look only at the previous page. Or if you want to play it simple, you can fold a piece of paper, making sure to cover earlier guesses and drawings as you go along.
You can play this game at the dinner table, passing around a single notebook between bites. If you want a more involved game, you can give participants a notebook or paper to start their own chain. The game ends when everyone has his or her notebook back.
At the end, you can see how far off everyone was from the original word and enjoy all the fun family drawings!
Who Looks More Like Who?
Ever wonder if you look more like your dad or your mom? We have a fun and easy activity that will quickly settle the debate! FamilySearch’s Compare-a-Face feature allows you to upload photos and compare the facial features of family members. You can even compare some of those baby photos from the Name That Baby activity!
Not only can you compare 2 uploaded images, but if you already have a FamilySearch account with uploaded family images, you can compare your face with the faces of relatives and ancestors! Here’s a quick how-to.
Family Trivia
Do you know how your parents met or what your sister’s favorite hobby is? Play this fun trivia game at the dinner table to learn more about each other! The rules are simple:
- Give everyone a piece of paper or a small whiteboard to write answers on.
- Have participants ask a question about themselves, such as “What is my favorite color?” The others then write what they think the answer is.
- After writing the answer to the question, they all share their answers. Each person who wrote down the correct answer gets a point.
- Rotate around the room so each person gets a chance to ask a question.
Participants can either come up with their own questions, or they can check out sites such as this one with a long list of get-to-know-you questions that are perfect for this game.
I’m Grateful For—
Hand out a sheet of paper to all your family members or guests with the word “Gratitude” written down the side, like an acrostic. Then explain these rules:
- While being timed, write down something you are grateful for that begins with each letter in the word “Gratitude.” For example, for the first letter, you might write that you are grateful for “games.”
- After the time is up, participants share what they wrote for each letter. You get a point if you wrote something that no one else wrote. You don’t get a point for any repeats—even if the word was repeated later in the acrostic.
Set a timer for 3 to 5 minutes—3 minutes if you want a challenge, 5 minutes if you and your family need a little more time. If your family enjoys this game, you can try the same game using other words, such as “Family” or “Thankful.”
For a solo activity, check out our article about gratitude journaling! Download the G.R.A.T.E.F.U.L. worksheet below.
Ancestor Photo Challenge
If you have a FamilySearch account, try this fun and interactive activity with your family. The Ancestor Photo Challenge will quiz you using photos of your ancestors that have been uploaded to the FamilySearch website to see if you know who they are!
Even if you don't have every face memorized, this activity can be an interesting way to get to know more of your ancestors' names. If you do it with the help of other family members, you might be surprised at how much you know as a whole group!
Note: At least one family member needs to have ancestor information in the FamilySearch Family Tree to do the activity. But don't worry! FamilySearch accounts are free, and Family Tree is easy to use. All you have to do is add what you know about your ancestors, and FamilySearch will help you see if the collaborative tree already has more about them. You could find whole family lines with pictures and stories just waiting for you to connect to.
Like These Ideas? Bookmark and Share the FamilySearch Activities Pages
We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Whether you have lots of family around or very few, family history activities can help you connect with family both past and present. Check out FamilySearch’s interactive Activities and In-Home Activities pages for ideas that work on holidays or any day—online or off the screen. And don't forget to share them with others you feel would also enjoy them!
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