In many parts of the country, Thanksgiving Day is early enough in the winter season that the weather is still relatively nice.
Why not take advantage of the outdoors and escape the heat of a house that has been warmed with a hot oven all morning? In addition to enjoying each other's company, it is a good idea to have some games to play (especially if you have already eaten your Thanksgiving meal and are regretting that extra drumstick or dinner roll that you ate).
Playing outdoor games is also a good way to give the kids in your group a chance to let out some of the energy that they may have had stored up from being cooped up inside all day.
There are almost limitless options when it comes to outdoor activities.
By simply using a little creativity, you can turn these traditional outdoor games into Thanksgiving Day inspired games that everyone can enjoy.
Here are some ideas to get your creative juices flowing: Play T-U-R-K-E-Y All that you need is a basketball and a hoop to play this game that is more traditionally known as H-O-R-S-E or P-I-G.
To begin, have all the players line up and assign an order by which everyone will take their turn.
The first player shoots the basketball from anywhere they wish.
If the player makes their shot, the person who is next in line behind them must then try to make the shot from the same spot.
If the person misses the shot, they are assigned the first letter in the word turkey.
It is then the next person's turn to shoot, shooting from the same spot as the person before them if that shot was made, and choosing a new shooting position if the shot was missed.
This continues until people begin accumulating all the letters of the word "turkey" as a result of missing shots made by the person before them in line.
Eventually everyone in the groups is eliminated after missing enough times to spell T-U-R-K-E-Y.
The last one to be eliminated is the winner.
Turkey Hunt Prepare for a turkey hunt by collecting or drawing turkey shapes and adhering them to sturdy paper.
You can use magazine cutouts, stickers, or have each of the children make their own unique turkey.
After a good number of turkeys are made, assign one member of the group to be the leader.
Everyone leaves the yard except for the leader who stays behind and hides all of the turkeys around the yard.
The other players return and act as hunters, looking for turkeys and bringing them back to the leader who tallies how many turkeys each hunter has gathered.
The hunter who is able to collect and deliver the most turkeys to the leader wins.
Pumpkin Race The pumpkin race game is a game that is traditionally played at country fairs, but can very easily be adapted and played in just about any front yard or park.
To play this game you will need two large pumpkins and two sturdy sticks.
The first two racers line up on the starting line with the pumpkins turned on their sides.
On count of three, the racers use their sticks to roll the pumpkins to the finish line.
The imperfections of the pumpkins present some challenges that make this race very entertaining to watch.
In order to include younger players, you may want to adapt the rules and allow the little ones to use their hands to roll the pumpkin instead of the sticks.
You can include more people by making the pumpkin race a relay where the pumpkin is rolled to another team member who runs and rolls the pumpkin back to where the first player began and where the third team member can be waiting to continue the relay until all team members have had their turn rolling the pumpkin and the last team member crosses the finish line.