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Game Ideas

Thanksgiving Twister

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twister.jpg
Materials
Instead of a twister game sheet, cut Thanksgiving shapes from construction paper and use sticky-tack to adhere them to the floor. Make a twister spinner that includes right hand, left hand, right foot, left foot and another that contains the various Thanksgiving symbols.

Some optional symbols are:
Autumn Leaf, Corn, Cornucopia, Cranberries, Family, Mayflower ship, Pie, Pilgrim, Plymouth Rock, Pumpkin, Puritans, Turkey, Indian

Activity
Play a game of Twister, but instead of colored dots use pictures of Thanksgiving items taped to the floor. Change the spinner to reflect the pictures. If you don’t have a spinner you can easily make one.

Variation
Instead of playing on an individual basis, divide the group into teams. The team with the last remaining members in the game wins.

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Games and Activities in Celebration of common Holidays.

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Teaching Illustrations

George Washington’s 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation

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washington.jpg“Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me “to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:”

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted’ for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have show kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789.

(signed) G. Washington

More Thanksgiving Quotes

 

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Games and Activities in Celebration of common Holidays.

Creative Holiday Ideas has over 300 pages of ideas to help you plan your next New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Halloween or Fall Festival, and Thanksgiving event. If you’ve ever wondered what you’re going to do for all these holidays and how you’re going to do it, this resource is for you.

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Teaching Illustrations

Thanksgiving Proclamation (Abraham Lincoln)

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This Thanksgiving Quote comes from Abraham Lincoln:

.lincoln.jpg.. Abraham Lincoln was a man who learned to face discouragement and move beyond it. Did you know that it was Abraham Lincoln who, in the midst of the Civil War, in 1863, established the annual celebration of Thanksgiving?

Lincoln had learned how important it is to stop and thank God in the midst of great difficulties.

“We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that [the gifts of God] should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged with one heart and one voice by the whole American people. I do, therefore, invite my fellow citizens . . . to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.”

You can find more Thanksgiving Quotes Here!

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Games and Activities in Celebration of common Holidays.

Creative Holiday Ideas has over 300 pages of ideas to help you plan your next New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Halloween or Fall Festival, and Thanksgiving event. If you’ve ever wondered what you’re going to do for all these holidays and how you’re going to do it, this resource is for you.

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Game Ideas

Thanksgiving Bingo

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corn.jpgMaterials
1. Bingo cards for each participant. Make Bingo cards using a grid of squares (5X5) and placing Thanksgiving related items in each square. Make each card different in the choice of items on it and the placement of the items.
2. Coins or markers to cover squares. You can also simply allow them to mark on the cards.
3. Bingo items in bag to pull out. Write them on small peices of paper or ping pong balls.

Activity
1. Play according to standard bingo rules.
2. Randomly draw the items from a bag and call them out..
3. The first person to get all of a row horizontally, vertically, or diagonally yells out “Gobble, Gobble, Gobble,”

Possible Thanksgiving Bingo items:
1621, Autumn, Blessings, Corn, Cornucopia, Cranberry, Dinner, England, Fall, Family, Feast, Giblets, Gobble, God, Gravy, Harvest, Mayflower, New World, November, Pie, Pilgrim, Plymouth Rock, Pumpkin, Puritans, Stuffing, Thanks, Thursday, Turkey, Wampanoag Indians, wattle

Variation
Instead of words, you can also include photos of common objects associated with Thanksgiving and Harvest

Get Creative Youth Ideas: "Holiday Collection" ebook Holiday Collection
Games and Activities in Celebration of common Holidays.

Creative Holiday Ideas has over 300 pages of ideas to help you plan your next New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Halloween or Fall Festival, and Thanksgiving event. If you’ve ever wondered what you’re going to do for all these holidays and how you’re going to do it, this resource is for you.

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Game Ideas

Can you pin the missing tailfeather on the turkey?

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turkey4.jpg
Materials
Large picture of a turkey. (If you aren’t very artistic, use an OHP and a coloring book image and project it on to a large piece of posterboard.) Leave a gap for a missing large tailfeather.

Activity
Blindfold one child / youth and have them attach the feather to the turkey. Play this game for Thanksgiving in the same way you would play “pin the tail on the donkey.” Instead of a donkey tail, pin a feather on the turkey where it would belong in the gap.

Variations
1. Pin the snood (the red flesh growth that hangs over the beak) on the turkey.
2. Pin the wattle on the turkey
3. Leave all the tailfeathers off the turkey and award every child who gets one near the right place.

Get Creative Youth Ideas: "Holiday Collection" ebook Holiday Collection
Games and Activities in Celebration of common Holidays.

Creative Holiday Ideas has over 300 pages of ideas to help you plan your next New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Halloween or Fall Festival, and Thanksgiving event. If you’ve ever wondered what you’re going to do for all these holidays and how you’re going to do it, this resource is for you.

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Game Ideas

Thanksgiving: Back to Back

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turkeyart1.jpg
Materials
A variety of simple images. Images should be related to the Thanksgiving. Some possibilties include a turkey, a pumpkin, a pie, an indian, fall leaves, the Mayflower ship, pilgrims, etc. You can also use simple greeting cards for the design.

Activity
Form teams of six people. Instruct each team to sit in a line, one person behind another, and take a vow of silence for the duration of the game. Give the first person in each line a pencil and a piece of paper. Then show the last person in each line a simple image of an Thanksgiving object. That person must use his or her finger to draw the object on the back of the person in front of him or her. This continues until the drawing reaches the first person in line. He or she must draw it on the piece of paper. Have judges determine which team’s picture closest resembles the original picture. If time permits, play more rounds, letting team members change positions if they wish.

Get Creative Youth Ideas: "Holiday Collection" ebook Holiday Collection
Games and Activities in Celebration of common Holidays.

Creative Holiday Ideas has over 300 pages of ideas to help you plan your next New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Halloween or Fall Festival, and Thanksgiving event. If you’ve ever wondered what you’re going to do for all these holidays and how you’re going to do it, this resource is for you.

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Food for Thought

Everyday Thanksgiving

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alarmclock1.jpgEven though I clutch my blanket and growl when the alarm rings,

thank you, Lord, that I can hear.
There are many who are deaf.

Even though I keep my eyes closed against the morning light as
long as possible,
thank you, Lord, that I can see.
Many are blind.

Even though I huddle in my bed and put off rising,
thank you Lord, that I have the strength to rise.
There are many who are bedridden.

Even though the first hour of my day is hectic, when socks are lost, toast is burned, and tempers are short, my children are so loud,
thank you, Lord, for my family.
There are many who are lonely.

Even though our breakfast table never looks like the pictures in magazines and the menu is at times unbalanced,
thank you, Lord, for the food we have.
There are many who are hungry.

Even though the routine of my job is often monotonous,
thank you, Lord, for the opportunity to work.
There are many who have no job.

Even though I grumble and bemoan my fate from day to day and wish my
circumstances were not so modest,
thank you, Lord, for life.

– author unknown

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Games and Activities in Celebration of common Holidays.

Creative Holiday Ideas has over 300 pages of ideas to help you plan your next New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Halloween or Fall Festival, and Thanksgiving event. If you’ve ever wondered what you’re going to do for all these holidays and how you’re going to do it, this resource is for you.

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Food for Thought

Worship and Worry

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“It was early in the morning in another country. Exhausted, I awoke around 3. The name of someone I loved dearly flashed into my mind. It was like an electric shock. Instantly, I was wide awake. I knew there would be no more sleep for me the rest of the night. So I lay there and prayed for the one who was trying hard to run away from God. When it is dark and the imagination runs wild, there are fears that only a mother can understand.

Suddenly the Lord said to me, ‘Quit studying the problems and start studying the promises.’ Now, God has never spoken to me audibly, but there is no mistaking when He speaks.

So I turned on the light, got my Bible, and the first verse that came to me was Philippians 4:6: ‘Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God’ (italics mine). And verse 7, ‘And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.’

Suddenly I realized the missing ingredient in my prayers had been ‘with thanksgiving.’ So I put down my Bible and spent time worshiping Him for who He is and what He is. This covers more territory than any one mortal can comprehend. Even contemplating what little we do know dissolves doubts, reinforces faith and restores joy. I began to thank God for giving me this one I loved so dearly in the first place. I even thanked Him for the difficult spots which taught me so much.

And you know what happened? It was as if suddenly someone turned on the lights in my mind and heart, and the little fears and worries which, like mice and cockroaches, had been nibbling away in the darkness, suddenly scuttled for cover.

That was when I learned that worship and worry cannot live in the same heart.”

Source: Ruth Bell Graham “It’s My Turn”

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Games and Activities in Celebration of common Holidays.

Creative Holiday Ideas has over 300 pages of ideas to help you plan your next Thanksgiving event. If you’ve ever wondered what you’re going to do for a variety of familiar holidays and how you’re going to do it, this resource is for you.

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Humor

Both of Them

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turkey_frozen.jpgIt’s the day before Thanksgiving, and the butcher is just locking up when a man begins pounding on the front door.

“Please let me in,” says the man desperately. “I forgot to buy a turkey, and my wife will kill me if I don’t come home with one.”

“Okay,” says the butcher. “Let me see what I have left.” He goes into the freezer and discovers that there’s only one scrawny turkey left. He brings it out to show the man.

“That’s one is too skinny. What else you got?” says the man.

The butcher takes the bird back into the freezer and waits a few minutes and brings the same turkey back out to the man.

“Oh, no,” says the man, “That one doesn’t look any better. You better give me both of them!”

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Games and Activities in Celebration of common Holidays.

Creative Holiday Ideas has over 300 pages of ideas to help you plan your next New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Halloween or Fall Festival, and Thanksgiving event. If you’ve ever wondered what you’re going to do for all these holidays and how you’re going to do it, this resource is for you.

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Teaching Illustrations

ABC’s of Thanksgiving

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A lthough things are not perfect
B ecause of trial or pain
C ontinue in thanksgiving
D o not begin to blame
E ven when the times are hard
F ierce winds are bound to blow
G od is forever able
H old on to what you know
I magine life without His love
J oy would cease to be
K eep thanking Him for all the things
L ove imparts to thee
M ove out of “Camp Complaining”
N o weapon that is known
O n earth can yield the power
P raise can do alone
Q uit looking at the future
R edeem the time at hand
S tart every day with worship
T o “thank” is a command
U ntil we see Him coming
V ictorious in the sky
W e’ll run the race with gratitude
eX alting God most high
Y es, there will be good times and yes some will be bad, but…
Z ion waits in glory…where none are ever sad!

Cindy Blackamore

Copyright 1994 – Used by Permission

Get Creative Youth Ideas: "Holiday Collection" ebook Holiday Collection
Games and Activities in Celebration of common Holidays.

Creative Holiday Ideas has over 300 pages of ideas to help you plan your next New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Halloween or Fall Festival, and Thanksgiving event. If you’ve ever wondered what you’re going to do for all these holidays and how you’re going to do it, this resource is for you.

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