Holidays
Things to Do After Thanksgiving Dinner: Games and Traditions
·8 min read
The best things to do after Thanksgiving dinner get everyone up from the table and then back together: clear up as a team, take a short walk, play one game everyone can join from the couch and end with a small tradition. Below is a simple evening timeline, games sorted by group, traditions worth starting this year and fixes for the slumps that follow a big meal.
In this article · 10 sections
- The short version
- Things to do after Thanksgiving dinner, hour by hour
- Clean up together, so the cook can play
- After-dinner games the whole family can play
- Thanksgiving family traditions worth starting
- Quiet things to do when everyone is full
- After-dinner ideas by group
- What goes wrong after dinner (and the fix)
- FAQ
- Start with the first game after the walk
The short version
- Clear the table together in the first 30 minutes, with the cook excused.
- Take a 15-minute walk before anyone sinks into the couch.
- Play one game everyone can join sitting down, like Forehead Guess or Most Likely To.
- Make pie the intermission, and start a small tradition while everyone's at the table.
- End quiet with trivia, old photos or a puzzle, so people can drift home when they're ready.
Things to do after Thanksgiving dinner, hour by hour
Plan the evening in five blocks, counted from the moment the last plate is empty:
| Time after dinner | What to do | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| 0:00 to 0:30 | Cleanup crew and leftover plates | Gets everyone moving, and the cook gets to sit |
| 0:30 to 0:50 | A walk around the block | Fresh air before the couch |
| 0:50 to 1:45 | Couch games | Energy is still up and everyone's in one room |
| 1:45 to 2:15 | Pie and a tradition | A natural pause everyone shows up for |
| 2:15 on | Quiet things | People can leave without breaking up a game |
Not every family wants a plan. Pick one game and one tradition, and let the rest happen. If little kids are spending the whole day with you, our Thanksgiving activities for kids cover the morning and the kids' table, so the evening starts calm.
Clean up together, so the cook can play
Clearing up together is the fastest way to get everyone off their chairs. Excuse the cook, split the jobs, and it's done in about 30 minutes.
- Excuse whoever cooked. They sit down, and everyone else clears.
- Use a fun rule for the dish crew. Whoever arrived last washes, and whoever arrived first dries.
- Give kids real jobs, like carrying plates, wiping the table and sorting silverware.
- Pack leftovers as you go. Set out containers and let each guest build a plate for tomorrow.
- Put on music and let each person add one song to the queue.
After-dinner games the whole family can play
These six work from the couch, and all of them run free on one phone with nothing to set up. The first five suit every age, and our Thanksgiving games page has the rest of the set.
Forehead Guess
One person holds the phone to their forehead while everyone else shouts clues. The Thanksgiving deck is full of words the whole table knows, like wishbone and kids' table. Play in 2 to 4 teams with 60-second rounds, and switch to Tap controls for anyone who'd rather not tilt the phone.
Free · one phone · 2–20 playersPlay Forehead GuessPick the Thanksgiving deck and hand the phone to the oldest guest first.Play now →Who Am I?
The slower, sit-down cousin of Forehead Guess. In Who Am I?, the guesser asks only yes-or-no questions, like "Am I something you eat?", and everyone else answers. The Thanksgiving deck runs from Pilgrim to stretchy pants. Two-minute rounds give the guesser time to think.
Charades, grown-ups against kids
Charades has a Thanksgiving deck, and it's the easiest way to get every age in one game. Give young kids 120-second rounds and whisper the prompt to anyone who can't read yet. Anyone who'd rather not stand can act from the couch, upper body only.
Most Likely To
Read a card from the Thanksgiving Most Likely To questions, like who's most likely to forget to thaw the turkey, then count to three and point. For a quieter crowd, switch to Secret vote: each person taps a name in private and the phone shows the results.
Thanksgiving trivia
Our Thanksgiving trivia questions cover the 1621 harvest, the food, the parade and turkey facts, each with a short fact after the answer. Make teams that mix ages and start with multiple choice, so everyone has a fair shot.
Don't Say It, for teens and grown-ups
Get your team to guess a word without saying it or any of the five forbidden words under it. The Thanksgiving deck makes familiar foods surprisingly hard to describe, and it's a good pick once the little kids have wandered off. For teens who want something sillier, our Thanksgiving truth or dare questions stay clean enough for mixed company.
Thanksgiving family traditions worth starting
A tradition doesn't need to be big. It needs to be easy enough to repeat next year.
The gratitude tablecloth
Buy a plain, light-colored tablecloth. Each year, everyone writes one thing they're thankful for in fabric marker, with the year. After a few Thanksgivings, the cloth tells the family's story.
Next year's predictions
Everyone writes three predictions for the coming year on a card. Seal them in an envelope marked with the year and open it next Thanksgiving.
One recorded story
Each year, one relative tells one story while someone records audio on a phone. Good prompts: the first Thanksgiving they hosted, a holiday that went wrong, the house they grew up in. Keep the recordings in a folder by year.
The same photo, every year
Same spot, same pose, same order. In ten years, it's the photo everyone asks for.
The pie flight
Everyone gets a sliver of each pie and scores it on a card. The winning pie's baker picks the first game next year.
The Christmas draw
If your family swaps gifts at Christmas, Thanksgiving may be the one day everyone is in the same room. Draw names at the table with our free Secret Santa generator: pass the phone around and let each person tap their own name to see their match in private. Christmas falls on Friday, December 25, so that leaves about four weeks to shop.
The turkey bowl
If there's still daylight, a backyard game of touch football is a classic for a reason. Keep teams mixed by age and let the youngest player call the plays.
Quiet things to do when everyone is full
Once the pie is gone, offer low-key things people can join or leave without breaking anything up.
- A jigsaw puzzle on the coffee table that anyone can drift over to.
- Old photos on the TV, or a box of prints passed around the room.
- A card game at the kitchen table for whoever wants one.
- Two truths and a lie, a calm round where each person shares two true stories and one made-up one.
- A movie, chosen from a shortlist of three by the youngest and oldest guests.
After-dinner ideas by group
| Your group | Start with | Then |
|---|---|---|
| Mixed ages, toddlers to grandparents | Charades, grown-ups against kids | Team trivia |
| Mostly grown-ups | Most Likely To | Forehead Guess in teams |
| Teens in the room | Forehead Guess with 30-second rounds | Don't Say It |
| Small group, 2 to 4 people | A walk and a puzzle | Trivia with 2 teams |
| Big group, 15 or more | Forehead Guess in 4 teams | Team charades |
| Relatives joining by video | Forehead Guess on a shared screen | Most Likely To, pointing on three |
Relatives far away can still play. Our video call games page explains how to set each game up so both ends of the call can join.
What goes wrong after dinner (and the fix)
The conversation turns tense. Change the activity, not just the topic. Announce the walk or deal out the first game, since getting up to clear plates or find coats resets a room faster than a new subject. Our Thanksgiving conversation starters have easy questions to steer back to.
Everyone disappears into their phones. Give one phone a job. A pass-the-phone game turns screens into a group activity, and the rest can sit in a basket for a round.
The cook is stuck in the kitchen. Use the dish crew rule above, and hand the cook the first turn in the first game.
Kids are wired and grown-ups are tired. Split the room. An older cousin runs charades for the kids in one room while the adults play trivia at the table.
Grandparents feel left out. Choose games that work from a chair and are easy to see, like trivia read out loud or Forehead Guess with the brightness up. For relatives more at home in Spanish, every game also runs in Spanish.
Nobody wants to play. Don't force it. Start with whoever's willing, and the others often join after the first round of laughing.
FAQ
What do families usually do after Thanksgiving dinner?
Common choices are pie, a walk, football on TV, a game, cleaning up together and looking through old photos. Many families also use the evening to plan the holidays ahead, like drawing names for a Christmas gift exchange.
How do you get relatives to play a game after dinner?
Pick a game that takes 30 seconds to learn and doesn't put anyone on the spot, like Most Likely To. Invite people instead of announcing it, and let anyone watch a round before joining.
How long should guests stay after Thanksgiving dinner?
Staying through dessert is the usual courtesy, and the host's cues tell you the rest: when leftovers start going into containers, it's a good time to say thanks. Hosts can make leaving easy by ending with quiet things, so nobody has to walk out of a game.
What can you do the day after Thanksgiving?
Black Friday is November 27, 2026, if you want to shop. For a quieter day, try leftover sandwiches, a long walk, a movie and a game night with whoever is still in town. Friends who stay in town sometimes hold Friendsgiving that weekend, and our Friendsgiving ideas cover the potluck and the games.
Start with the first game after the walk
If you plan only one thing, make it the first game after the walk. Open Forehead Guess, pick the Thanksgiving deck and hand the phone to the oldest person in the room first.