Thanksgiving Pictionary, written for the actual day
Most Thanksgiving word lists stop at turkey and pilgrim. This one is the Pictionary word generator on a set of about 116 words that follows the day from the parade to the leftovers. The easy tier is the table (turkey, gravy, cornucopia, wishbone, giant parade balloon). The medium tier is the rituals (carving the turkey, turkey trot, Black Friday, the good china). The hard tier is what everyone is thinking (the dish nobody eats, dishwasher Tetris, too many pies, and for adults only, “so, are you seeing anyone?”). Set the audience to Kids for the small table, Everyone for the whole room, and Adults for the round after the children have gone to watch football.
The between-courses game
The best slot is the gap between dinner and dessert. Two teams split down the table, a pad of paper passed hand to hand, this page on one phone with Hide the word until tapped on, and the 60-second timer. Four rounds a team takes twenty minutes and ends exactly when the pie comes out. The scoreboard under the card decides who clears the table. If the house has a TV in the dining room, press Fullscreen and let the room see the word after each round; otherwise the phone is enough.
Rounds that suit a full house
- Grandparents draw first. Easy tier, 90-second timer. Turkey, pumpkin pie and a hand turkey drawing are all winnable with shaky hands.
- Food only. Mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole. Whoever draws gravy has our sympathy.
- The parade. Giant parade balloon, the parade balloon that got away, marching band (switch the category to Music for that one).
- Football half-time. Adults audience, Sports category: touchdown, tailgate party, armchair quarterback.
- The comedy round. Funny words only: stretchy pants, food coma, nap on the couch, the leftover container mountain.
- Gratitude round. Everyone draws something they are thankful for; no points, one minute each. The generator has the night off.
Friendsgiving and the office potluck
The Adults audience turns the set into a game for a room of friends: Friendsgiving, Thanksgiving Eve, Black Friday line, the cousin who is always late. For an office potluck, add the School & Office category for the break room and a toast at dinner, and use Fullscreen on the meeting-room screen. The adults page has formats for a grown-up table, and the rules guide covers scoring without the board.
Cards for the kids’ table
Print the Thanksgiving set from the printable page and leave a pile of cards, crayons and paper at the kids’ table. They will run their own game with no adult supervision and no screen, which on Thanksgiving is worth more than a point.
Last updated September 2026. Independent tool; Pictionary® is a trademark of Mattel, Inc.