This Thanksgiving, why not do something a bit more exciting than football and turkey?
There’s nothing wrong with the traditions we have for giving thanks but there is also a lot of opportunities to experiment with some new thanksgiving party themes and fun ideas to share with all the family.
Thanksgiving Party Ideas to Try in 2021
Below, we’ve got some thanksgiving party themes and ideas that you can use to do something that will actually make your guests excited about the party this year.
Of course, you can still serve the turkey and pie if you like.
Quiz of the Year
Okay, we’re not quite at the end of the year, but 11 months of it have gone by when we get to Thanksgiving, and it could be the ideal opportunity for a quiz night.
The same old quiz questions every year can definitely get boring, so why not make it a quiz of the year?
Test your guests on everything that has been on the news, in the award ceremonies, or even some obscure events from the year and see who does best.
If you’ve got a variety of ages attending, you can even it up by making some of the questions specific to children.
The adults are bound to struggle with the questions about kid’s TV shows, and it can make for a funny and exciting set of questions.
Prizes always go down well, too.
It’s not the easiest to find questions for this, so you will have to do some legwork.
You can start with questions about this year’s Grammys and Academy Awards and move on to sporting events and big news stories.
Reddit’s “Last Year” search function on popular news Subreddits can be another great source.
Potluck
Here’s a thanksgiving dinner party idea that the person who usually has to do the cooking is bound to love because they won’t have to do any cooking!
A potluck is when everyone is encouraged to bring a dish, and then everyone can share, enjoy one another’s cooking, and even get some recipe tips.
It’s a good way to take some of the pressure off the host, as you don’t necessarily have to do any of the cooking yourself.
Let’s face it, though, you should probably do at least one of the dishes yourself.
A potluck is a good way to get people talking and socializing, but you can twin it with some other thanksgiving party ideas to make more of a night of it.
A Scavenger Hunt Night
A thanksgiving scavenger hunt can be fun for kids and adults alike, and you might even want to introduce some prizes for the winners.
A scavenger hunt could involve both indoor and outdoor items, and it is a great way to encourage people to go out and enjoy the crisp fall air.
Create your checklist and send everyone on their scavenger hunt, either to collect physical items or photographs of Thanksgiving-themed items.
From squirrels to turkey, twigs to pumpkins, there are plenty of things you can include.
You can also add some humorous items to your scavenger hunt. Bonus points for whoever finds the early Christmas decorations.
You can include this in a whole night of thanksgiving games.
Turkey Crackers
Still, got some crackers leftover from last Christmas? This is a way to use them up! If not, you can find some Christmas crackers in the stores and easily turn them into turkey crackers.
You can put whatever you want inside the crackers if you want to add some extra gifts.
People aren’t usually expecting personalized gifts to be inside, so if you want to go to the effort to find something for everyone’s own cracker, you’re bound to have some very happy guests.
The meal is always a big deal on Thanksgiving, so you can make it even more exciting and get everyone in the mood for festivities.
Cold-Weather Party Drinks
One for the adults, once any children have gone to bed. One of the best ways to warm up those cold fall nights is to get some warm alcoholic drinks prepared for everyone.
We love these Fireball Jello Shots (absolutely delicious) but you could also prepare some European-style “mulled wine” or “Glühwein” for a warm treat that might make everyone that little bit merrier.
Movie Night
You can take a movie night in whichever direction you want, but it’s the time of year when people are transitioning from the horror classics to – dare we say it – Christmas movies.
We don’t just mean putting some movies on for people to enjoy.
Why not make a proper night of it? Activity sheets, popcorn stans, even personalized entry tickets.
These ideas, and more, are explored in our movie night tips.
If you want to make sure that everyone has a great time on your movie night, make sure you give everyone the chance to vote on which movie or movies they’d like to watch.
Hint: Your movie night may not be much of a success if you choose a sad film.
Fancy Dress Party
The old classic.
Who doesn’t love a fancy dress party?
If you’re throwing a thanksgiving themed party, you might struggle with a specific theme for your fancy dress, so just make it a free-for-all.
You might get away with reusing those Halloween costumes, or it could be time to get creative.
Everything from superheroes to animals. It’s all fair game.
If you want to add a theme that isn’t seasonal, it can be fun to make everyone dress up as something that starts with the same first letter as their name.
Thanksgiving Themes: In Closing…
Thanksgiving party themes can be tough to come up with. When you throw a party for New Year’s Eve, or Christmas, or Halloween, the themes pretty much take care of themselves.
With Thanksgiving, unless you’re all going to dress as turkeys, it can be a little more difficult to come up with something exciting and original that can be fun for everyone.
Our ideas make it simple to come up with a memorable party when Thanksgiving rolls around this year.
