Looking for some fun Thanksgiving activities for your student gatherings? Perfect! Here are eight ideas you can adapt to fit the needs of your youth group!
8 Hall-of-Fame Youth Ministry Thanksgiving Activities
#1. Turkey Bowling
Grab an old playground ball and draw your best turkey outline—don’t worry, it doesn’t need to be art-museum worthy. Then line up a dozen two-liter bottles filled with water. Have students play bowling as usual. (And make a big deal if any of them scores three strikes in a row: That’s a turkey!)
#2. Cranberry Sauce Sculpting
Gather some cans of jellied cranberry sauce and set them on a tablecloth-covered table. Give students their own section of cranberry sauce and let them sculpt something they’re thankful for. Then students can enjoy eating their creations! Oh, and this can get very messy so make sure to bring extra napkins.
#3. Silly Thank-You Note Game
Divide students into teams and assign them a random, Thanksgiving-themed object. Perhaps it’s a turkey baster, a gravy boat, or a giant box of stuffing. Tell teams to write a heartfelt thank-you note…written to their inanimate, Thanksgiving object. Then have teams read their notes to the rest of the group.
#4. Local Mission Project.
Depending on the needs in your area, take your students to sing outside an assisted living facility, rake leaves at elderly church members’ homes, or pick up trash in a messy area.
#5. Thanksgiving Tree
Create a tree out of paper, repurposed wood, or a simple drawing. Have students attach things they are thankful for to the tree. Then read the children’s book, The Giving Tree, as a fun ending.
#6. 100 Things to Be Thankful For
Give students 10 minutes to write down 100 things they are thankful for. The goal is to write them down as quickly as you can so you can complete the list in 10 minutes. Debrief and invite students to make observations about their lists.
#7. Thank-You Notes to Loved Ones
Have students write thank you notes to people they love. If you want, add humor by having students make a turkey handprint by sticking their hands in tempura paint, stamping their hand on construction paper, and drawing a face and legs. Include the preschool-style craft with their heartfelt letter.
#8. Student Thank-You Notes
Have leaders in your youth group share things they’re thankful for about specific students in the group and the group as a whole. Leaders could talk about experiences from the past year or things that make them proud of the group. Share these thank-you notes with your youth group around Thanksgiving.
Have a Thanksgiving idea that didn’t make the list? Then tell us about it down below!