108 Free Thanksgiving Charades Words on Printable Cards

Play a fun, no-prep game this fall with this free printable Thanksgiving charades set.

It’s a Thanksgiving charades game for the whole table — 108 words across 36 cut-apart cards, easy enough for a preschooler and silly enough to get the adults out of their chairs after the pie.

This deck has 108 words, not the dozen or two you get from most printables. Every card shows a little picture next to the word, so a four-year-old who can’t read “cornucopia” yet can still see it and act it out.

⭐ 🦃 Prefer to draw instead of act? The same words come as a Thanksgiving Pictionary printable. ⭐

Thanksgiving Charades Word List (All 108 Words)

The deck is 36 cards, three words each — 108 prompts total. Here’s the full Thanksgiving charades word list so you can see exactly what you’re printing (and so the kids can’t peek and claim they didn’t know “Mayflower”):

Sheet 1 — the classics:

• Turkey
• Pumpkin Pie
• Cornucopia
• Pie
• Cranberries
• Harvest
• Corn
• Scarecrow
• Tradition
• Yam
• Barn
• Celebration
• Pumpkin
• Table
• Native American
• Apple
• Chair
• Family Gathering
• Leaf
• Candle
• Second Helping
• Hat
• Pilgrim
• Leftovers
• Drumstick
• Oven
• Football

Sheet 2 — food & fall:

• Acorn
• Gourd
• November
• Tree
• Napkin
• Gratitude
• Hay
• Stuffing
• Autumn Breeze
• Carrot
• Mashed Potatoes
• Fall Festival
• Peas
• Sweet Potatoes
• Thanksgiving Day
• Roll, Gravy
• Turkey Trot
• Sunflower
• Cornbread
• Pie Crust
• Basket
• Green Beans
• Pumpkin Patch
• Wagon
• Mayflower
• Black Friday

Sheet 3 — the table & the traditions:

• Plate
• Feast
• Holiday Parade
• Bread
• Thankful
• Blessing
• Pie Slice
• Cranberry Sauce
• Family
• ForK
• Pie Pan
• Harvest Moon
• Spoon
• Pilgrim Hat
• Giving Thanks
• Juice
• Platter
• Invitation
• Beans
• Tablecloth
• Thanksgiving Break
• Grapes
• Apron
• Fancy Dinner
• Kitchen
• Fireplace
• Holiday Season

Sheet 4 — cozy & harder:

• Butter
• Serving Spoon
• Dinner Rolls
• Dog Show
• Carving Knife
• Homemade Pie
• Honey
• Snack
• Gravy Boat
• Timer
• Orange
• Dining Room
• Cup
• Apple Crisp
• Decorations
• Scarf
• Fall Leaves
• Apple Orchard
• Chair
• Hay Bale
• Boots
• TV
• Sweater
• Fall Wreath
• Candle
• Centerpiece
• Parade

What’s Included

• PDF file, ready to print
• Portrait orientation, 8.5″ × 11″
• File name: thanksgiving-charades.pdf
• 4 pages of illustrated cards
• 36 cards with 108 words total — plus a picture on every card

Features

• 108 Thanksgiving charades words across 36 cut-apart cards
• A picture on every card, so pre-readers can play too
• Words sorted roughly from easy (Turkey, Pie, Corn) to tricky (Holiday Parade, Carving the Turkey)
• Covers food, table items, traditions, and fall
• Easy to cut and drop in a bowl
• Free to download and print
• Works for a classroom, a family dinner, or a party

Easy Thanksgiving Charades for Preschoolers

For the three-to-five crowd, pull the simplest cards and act them out with them, not at them. “Be a turkey” — everybody flaps and gobbles. “Eat a big slice of pie.” “Be a tree losing its leaves.”

At this age it’s a movement game with a Thanksgiving theme, not a real guessing contest, and that’s the point. Nobody keeps score, everybody moves, and you’ve burned ten minutes of before-dinner energy while the turkey rests. The picture on each card does the heavy lifting for kids who can’t read yet.

Thanksgiving Charades for Adults

Save the tricky cards for the grown-ups after the pie. “Holiday parade,” “carving the turkey,” and “the dog show on TV” are hard to act without words, which is where the laughs are.

Play in teams with a one-minute timer and a hard no-talking rule. It’s a better after-dinner activity than another hour of everyone on their phones, and it gets the whole table — including the relatives who don’t usually mix — laughing together.

How to Play Thanksgiving Charades (Rules, Teams, and Timing)

Cut the cards and drop them in a bowl. Split into two teams. A player draws a card and acts it out — no talking, no pointing, no mouthing the word — while their team guesses, one minute on the clock.

1. Download the free PDF
2. Print on 8.5″ × 11″ paper (cardstock lasts longer)
3. Cut out each card and drop them in a bowl
4. Split into two teams
5. A player draws a card and acts it out — no talking, no props
6. The team guesses before the timer runs out
7. Guess it in time, the team scores
8. Play to ten points, or just until dessert

For mixed ages, let a grown-up whisper the word to a little actor so everyone gets a turn.

Thanksgiving Charades vs Pictionary

Same 108 words, two ways to play. Charades is act-it-out — perfect when the kids need to move before or after the meal. Thanksgiving Pictionary is draw-it — better for a calmer table where everyone has a pencil.

Print both and read the room: charades when they’re restless, Pictionary when you need them seated. They share a word list on purpose, so the vocabulary carries over. Want a quieter phone-friendly version? Try Thanksgiving emoji pictionary, where you decode emoji strings instead of drawing.

Ideal For

• Parents who need an easy game for Thanksgiving Day
• Teachers wanting a screen-free classroom activity for a fall unit
• Families after some screen-free entertainment
• Hosts planning a kid-friendly Thanksgiving
• Adults who enjoy a light party game
• K–5 educators during fall-themed weeks
• Party planners needing a group icebreaker

🦃 More Thanksgiving Printables

Keep the party going with more free printables: Thanksgiving Word Search, Thanksgiving Crossword, Thanksgiving Would You Rather Questions, Thanksgiving Scattegories, and Thanksgiving Maze. You’ll find the whole set on the All Thanksgiving Printables page.