Thanksgiving Day is almost here and what better way to occupy the kids than with these fun Thanksgiving scavenger hunts?
Thanksgiving is such a wonderful time of year!
Try these Thanksgiving scavenger hunts with your kids to help them appreciate all the unique things that happen on Thanksgiving Day.
From family time and parade watching to football and eating all the things during Thanksgiving dinner, these scavenger hunts will help your kids focus on many of the things that only happen during Thanksgiving time.
The Thanksgiving scavenger hunts you’ll find here are perfect for kids of all ages. No reading is required, so even the youngest kids can fully participate!
Free Thanksgiving Scavenger Hunt printables for kids
To grab these cute Thanksgiving scavenger hunts all you need to do is click on this link right here or on the image below.
When you do, you’ll gain access to the Thanksgiving scavenger hunt printables (as well as more than 100 other great printables for kids too!)
You’ll get these three different Thanksgiving-themed scavenger hunts:
- Thanksgiving Dinner Scavenger Hunt
- Outdoor Thanksgiving Scavenger Hunt
- Thanksgiving Parade Scavenger Hunt
Or, if you’d prefer not to join our email list, but still want these awesome Thanksgiving Scavenger Hunts, you can purchase them from our Etsy shop right here instead! (There’s a bonus Football Scavenger Hunt included in this Etsy bundle as well.)
To clarify everything, let’s take a more in-depth look at each of the Thanksgiving scavenger hunt printables next!
Thanksgiving Dinner Scavenger Hunt
This scavenger hunt is a great way to occupy your kids while Thanksgiving dinner is being made. They can check in the kitchen to see when each dish is ready, or when each dish is set on the Thanksgiving table.
(And maybe as they see all of the different dishes being prepared, they’ll realize how much work goes into making Thanksgiving dinner, right?!)
(Quick note: All of the images of our scavenger hunts have our logo watermarked here in the article. The scavenger hunts in our Free Printable Library do NOT have a watermark.)
Here’s a list of all the things kids will be on the lookout for in the Thanksgiving Dinner scavenger hunt, from top to bottom, left to right:
- rolls
- cranberry sauce
- green bean casserole
- Thanksgiving cocktail
- baked ham
- gravy
- sweet potato casserole
- mashed potatoes
- pecan pie
- stuffing/dressing
- turkey
- Brussel sprouts
- corn
Related article: 80 Thanksgiving Would You Rather Questions the Whole Family Will Love
Outdoor Thanksgiving Scavenger Hunt
If you have pretty weather on Thanksgiving or want to give the kids something fun to do outside, the Outdoor Thanksgiving Scavenger Hunt would be perfect to do on a walk around the neighborhood.
Here are the items featured for this scavenger hunt:
- red leaf
- pumpkin
- small bird
- bare tree
- scarecrow
- brown leaf
- yellow leaf
- turkey decoration (such as a blowup)
- haybale
- corn stalk
- white pumpkin
- welcome sign
- mums
Related article: 100+ Kids’ Thanksgiving Jokes to Make Them LOL
Thanksgiving Parade Scavenger Hunt
If your family likes to watch Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, this fun Thanksgiving Parade Scavenger Hunt will make it even more fun! (And if you’ve never watched it before, give it a try and see if you’d like to start a new family tradition.)
Here’s what you’ll be looking for:
- character balloon
- red star
- reindeer
- Pilgrims (tune in early to find them!)
- crowd
- microphone
- balloons
- skyscrapers
- marching band
- confetti
- Santa Claus
- pom poms
- drum
Related article: Thanksgiving Mad Libs – 3 Fun and Free Stories for Thanksgiving Fun
Variations for these Thanksgiving scavenger hunts
While you can simply print out the scavenger hunt pages and have your kids find each of the items, you can also make this extra fun with a couple of easy changes:
1. Have a scavenger hunt competition
To have a scavenger hunt competition, divide your family or friends into several small groups.
Then you’ll need enough copies of the same scavenger hunt page for each group.
Give each group the same amount of time to work on the scavenger hunt. They can either cross items off the list as they see them, find and bring back the physical items, or do a photo scavenger hunt (more on that in a minute!).
The group that finds the most items on the page in a specific amount of time is the winner!
2. Organize a photo scavenger hunt
A photo scavenger hunt is lots of fun! For each item on the scavenger hunt checklist, players need to take a picture of themselves with the item.
This means each team will need a phone or other type of camera. Encourage teams to take silly or funny photos for extra points.
And if they can’t find a specific item, they could always take a photo of themselves impersonating it.
For example, if players can’t find a snorkel for the Beach Day Scavenger Hunt or a line of pair of binoculars for the Camping Scavenger Hunt, they could act them out and take a picture instead.
At the end of the scavenger hunt, it’s best to have each team share their collection of photos by screen sharing to a larger screen, such as a television. This way everyone can see each other’s photos more clearly.
You could even give a small prize to the team for the most creative or goofiest photo!
Related article: Funny Turkey Name Generator for Kids and Adults
Final thoughts about these Thanksgiving scavenger hunts for kids
Whether you add some extra challenges to these fun Thanksgiving scavenger hunts, use them for Thanksgiving or Friendsgiving activities, or do them all at once or one at a time is totally up to you!
Whatever way you choose to use them, we hope you and your kids really enjoy them and that they help you find some great ways to connect as a family during the Thanksgiving season this year!
If you haven’t downloaded them yet, you can get access right here!
Or if you prefer not to leave your email address, grab them from our Etsy shop right here instead.
Wishing you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving!
Related articles about Thanksgiving fun for kids:
Fun A to Z Gratitude List for Thanksgiving Dinner
3 Fun and Free Thanksgiving Word Search Printable for Kids of All Ages
21 Awesome Ideas to Make the Most of Your Virtual Thanksgiving
9 Awesome Thanksgiving Day Activities for Kids and Toddlers
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Will you be using any of these free Thanksgiving scavenger hunts this year?
