How do I prepare and use Thanksgiving activity placemats?
Quick answer: Copy the written activities, which are an eight-word scramble, joke cards and would-you-rather questions, into your own layout. Then draw a turkey dot-to-dot, a squirrel maze and a coloring border yourself, because finished puzzle artwork is not included. Print one test copy, then one mat per seat plus two spares. Keep the host answers on a separate card. At the meal, offer the scramble as plates arrive, read jokes between courses and save the questions for pie. Children can stop and color whenever they like.
Thanksgiving jokes and would-you-rather questions
Read a few jokes between courses and save the questions for dessert. The print button opens your browser's print dialog; it does not create a finished placemat.
How to play
- Copy the scramble onto a sheet with answer blanks, keeping the host key separate.
- For a homemade placemat, draw and test the turkey dot-to-dot, maze and coloring border before making copies.
- Prepare one mat per seat plus two spares, two pencils per seat and one crayon cup per three seats.
- Offer the scramble as plates arrive, read a few jokes between courses and save the questions for dessert.
Draw one when the room is ready
Why did the turkey join the marching band? Because it had the drumsticks.
Kid joke strip
Twelve jokes to read between courses. For a homemade strip, copy selected setups along the bottom edge and write their punchlines upside down. These cards display punchlines normally.
- Why did the turkey join the marching band? Because it had the drumsticks.
- What did the turkey say to the computer? Google, google, google.
- Why did the turkey cross the road? To prove it was not chicken.
- What key has legs and never opens a door? A tur-key.
- What sound does a turkey's phone make? Wing, wing.
- Why did the sheriff arrest the turkey? For fowl play.
- What do you call a turkey sprinting across the yard? Fast food.
- Which side of the turkey has the most feathers? The outside.
- What is a turkey's favorite dessert? Peach gobbler.
- Why was the cranberry sauce late for dinner? It got stuck in a jam.
- What do you call a turkey the day after Thanksgiving? Lucky.
- Why do turkeys gobble at the table? They never learned good manners.
Would-you-rather table talkers
Save these questions for dessert. Read one aloud, let guests answer or pass, and stop whenever the table is ready.
The question round is spoken and easy to stop. If the table wants a change, other party games for the dinner table offer short seated formats with no score to settle, so the final volunteer can finish and everyone returns to conversation.
- Would you rather ride on a parade float or march beside the band?
- Would you rather stir the mashed potatoes or pour the gravy?
- Would you rather catch a falling leaf or a snowflake on your tongue?
- Would you rather help bake the pumpkin pie or whip the cream on top?
- Would you rather have a pet turkey or a pet squirrel?
- Would you rather eat leftover turkey all week or never eat stuffing again?
- Would you rather quarterback the backyard football game or referee it?
- Would you rather jump into a pile of leaves or a pile of pillows?
- Would you rather sleep in a pilgrim-era cabin or a treehouse with heat?
- Would you rather draw the turkey's feathers or color the cornucopia?
- Would you rather watch the parade curbside or from under a blanket on TV?
- Would you rather smell cinnamon for a whole day or fresh bread for a whole day?
What you get and what you need to draw yourself
The Thanksgiving activity placemats give children something to color, solve or read while they wait for dinner. The written parts are ready to use: an eight-word scramble with answer blanks and a separate host key, plus printable cards with twelve jokes and twelve would-you-rather questions.
The mats work best as one part of a wider plan. Keeping children occupied at Thanksgiving can include an activity area away from the kitchen, a named adult who can help, and table jobs like setting out napkins and place cards.
The rest of the placemat is homemade. You draw the turkey dot-to-dot, the squirrel maze and the coloring border using the drawing instructions. No finished puzzle artwork, tested dot pattern or downloadable placemat file is included.
| Part of the mat | Ready to use? | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| Word scramble (8 words) | Yes, written out | Copy it onto the mat and keep the key separate |
| Jokes (12) and would-you-rather questions (12) | Yes, as cards | Choose a few for the mat and keep the rest nearby |
| Turkey dot-to-dot | No | Sketch it, number the dots and test the route |
| Squirrel maze | No | Draw it and trace the answer route on your host copy |
| Coloring border | No | Draw open outlines sized to your paper |
Does the print button give me a finished placemat?
Quick answer: No. It opens your browser's print dialog for the page content, including the host answers.
The print controls don't download a finished mat, draw the puzzles or separate out the answer key. The scramble and cards print as written. You still need to draw the turkey, maze and border to make a complete placemat.
To keep the answers off the children's sheets, use print preview to choose only the pages you need, or copy the scramble and the cards you've picked into your own layout before printing. Keep the children's sheets and your host notes in separate piles.
How to lay out each placemat
Put a name line at the top. Place the word scramble on the upper left, the turkey on the upper right and the maze in the middle. Leave space along the bottom for a few jokes and one question to read at dessert. You don't need to fit all twenty-four cards onto one sheet. Keep the rest nearby.
Turkey dot-to-dot: sketch a turkey and place 24 dots numbered 1 to 24 along its outline. Start at the wattle under the beak and arrange the route so the tail fan comes last. The original design suggests about three-quarters of an inch between dots on a large drawing. Adjust the spacing to fit your sheet so the numbers stay readable. Connect the dots yourself before printing to make sure the route works.
Squirrel maze: draw a corn patch with the entrance at the top left and an acorn at the center. Mark the finish beside the acorn with a small star. Add exactly three dead ends, then trace a continuous route from the squirrel to the acorn on your host copy. This design is suggested for ages 5 to 8, so make it bigger, smaller, easier or harder to suit the children coming.
Coloring border: draw oak leaves, pumpkins and turkey feathers as open outlines. A two-inch frame is the original suggestion for a large sheet. Make it narrower on letter paper so the puzzles still have room.
Jokes and questions: copy a few favorite jokes onto the mat. If you want the punchlines hidden, write them upside down on your homemade joke strip. The cards show the answers normally, and printing doesn't rotate them. Put one would-you-rather question in a small box for pie time, or read from the cards instead.
The word scramble and host answer card
Children read each scrambled word backward to find a Thanksgiving word, then write it on the line. The scrambled words, in order, are YEKRUT, YVARG, EZIAM, TSAEF, NIKPMUP, MIRGLIP, RELBBOG and NROCA.
Copy the answers onto a separate card in the same order: TURKEY, GRAVY, MAIZE, FEAST, PUMPKIN, PILGRIM, GOBBLER, ACORN. Add the correct route through the maze you drew. A quarter-size copy is fine as long as you can still read the words and follow the path.
A reader can help a younger child, or you can give the first letter as a hint. Children who want more words to solve can try the Thanksgiving word-game pack. It's a separate set with its own contents, not extra pages of this mat.
Choose a paper size and work out how many to print
Print your homemade layout on card stock in black and white so the outlines can be colored. Make one test copy first. Check the answer lines, dot numbers and maze route, and how much of the mat a plate will cover. Then print the rest.
Start your count with the seats that will get a mat. That includes any children who live in the house and any siblings joining the children's table, not just visiting guests. If adults want their own mat, add them as well, but add only people you haven't counted already. Then add two spares for late arrivals or a fresh copy.
Worked example (illustrative): eight children will be sitting at the table, including the host's own two. That makes 8 mats plus 2 spares, so 10 mats. With two pencils per seat, that's 16 sharpened pencils. Sharing one crayon cup between every three seats means three cups for eight seats: two full groups of three and one group of two. If two adults also want mats, plan on 10 seats: 12 mats, 20 pencils and 4 crayon cups.
Put each crayon cup where every seat in its group can reach it, and agree that colors go back in the cup after use. Planning shared materials without arguments also means checking crayons and spares before guests sit down.
What size should Thanksgiving activity placemats print at?
Quick answer: Use 11x17 if your printer supports it and you want more room for drawings. Letter paper works with half-inch margins, a narrower border and fewer jokes.
The larger sheet gives the turkey, maze and border more space. On letter paper, start with half-inch margins, make the border narrower and put fewer jokes on each mat. Either way, test the layout before you print one mat per seat plus two spares.
Prepare the placemats before Thanksgiving
Do the drawing before the busiest part of dinner preparation. This order leaves time to fix a puzzle before you make all the copies.
If children arrive well before dinner, a separate area with Thanksgiving games while the turkey cooks can complement the seated mats. Options include drawing, word play or writing a thank-you note, prepared at the same time as the mat drawings.
- Two days before: sketch the border, turkey and maze. Number the turkey dots 1 to 24 and check that the tail fan comes last.
- The day before: finish the outlines, solve the maze and check the scramble against the host key. Print a test copy and enlarge anything that's too small to read.
- Thanksgiving morning: print the remaining mats and the two spares. Make the host card, sharpen the pencils and fill the crayon cups.
- Before guests sit down: write names on the mats and place one face down at each seat. Keep the answer card and spares within reach.
Set out a placemat and pencils at each seat
Set everything out before you need the table for serving, and leave enough uncovered space for plates and glasses.
Before serving, put a plate and a glass on one mat and check that both still fit. The crayon cups can stay shared, with one cup for every three seats. Individual cups at each seat are an option, but only if you count and fill one per child. A kids party table setup also keeps extra supplies near the table rather than on it.
- One named mat face down at each seat
- Two sharpened pencils beside each mat
- One shared crayon cup for every three seats
- Two spare mats nearby
- The host answer card at your own place, for example under the butter dish if it stays clean and easy to reach
- Joke and question cards kept together, with the dessert questions set aside
- A spot for finished mats so children can take them home and finish coloring
How to use the mats from first plate to pie
The example below is one illustrative way to spread the activities over a long family meal. It isn't three hours of continuous play. Change the times to match when you actually serve, and let children stop, eat or take a break whenever they want. For a shorter dinner, use the same order.
| Example time | What's happening at the table | Placemat activity |
|---|---|---|
| 0:00 to 0:30 | Sitting down and serving | Flip the mats and offer the scramble. Give a hint if a word has someone stuck. |
| 0:30 to 1:15 | Main course | Put the pencils aside while children eat. Anyone waiting can go back to the turkey, maze or border. |
| 1:15 to 1:45 | Break between courses | Read three jokes from the strip, taking turns if guests want to read. |
| 1:45 to 2:15 | Clearing plates, getting dessert ready | Gather finished sheets. Children can finish an outline or take a break. |
| 2:15 to 3:00 | Pie and conversation | Read a few would-you-rather questions. Guests can answer aloud, raise a hand or pass. |
How do I pace the mat through a long meal?
Quick answer: Offer the scramble as plates arrive, read a few jokes between courses and save the questions for pie. Let children go back to coloring when they want to.
The five example slots add up to 180 minutes: 30, 45, 30, 30 and 45. That's a description of one possible meal schedule, not a promise that the mat will keep every child busy for that long. If serving runs earlier or later, bring out the next activity when it suits the table. Send unfinished coloring home afterward.
A long meal doesn't need an activity for every minute. When deciding how many activities to plan, one opening activity and a second option ready is often enough, with eating and breaks filling the rest.
Can adults play along?
Quick answer: Yes. Adults can solve the scramble, read jokes or answer the dessert questions.
A child and an adult can share a puzzle, or everyone can color their own border. There's no need to keep score. If adults will want their own mats, include them in your print count.
If adults and children enjoy the shared puzzle, Thanksgiving games for the family can follow after the meal, such as turkey puppets made together. That's a separate activity, so the mats don't need to stretch through serving.
Adjusting for different ages and early finishers
Children at the same table will need different amounts of help. Children who aren't reading yet can color the border while someone reads jokes aloud, and they can answer the dessert questions out loud. Pair them with a willing reader for the scramble instead of assuming age alone tells you who can work on their own.
Split jobs by what each child can do: one reads the jokes, another solves, another colors, and they swap. Advice on helping children of different ages play together suggests asking families what would help, so older children don't end up doing everything.
What ages can use the placemats without help?
Quick answer: As starting points, coloring suits ages 3 and up, and the scramble and maze suit readers around 5 and up. Neither guarantees a child can manage without help.
Help with reading, dot numbers or pencil work depending on the child. Let younger guests answer questions out loud instead of writing.
What can fast finishers do?
Quick answer: They can color, read a joke to a neighbor or take a spare mat.
If a child is ready to stop, set the sheet aside so they can finish it at home. Add another activity only if it fits the space and someone can help when needed. A Thanksgiving joke fortune teller needs folding and a reader, so don't count on it being ready just because the cards are printed. The Thanksgiving picture-search pack has its own preparation steps to check first. Children don't need a new organized activity every time they finish a puzzle.
Final checklist before dinner
- Turkey, maze and border drawn, with the dot route and maze route tested
- Scramble and chosen jokes copied into your layout, with the answers left off
- Test print checked for readable numbers and room for a plate
- One mat per seat plus two spares printed, with household children and any adults who want one counted
- Host answer card made, including the maze route
- Pencils sharpened and crayon cups filled
- Dessert questions set aside, and a spot ready for finished mats
| Scrambled word | Your answer |
|---|---|
| YEKRUT | ____________________ |
| YVARG | ____________________ |
| EZIAM | ____________________ |
| TSAEF | ____________________ |
| NIKPMUP | ____________________ |
| MIRGLIP | ____________________ |
| RELBBOG | ____________________ |
| NROCA | ____________________ |
Name: ______________________________
Maze answer or drawing notes: ___________________________________