A centerpiece: count the different things in itGourds, candles, leaves, pine cones, flowers. A horn-shaped basket spilling fruit is a cornucopia, the horn of plenty.
A dish with a lid on itGuess what is inside before anyone lifts the lid. You find out at dinner.
A gravy boatA small jug with a long spout, often on a saucer of its own. Spot it and leave it be.
A napkin that is folded, rolled or tucked through a ringCount how many were done the same way. Somebody spent a while on those.
A serving spoon bigger than your handMeasure with your hand in the air beside it, not on it.
The biggest empty platterIt is waiting for the turkey. Guess how many of your hands would fit across it.
The chair that does not match the othersExtra guests mean borrowed seats: a folding chair, a desk chair, a piano bench.
Count the place settings: how many people are eating?One plate is one person. Check your number against the chairs.
Cranberry sauce, in a bowl or still shaped like the canCranberries are native to North America, and the sauce is the turkey's traditional partner.
The kids' table, or the lowest seat in the roomA card table, a coffee table with cushions, or one booster seat.
The place where the table was made longerAn extra leaf dropped into the middle, or a second table pushed up against the first. Look for the seam under the cloth.
The wishbone, or the adult who has promised to save itA wishbone is two collarbones fused into a Y. By custom, whoever snaps off the bigger piece gets the wish.
From the kitchen doorway 12
A baster or a meat thermometerThe baster looks like a giant eyedropper. The thermometer is a spike with a dial or a small screen.
A foil tent over a dishFoil keeps a finished dish warm while the rest of the meal catches up.
A pie coolingOn a counter, a rack or a windowsill. Guess the flavor from the color and the smell.
A potato masherA handle with a zigzag or a grid on the end, usually near the biggest pot.
A recipe written by handOn a card, in a notebook or taped inside a cabinet door. Ask whose handwriting it is.
A roasting panThe biggest pan of the day, with a handle at each end. It may be hot, so look from the doorway.
A rolling pin, or a dusting of flourSigns that a pie crust was made here. Flour on the cook counts.
A timer counting downOn the oven, the microwave or a phone. Read how many minutes are left.
A window fogged with kitchen steamBoiling pots put water into the air, and cold glass turns it back into drops.
An apron on a cook, or a dish towel over a shoulderSpot it from the doorway and stay out of the cook's path.
The biggest pot on the stoveSeen from the doorway only. Guess what is in it from the steam and the smell.
The oven light glowingYou can see from the doorway whether it is on. The oven door stays shut: every peek lets heat out.
Around the house 12
A board game or a deck of cards set out for laterOn a side table or a shelf. Ask who plays the winner.
A calendar showing NovemberThanksgiving in the United States is the fourth Thursday of the month. Count the Thursdays with a finger.
A covered dish carried in by a guestGuests arrive with pies and casseroles. Watch the front door.
A football game on a screenNote the score when you spot it, then check again before dinner to see what changed.
A hand turkey, or the paper and crayons to make oneTrace your hand: the thumb is the head and the fingers are the tail feathers.
A parade on a screenThe oldest parade held on Thanksgiving Day is Philadelphia's, which began in 1920.
A photo of someone at this party when they were much youngerFrames on walls and shelves. Ask who it is if you cannot tell.
A screen set up for a video call with someone far awayA phone leaning on a vase or a laptop on a chair. Wave when it is your turn.
The best napping spot in the housePredict which chair or couch gets claimed first, then check after dinner.
The pile of coats: count themOn a bed, a banister or a rack. Count without digging through it.
The row of shoes by the door: the biggest pair and the smallestPoint to both. Guess whose they are.
Something shaped like a turkey that is not a turkeyA candle, a salt shaker, a cookie, a drawing on the fridge. Check it for a snood, the fleshy flap on a turkey's beak.
Yard and garden 32
A bare branch with one leaf still hanging onLate November strips most trees. Point to the last leaf and guess which day it lets go.
A bird or a squirrel having a feast of its ownWatch from a distance and see what is on its menu.
A car with a license plate from another stateGuests drive a long way for this meal. Look from the yard or the porch, never from the street.
A chair, a bench or a step where a guest could sit outsideSomebody always steps out for air after the meal. Find them a seat in advance.
A featherAny bird's will do. Look and leave it: a drawing of it counts as the find.
A football, or any ball that will do for a game of catchFind it now so the game can start the moment somebody says yes.
A gobble heard from one end of the yard to the otherA wild turkey's gobble can carry for up to a mile. Yours only has to cross the yard.
A lap of the yard, walked and then runAgree the route with an adult first. Count the seconds for each and compare.
A leaf the color of pumpkin pie and one the color of cranberry sauceHold them side by side. Bring them in for the table if the host says yes.
A pile of firewood, or a grill with its cover onOne is ready for winter and the other is done for the year. Look, and do not climb or lift.
A pile of leaves big enough to hide a pumpkinNo pile yet? Ask for a rake and make one.
A place where a pie could cool out of every animal's reachA high windowsill or a porch table. Spot it and tell the cook, who has the final say.
A pumpkin or a gourd left over from OctoberOn a porch or a step. Soft spots mean it is headed for the compost.
A trail of turkey tracks that you draw in the dirt with a stickMake up the shape. Draw a line of them across a bare patch and see whether the next pair can follow it.
A tree a turkey could sleep inWild turkeys fly up to roost in trees at night. Pick a branch thick enough to hold one. No climbing.
A Y-shaped twig that looks like a wishboneTwo players each hold a side and pull. It is practice for the real one.
The best spot in the yard for the family photoLook for even light, a plain background and room for everyone. Tell the adult with the camera.
Cold air on your cheeks, then warm air at the doorStep out, count to ten and step back in. The oven has been heating the whole house.
Enough fallen sticks to spell THANKS on the groundFallen sticks only, nothing snapped off a tree. The six letters take about twenty.
The farthest spot from which you can still smell dinnerWalk away from the kitchen until the smell fades. Stay inside the house or the yard.
The kitchen window, seen from outsideLook for fog on the glass and a cook moving behind it. Wave, then let them work.
The light that will guide the last guest to the doorA porch light, a lamp in a window or a lantern on a step. November gets dark early.
The parking spot the last guest will have to takeCount the cars already here from the porch or the yard. Stay out of the driveway and the street.
The quietest spot in the yardStand still and count to twenty. Can you still hear the party?
Room in the yard for a table that seats every guestThe harvest celebration at Plymouth in 1621 lasted three days. Pace out a table long enough for everyone here.
Something a wild turkey would eatAcorns, nuts, seeds, berries and insects are all on a wild turkey's menu. Point, do not taste.
Something in the yard you are thankful forA tree to sit under, a swing, a dog, a patch of sun. Say why.
Something outdoors big enough to hide a turkey, or youA bush, a shed or a woodpile. Crouch behind it and gobble once.
Steam or smoke rising from a vent or a chimneyA kitchen hard at work sends its steam out through a vent in the wall or the roof.
Two things that could mark a goal line for yard footballTwo jackets, two buckets or two piles of leaves. Set them where an adult says the field can go.
Which way the wind is blowing, shown by steam, a flag or a falling leafSteam from the kitchen vent drifts the same way. Point with your whole arm.
Your own breath in the cold airOnly on a chilly day. Breathe out slowly, like steam off the gravy.
Smell, listen and feel 8
A laugh you can name with your eyes shutListen from the hallway and say whose it is. Check by peeking.
A story that starts with 'Remember when'Holidays bring them out. Listen near the grown-ups and one will come along.
The doorbell or a knock: be first to hear the next guestCall out 'They are here' and let an adult open the door.
Something that smells like cinnamonA pie, a candle, a mug of cider or the spice jar itself.
The sound of the table being setPlates, glasses and forks each make a sound of their own. Name all three from the next room.
Three different food smells, named with your eyes shutStand in the hallway, not the kitchen. Onion, sage, cinnamon, roasting turkey, baking bread.
Three kitchen sounds: a lid rattling, a timer beeping, a mixer whirringListen from the next room with your eyes shut. Any three sounds count.
The warmest spot in the house and the coolestTry the hallway outside the kitchen for warm, and a window or the back door for cool.
Ask a guest 13
A guest who can gobble like a turkeyMale turkeys are the gobblers. Judge the performance kindly.
A guest who helped cook something on the tableAsk which dish, and which part was the hardest.
A guest who knows how long the harvest celebration of 1621 lastedAnswer: three days.
A guest who knows what a baby turkey is calledAnswer: a poult. A grown male is a tom or a gobbler, and a female is a hen.
A guest who knows what a cornucopia isAnswer: the horn of plenty, a horn-shaped basket overflowing with fruit and vegetables.
A guest who knows when Canada celebrates ThanksgivingAnswer: the second Monday in October.
A guest who knows where cranberries first grewAnswer: North America. Cranberries are native to it.
A guest who knows which day of the week Thanksgiving always falls onAnswer: Thursday. In the United States it is the fourth Thursday of November.
A guest who knows which president made Thanksgiving a national holidayAnswer: in 1863 Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national day.
A guest who remembers a Thanksgiving with snowAsk where it was and how deep the snow got.
A guest who traveled the farthest to be hereAsk how long the trip took. The longest trip wins, by car, train or plane.
A guest whose favorite pie is the same as yoursPumpkin, apple, pecan, sweet potato, or none of the above.
Three guests who will each name one thing they are thankful forCollect the three answers, then add one of your own.
How it works
The hour before the meal is the job: these Thanksgiving scavenger hunt ideas give kids 89 finds, from 12 at the table to 32 in the yard and 13 to ask a guest. Nothing in the kitchen gets touched.
Read the full guide
Build the list before the guests arrive
Press Pick 10 new finds until the list suits your house, with no football game if the TV stays off. In the menu, Indoors holds 58 finds for a wet day and Yard and garden 32 for a dry one. Print one sheet per pair, a big cousin with a small one.
The doorway rule and the guest questions
Every kitchen find is spotted from the doorway: the oven light, the pie cooling, the window fogged with steam. Ask a guest sends kids to talk with the grown-ups, and the note under a quiz question holds the answer: a baby turkey is a poult. Hide all notes keeps the answers off the kids' sheet.
For ages three to five, Easy under More filters leaves out the questions about presidents and Canada.
Save the wishbone find for after the meal: by custom, the bigger piece wins the wish.
When cousins need to run, Yard and garden sends them after what a wild turkey eats: acorns, seeds and berries.
Questions and answers
How long does this Thanksgiving hunt keep kids busy?
A list of 10 covers the last half hour before the meal, and 20 the long stretch while the turkey finishes. If dinner runs late, Pick 10 new finds deals finds that have not come up yet.
Can it be played indoors only?
Yes. Choose Indoors in the All finds menu and the deal draws from 58 finds at the table, around the house, from the kitchen doorway and among the guests.
What are some Thanksgiving facts for kids?
Five sit in the notes. US Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday of November, and Lincoln proclaimed the national day in 1863. The harvest celebration at Plymouth in 1621 ran three days. Canada's holiday is the second Monday in October. Wild turkeys roost in trees.