This Thanksgiving Children’s Game is one my daughter learned from her daycare provider when she was 3. We were very lucky to have a wonderful and creative in-home provider. During November they had a unit all about Thanksgiving that included learning about Pilgrims, Native Americans, and the first Thanksgiving Feast. As a tie into that unit, the provider created this fun counting and number game. Since it was a game Olivia really enjoyed playing and it is a great educational tool, I’ve turned it into a free printable that you can use with your children, for your daycare, or even in a classroom.
Thanksgiving Feast Game
PREPARE TO PLAY:
Download the Thanksgiving Children’s Game at the bottom of this post.
Print out the game cards and cut out.
Decide how much each food item should cost.
On the back of each food card, write the cost and then draw the correct amount of circles as a visual cue.
For coins: use coins, or create your own by cutting out small circles from cardboard and covering with aluminum foil.
HOW TO PLAY:
Start out with 10 silver coins each
Spread out the food cards in the middle of the table.
Designate a “Storekeeper”. Place the storekeeper card in front of that person (this is a great role for an adult).
The Storekeeper asks the youngest player which item they want to bring to the Thanksgiving Feast.
The player chooses a food card and flips it over to see how much it costs.
The player then pays the Storekeeper the correct amount of coins.
If they do not have enough coins, they must choose another player to borrow from. The player needs to figure out how many more coins
they need and then ask: “May I borrow xx amount of coins, please?”
Once the player pays the Storekeeper they place the food card in front of them.
Play continues clockwise to the next player.
The game continues until no more items can be purchased.
The player that brought the most food to the feast (has the most food cards) wins.
REMEMBER: These instructions are just a guideline! Feel free to come up with your own way to play! I can think of many variations on playing this game – that’s the fun part about it!
Olivia was always so confident playing this game and counting out her money. It is a great festive Thanksgiving Game for Children and teaches number recognition and counting.
Game Download
Download THE COUNTING FEAST GAME in pdf format.
Personal use only. Do not alter. Save the file to your computer and open in Adobe Reader.
HAVE FUN and Happy Thanksgiving!
Looking for other Thanksgiving-related activities for your kids? Here are a few:
Thanksgiving Kids Activity Sheet
Printable Thanksgiving Countdown
Looking for other early learning games?
Great idea!
Oh no! It’s the day after Thanksgiving, and I just found this. Thank you for the awesome Thanksgiving game idea — and the PDF too! I think it’ll work just as well while we’re still working on the leftovers. Happy Holidays!
I have a Reindeer one too! Perfect for December. 🙂 Happy Holidays!
Great idea, I will definitively try those.
Great idea!