This month, it’s all about turkeys as we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving with our families. But the bountiful birds are good for more than just your holiday meal — they also can be the subject of fun for many family-friendly activities. Here, we share some festive activities, recipes and jokes to help you plan a memorable Thanksgiving with your family.
Q. Turkey Jokes Why didn’t the turkey eat any food?
A: Because he was already stuffed.
Q: What sound does a turkey’s phone make?
A: “Wing, wing, wing.”
Q: What happened when the turkey played football?
A: It got ejected for fowl play!
Q: How did the turkey get home for Thanksgiving?
A: She took the gravy train.
Turkey Stick Puppets 
Keep the occupants of the kids’ table entertained this year by creating these fun, simple puppets before the big meal. With just a few basic craft supplies, kids can let their creativity loose (courtesy of My Nourished Home, mynourishedhome.com).
Supplies:
Colored craft paper
Pencil
Scissors
Craft glue
Craft feathers
Googly eyes
Popsicle or craft sticks
Directions:
- Select colored craft papers for the turkey parts. Create your own body shape, or trace and cut out the patterns from the online template.
- Attach the wattle on the head part of the turkey body. Cut out and attach the legs on the bottom side.
- Attach the beak on the top side of the wattle (overlap the top end of the wattle a little). Also attach the googly eyes.
- Flip the paper turkey to its wrong side. Glue colored craft feathers on the back side of the turkey, making sure they are visible from the front side. Mix and match different colored craft feathers to make a fun pattern.
- Attach the wing cutouts on both sides of the turkey’s body.
- Finally, attach the paper turkey to a popsicle stick.
Gobble-Worthy Games
Turkey Baster Relay
Even the adults will get a kick out of this lively game. Divide your friends and family members into two or more teams. Each team needs a turkey baster and a lightweight object like a craft feather, ping pong ball or craft pom pom. Designate a starting point and finish line, then have a person from each team squeeze the baster to make the puffs of air move the object across the line and back to the start. Pass the baster to the next person until each teammate has completed a lap. The first team to have all of its players complete a turn wins.
Gratitude Game
Guests young and old can take turns sharing their gratitude with this colorful game. Fill a dish with multi-colored candy (M&Ms, Skittles, Runts, etc.) and have everyone grab a few pieces. Determine a different gratitude question for each color, then everyone can take turns answering questions based on the color of candies in their hand. For example:
Red candy — Share a memory you are grateful for.
Orange candy — Name a person you are grateful for.
Yellow candy — Talk about a skill you are grateful for.
Green Candy — Tell about a place you are grateful for.
Purple candy — Name an experience you are grateful for.
Pie Face
If you don’t mind the extra mess, this game is guaranteed to get the whole family laughing. All you’ll need is pie tins, candy corn and candy pumpkins, and plenty of whipped cream. For each person playing, line up three pie tins. Place three candy corn pieces and three candy pumpkins in the center tin, then cover them with whipped cream (leave the other two tins empty). Using their mouth only, the player must find and sort the candies, placing candy corn in the left tin and candy pumpkins in the right tin. For a friendly competition, everyone can try at the same time, or you can time each participant and declare the winner as the person with the fastest time.
Thanksgiving Muffins
Put those holiday leftovers to good use with these delicious, savory muffins that are a meal all by themselves (recipe courtesy of Fresh Fork Market, freshforkmarket.com).
Ingredients:
1 medium bulb kohlrabi (1.5-2 cups shredded)
2 carrots (1.5 cups shredded)
1 small onion, grated or finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
2 cup leftover roasted turkey
1/3 cup chopped dried cranberries
3 tablespoons maple syrup
2 eggs
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 cup rolled oats
1¼ cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Peel off and discard the thick, outer layer of the kohlrabi. Using a box grater or a food processor fitted with a grating blade, finely grate the kohlrabi and the carrots.
- Add grated kohlrabi, grated carrots, minced or grated onion, parsley, turkey and cranberries to a large bowl. Crack in the eggs on one side and drizzle in the maple syrup.
- In another bowl, add all the dry ingredients: salt, pepper, thyme, garlic powder, rolled oats, flour and baking powder. Mix together, and then add to the large bowl with the rest of the ingredients.
- Mix well, making sure no flour rests behind on the bottom. It will be really lumpy, but you’ll start to notice some liquid releasing from the vegetables as you mix.
- Grease or butter a muffin tin and then pack in the filling in each cavity (you can overstuff, as the muffins won’t rise. Bake for 35-40 minutes until lightly browned and crispy on top.
- Let cool for 10 minutes, then slip out onto a cooling rack. Serve with some warmed up leftover gravy for dipping.