100 Happy Thanksgiving Vocabulary Words and Phrases

Being thankful for what you have is an important step toward becoming the best human being you can be. Thanksgiving is a day when people really stop to appreciate all they have and to spend time with family and loved ones. Although we really should be thankful for what we have all year round, it’s great that there is an annual holiday to remind us.

Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November each year. when you think about Thanksgiving, you likely have your mind set on the meal that’s about to be had (which is often at the very top of the “I’m thankful for” list). Let’s not forget about Thanksgiving's roots, though—traditionally, Thanksgiving was a time of harvest that was celebrated by groups of early settlers from Europe known as pilgrims.

Thanksgiving is a great time to keep kids' minds active with fun crafts, projects, games, and activities. While making pilgrim hats is always a crowd-pleaser with the kids, thanksgiving is a fantastic time to broaden their vocabulary as well!

• Thanksgiving Spelling Bee: Speaking of broadening children's vocabularies, why not hold a themed spelling bee using some of the words below? Start with some shorter words and work your way into some of the longer, more difficult words as the bee goes on.

• Word Crafts: Write some of the words below on small slips of paper and mix them up in a hat. Have each child draw a Thanksgiving-themed word from the hat then either construct a craft or draw a picture that represents their word.

• Thanksgiving Word Scramble: Word scrambles make great busy-work to keep the kids distracted while you hustle to get your dinner prepped or clean up the dining room before guests arrive. They're also quite easy to make! If you’re really strapped for time, you can always enter some of the words below into an online word-scramble generator.

• Thanksgiving Word Search: What kid doesn’t love doing word searches for fun or as a school project? You can make your own or put some of the words below into an online word-search generator to save time.

• Thanksgiving Crossword Puzzle: Whether you make it small or large, this is another good busy-work activity! These can be a bit more challenging than some other activities, so try to make the hints relatively simple and age-appropriate without being too obvious.

• Thanksgiving BINGO: Who doesn’t have fun playing a few good rounds of BINGO? You can let the kids choose words from a word bank or make the game boards ahead of time.

• Thanksgiving Charades: Charades is a great group activity, especially for groups that include children of differing ages. Acting is fun for everyone, and the game's interactive element encourages the kids to engage with one another. After you go over the rules of charades, players can choose words from a pilgrim hat then act them out as best they can.

Now that you have some game ideas, here are a few lists of Thanksgiving-themed words and phrases to draw from. Mix up which words you include in which games to keep players on their toes!

What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Thanksgiving? Dinner, of course! If you're planning on making a food-themed Thanksgiving word scramble or word search, be sure to include your family's favorite dishes and ingredients from the list below.

Now that you have a giant list of Thanksgiving words, it’s time to plan some activities! In addition to the word games mentioned above, you can also use these Thanksgiving terms to put together scavenger hunts, make a memory card game, or write short stories.

The most important part about the holiday is spending time with those you love and remembering to give thanks for all the little things we take for granted. Oh, and don't forget to say your grace and stuff your face!