How Do You Make Thanksgiving Story Cards?

Make Thanksgiving story cards by drawing a simple picture and writing a short prompt on each of six index cards. Give the cards different jobs: introduce a character, establish a place, set a goal, add a problem, offer help, and suggest an ending. Then take turns using them to invent one seasonal story together.

This version is an original activity for a quiet Thanksgiving afternoon or a few minutes between dinner and dessert. Nobody needs to share a family memory, explain what they feel grateful for, or perform in front of the room.

Gather a few plain supplies

You will need six index cards or rectangles of sturdy paper, a dark marker, and crayons or colored pencils. An envelope keeps the finished set together. If you cut your own cards, have an adult handle cutting for anyone who needs help.

Use one large drawing and just a few words on each card. Simple shapes are enough: a leaf can be an oval with a stem, and a basket can be a rectangle with a handle. The IET’s storytelling-kit activity also invites children to add their own words and illustrations to cards. You do not need to buy or reproduce a commercial deck.

Give the story somewhere to go

A pile of unrelated pictures can leave everyone wondering what happens next. Before decorating, number your cards and write their jobs along the top.

ReadWriteThink’s Story Map organizes stories around character, setting, conflict, and resolution. For this homemade version, turn that broad structure into six small steps. Cards one through three begin the story, cards four and five develop the problem, and card six brings it to a close.

Keep the Thanksgiving connection in a fictional autumn gathering. There is no need to assign historical roles or ask guests to represent real people.

Make this original six-card set

Draw the suggested picture, then add the bold words beneath it:

1. Character: A fox with a striped scarf. Draw a fox face and a striped scarf. Who is this fox?
2. Place: A lantern-lit garden. Draw a gate with a lantern. Where is the Thanksgiving gathering happening?
3. Goal: Deliver the leaf-shaped invitations. Draw three paper leaves. What must the fox do before sunset?
4. Problem: A gust scatters the invitations. Draw curling wind lines. Where have the paper leaves gone?
5. Help: A snail with a tiny wagon. Draw a spiral shell beside two wheels. How could this helper make a difference?
6. Ending: Everyone finds a seat. Draw chairs around a table. How do the guests finally arrive?

These prompts are suggestions, not required answers. Keep the problem gentle, and let a player change a detail that does not appeal to them. The ending card offers a destination without deciding every step along the way.

Tell one story together

Lay the cards face up in number order. Read the prompts aloud once, then invite a volunteer to begin. Each person adds one or two sentences connected to the previous turn. A small group can take several turns; a larger group can share a card.

This passing-the-story approach is also suggested in Ames Free Library’s Build a Story activity, which encourages different people to contribute the beginning, continuation, and ending.

For your gathering, offer several ways to join: speak, point to a picture, suggest one word, ask someone to read a contribution, or listen. Passing is always fine. Avoid correcting every sentence. If the story wanders, gently ask, “Where are the invitations now?” rather than starting over.

An invented example

Pip the fox hurried into the lantern-lit garden with leaf-shaped invitations for Thanksgiving supper. Before Pip could deliver them, a gust tossed the paper leaves into the hedge. A snail arrived pulling a tiny wagon and offered to carry the rescued invitations. Pip reached the high branches while the snail checked beneath the low ones. Together they delivered every leaf. By sunset, the guests had followed their invitations to the garden and found their seats around the table.

Save a different ending for later

Put the cards away after one complete story if people are ready to move on. For another round, replace just the helper or problem card and see how the same beginning changes. Keep blank cards in the envelope so guests can contribute their own drawings next time.