How Do You Play a Thanksgiving Categories Game?

Give everyone the same category list and starting letter, then ask them to find one matching answer for each category. With P, a player might write “pie” for food and “plate” for something on the table. A Thanksgiving version works well with a short list, familiar vocabulary, and a scoring rule explained before anyone starts.

You only need paper and pencils. Players can work alone, in pairs, or together as one group. The basic letter-and-category structure also appears in the British Council’s letter game, which uses a shared letter for several categories.

Choose four broad categories

For a first round, use these headings:

• A food someone might enjoy at a holiday gathering
• Something used at a dining table
• Something you might notice outdoors in autumn
• A quiet indoor pastime

Write the headings on every answer sheet and on a shared page if helpful. Leave a generous line for each answer. Add spaces for the round’s letter and, if you are keeping score, its total.

These are broad Thanksgiving-adjacent categories. They do not require every family to eat the same meal, live in the same climate, or follow the same traditions. Explain that an outdoor answer can be something the player knows about rather than something outside this particular house.

Show one complete practice round

Use P as a demonstration letter. One possible set of answers is:

• Food: pie
• Dining-table item: plate
• Autumn outdoor sight: pine
• Indoor pastime: puzzles

All four begin with P and fit their headings. Pine trees still count as an autumn sight even where they stay green. The examples show the kind of connection you mean; they are not the only accepted answers.

For another starter, S can lead to soup, spoon, squirrel, and sewing. Keep your sample answers off the playing sheet once the group understands the idea, or use a different letter for the first scored round.

Agree on house rules before playing

For a relaxed version, use these rules:

1. Write one answer for each category.
2. Use the chosen written starting letter, even if its pronunciation is unusual.
3. Do not use the exact same answer in two categories on your sheet.
4. Use an ordinary name for the item or activity. Do not add an arbitrary adjective merely to change its starting letter.
5. Leave a blank if you cannot think of an answer, and keep playing the other categories.

Decide whether phrases are allowed. For this version, they can be: “pumpkin pie” is a normal food name beginning with P. “Purple spoon” would not count in a P round merely because a color was added to make “spoon” fit the letter.

Settle these details before play so that nobody loses points to a rule introduced after their answer is written.

Keep the first round unhurried

Try an untimed practice round, then ask whether the group wants a timer. For four categories, two or three minutes is a reasonable starting suggestion, not an official requirement. Adjust to your players rather than treating speed as the point.

The Scouts’ category-game activity explicitly allows changes to category count, letters, and timing. It also suggests pairs or small teams and writing the letter down where people can see it.

Choose letters you have checked against your categories. P and S work with the examples above. An obscure letter can turn a friendly round into a long search for words that nobody enjoys.

Use a scoring system everyone understands

For the simplest house version, award one point for every answer that fits both the letter and the category. With four categories, the maximum is four points. Matching another player’s answer does not cancel either point.

That is a deliberately gentle scoring choice. Published versions vary: EnglishClub’s classroom game uses different point values depending on whether answers are shared, while the British Council version rewards answers no other team wrote. If your group wants a more competitive version later, agree on that change before the next round.

Read answers category by category. Let someone explain an unfamiliar but reasonable choice. Keep discussion brief, and skip scoring if it is getting in the way of enjoying the game.

Finish with one good round, not an obligation

Invite a different person to choose the next letter or suggest a new category. Stop whenever people would rather talk, draw, or do something else. The Thanksgiving setting provides a theme; the pleasure comes from the different ideas people bring to the same four prompts.