Spend fall festivities with family, friends and fun

For the past few years, holidays in my family have begun to lose their magical feeling. Following the same traditions year after year started to get boring, but we were able to find a few fun new activities to jazz up our annual festivities.

The Paper Turkey Bowl
Hosting a football game is a classic Thanksgiving tradition, but not everyone enjoys going outside during the holidays. If you and your family prefer to stay indoors, you can set up a paper turkey bowl tournament. All you need is a table, a piece of paper and two people ready for competition.

To construct the paper football, fold a sheet of paper twice lengthwise and then form a small triangle by folding the paper diagonally three times. Decide who will go first, and position each person on opposite ends of the table. Players will take turns sliding the paper football across the table, and those who slide the football closest to the edge without it going over gain seven points. The first person to reach the score limit wins.

Bingo
Do you find yourself watching Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade or a football game that you have no interest in every year? Creating your own Bingo game might help ease your boredom.

Find a couple family members to play with you and turn this event into a friendly competition. Have the competitors draw a 5 X 5 table and fill in the boxes with words or phrases that someone chooses beforehand. While watching the parade or football game, players should see if they hear the commentators say the words or phrases that they wrote down. The first person to get five in a row wins.

Journey Across the Atlantic
This game of trust can help pass time while the family waits for the turkey in the oven. Choose a large room to represent the Atlantic Ocean, and pick one person to be the Mayflower and another to be the New World. Have the New World person stand on one side of the room, blindfold the Mayflower person and place him on the other side of the room. Everyone else will serve as obstacles by lying, sitting or standing between the Mayflower and the New World. Only the New World person can speak and guide the Mayflower safely across the Atlantic.