Ways to Entertain Yourself Through the Entire Holiday Weekend

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Thanksgiving’s looking different this year and many people won’t be able to enjoy the family traditions they’ve come to know and love. And while we’re mourning all things familiar and constant, we’re also looking forward to creating some new traditions at home. If you’re looking for ways to fill the holiday weekend, read on!

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For people who live alone

If you’re spending the Thanksgiving holiday alone, savor the much-needed Zoom-free time with a book from your TBR. Give yourself permission to read in the middle of the day! One of our favorite novels over here at Quirk Books is Bookish and the Beast by Ashley Poston, a delightful and imaginative adaptation of the Beauty and the Beast story. If you’re anything like us, you’ll read the entire thing before the weekend is over. It’s just that engrossing.

Buy the book:

Amazon | Books A Million | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop

If you’re looking for a more tactile way to celebrate the holiday weekend, visit your local craft store (or order online from your favorite independent shop) and stock up on supplies to try your hand at embroidery, quilting, or knitting. It’s such a joy to learn a new skill, especially one that’s as creative as textile work. Plus it’ll give you something fun to do while watching Netflix.

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For couples and roommates

If you’re celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday with a partner or roommate this year, shake up the everyday routine by indulging in a creative adventure, like the audio play A Play for Any Two People by Jordan Harrison, produced by Playwrights Horizons’ audio arm Soundstage. Here’s how it works: each person wears a set of headphones and the presses play on a separate track. Audio prompts supply the dialogue and stage directions and oh wow is it fun.

If you’re looking to get outside this holiday weekend, take each other on an audio tour of your neighborhood, supplying real and fabricated fun facts about each of your favorite locations. You’ll never look at that tree outside your home the same way again.

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For families with young kids

If your Thanksgiving plans include celebrating with young children, turn the long weekend into a board game extravaganza – putting special emphasis on board games that have particular childhood memories attached to them. Whether that means you’re doing a marathon of Scatergories or alternating between Sorry, Monopoly, and Scrabble until you run out of steam, one thing’s for certain: family fun will be had. 

If you need a quieter activity to get through the holiday weekend, start a family book club! We’re big fans of Mister Rogers over here, so of course we’re going to recommend It’s You I Like for the littlest readers in your family. And for the adults in the house, we recommend The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers, followed by a discussion about our favorite television personality, of course.

It's You I Like:

Amazon | Books A Million | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop

The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers:

Amazon | Books A Million | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop

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For families with teens

If you’re spending the long weekend with teens or young adults, consider doing an at home escape room to keep things interesting this Thanksgiving. The team at Puzzling Pursuits have been working on the at home escape room experience for a while now and we’ve heard amazing things about their latest game, Blackbrim: 1876. Adventure awaits!

If you were part of the jigsaw puzzle boom back in the Spring, chances are you have a fair number of puzzles around the house. Why not turn the entire weekend into a dueling jigsaw puzzle contest? Grab a table – or a rug – and get to work. First team to finish their puzzle gets to choose the next activity!