Thanksgiving Two Truths and a Lie: Prompts and Trivia Rounds

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Thanksgiving two truths and a lie works two ways at the holiday table. In the classic version, each guest shares two true Thanksgiving memories and one made-up one, and everyone votes on the lie. In the trivia version, the host reads three Thanksgiving “facts,” and the table has to spot the myth. This page has 30 personal prompts to get people thinking, 10 ready-to-read trivia rounds with answers, and simple scoring for both.

How to play two truths and a lie at Thanksgiving

1. Give everyone a minute and a scrap of paper to jot down two true statements and one invented one.
2. Going around the table, each person reads their three statements in a random order.
3. Everyone else votes on which one is the lie by pointing or holding up one, two or three fingers.
4. The speaker reveals the answer. Each correct guesser gets a point, and the speaker earns a point for every person they tricked.

The best lies are close to the truth. “I once cooked a 22-pound turkey” is more convincing than “I once cooked a turkey on the moon,” so encourage players to make their invented story sound ordinary.

30 Thanksgiving prompts to build your statements

Stuck on what to say? Pick three of these and finish each sentence, making one of them up.

1. The longest drive I made for Thanksgiving was…
2. The first dish I ever made for Thanksgiving was…
3. My strangest Thanksgiving was the year we…
4. The biggest kitchen disaster I have seen on Thanksgiving was…
5. My favorite Thanksgiving side dish is…
6. The most people I have had dinner with on Thanksgiving is…
7. I once spent Thanksgiving in…
8. The weirdest food I have seen at a Thanksgiving table is…
9. My family’s oddest Thanksgiving tradition is…
10. The year I hosted, the thing that went wrong was…
11. I once won a Thanksgiving game of…
12. The best Black Friday deal I ever got was…
13. I once ate Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant called…
14. My first Friendsgiving was in…
15. The pie I have never tried is…
16. One year, our turkey was…
17. As a kid, my Thanksgiving job was…
18. I have watched the parade in person in…
19. The football team I root for on Thanksgiving is…
20. The thing I am most thankful for this year is…
21. I once forgot to bring…
22. My most embarrassing moment at a Thanksgiving dinner was…
23. The leftover I eat first is…
24. I once took a Thanksgiving nap that lasted…
25. The relative who tells the best stories is…
26. I have deep-fried a…
27. The most pies I have eaten in one sitting is…
28. My favorite Thanksgiving movie or TV episode is…
29. I once volunteered on Thanksgiving at…
30. Next Thanksgiving, I want to…

Thanksgiving trivia rounds: spot the myth

Read each set of three in a random order. Two are true and one is a myth. The answers come straight after each round, so the host should cover them.

Round 1: the 1621 harvest feast

• The 1621 harvest celebration at Plymouth lasted about three days.
• The Wampanoag leader Massasoit came with about 90 men.
• Pumpkin pie was the main dessert.

Myth: pumpkin pie. The settlers had no ovens suited to baking pies and very little sugar, so pumpkin pie as we know it came later.

Round 2: the menu

• The Wampanoag guests brought five deer to the feast.
• Mashed potatoes were served with gravy.
• Wildfowl was on the menu.

Myth: mashed potatoes. White potatoes had not yet become a common crop in New England.

Round 3: making it a national holiday

• Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving in 1863.
• The writer Sarah Josepha Hale campaigned for years for a national holiday.
• George Washington set Thanksgiving as the fourth Thursday of November.

Myth: George Washington. Congress fixed the fourth Thursday of November in law in 1941.

Round 4: moving the date

• In 1939, Franklin D. Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving a week earlier.
• People nicknamed the earlier holiday “Franksgiving.”
• Every state switched to the new date that first year.

Myth: every state switched. Many states kept the old date, so for a couple of years the country celebrated on two different Thursdays.

Round 5: the parade

• The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade began in 1924.
• Snoopy has appeared as a balloon more times than any other character.
• The very first parade used giant helium balloons.

Myth: the first parade used balloons. It featured live animals from the Central Park Zoo; the giant balloons arrived a few years later.

Round 6: football

• The Detroit Lions have played on Thanksgiving since 1934.
• The Dallas Cowboys have hosted a Thanksgiving game since 1966.
• The Green Bay Packers host a game every Thanksgiving.

Myth: the Packers. Detroit and Dallas host every year; other teams rotate in.

Round 7: the bird

• A male turkey is called a tom, and a baby turkey is called a poult.
• Wild turkeys can fly short distances.
• Benjamin Franklin officially proposed the turkey as the national bird.

Myth: the official proposal. Franklin praised the turkey in a private letter to his daughter, but he never made a formal proposal.

Round 8: the Pilgrims

• The Pilgrims sailed to America on the Mayflower.
• They landed in what is now Massachusetts in 1620.
• They wore large buckles on their hats and shoes.

Myth: the buckles. That image comes from 19th-century illustrations; buckles became fashionable later in the 1600s.

Round 9: turkeys today

• Minnesota raises more turkeys than any other state.
• The White House turkey pardon became an annual ceremony under George H. W. Bush in 1989.
• Turkeys are native to Europe.

Myth: native to Europe. Turkeys are native to North America.

Round 10: around the world

• Canada celebrates Thanksgiving on the second Monday in October.
• The Butterball Turkey Talk-Line has answered cooking questions since 1981.
• Thanksgiving is a national holiday in the United Kingdom.

Myth: the United Kingdom. Thanksgiving is not a UK national holiday.

Scoring and variations

• Personal round: one point per correct guess, one point to the speaker for each person fooled.
• Trivia round: play in two teams and give the team that spots the myth two points.
• Kids’ table version: let kids work in pairs and write their statements with an adult.
• Gratitude twist: make every true statement about something you are grateful for.

For the classic rules and more general prompts, see our two truths and a lie questions and how to play. You might also like our Thanksgiving trivia questions and Thanksgiving this or that questions.

Thanksgiving two truths and a lie FAQ

What is the best group size for Thanksgiving two truths and a lie?

Three or more. It is best with five to twelve, so every guest gets a turn before dessert.

Is the Thanksgiving version good for kids?

Yes. Kids often write the most convincing lies. Let younger players use the prompts or the trivia rounds.

How long does the Thanksgiving version last?

About 20 minutes for ten players in the personal version, and 10 minutes for all ten trivia rounds.