5 Ways to Set a Thanksgiving Table to Encourage Conversation

With Thanksgiving coming up this week, you’re probably already planning your event and wondering how to set the table. Thanksgiving is a holiday that spreads feelings of joy and gratitude. You want to have a lively event where your guests can partake in these emotions. Here are 5 ways to set a Thanksgiving table to encourage conversation, joy and lots of gratitude.

Keep your centerpieces low.

You want your guests to be able to see each other easily without having to bend and turn their heads. By keeping your centerpieces low, you prevent any visual barriers and encourage people across the table to converse with each other.

Have a family-style service.

You may opt for no centerpieces at all and serve your Thanksgiving dinner family-style. Family-style service meals platters all around for sharing and passing. This is a fantastic way to encourage your guests to interact and begin conversations naturally as they pass their favorites from guest to guest.

Have cards for guests to share what they’re thankful for.

This can be a fun table game for everyone to partake in. Give every guest a card to write what they’re most thankful for and then go around the table for everyone to share. Another way to play is to assign each guest a partner to ask what they are most thankful for. This encourages conversation between two people that otherwise may not have engaged. You can also connect the entire table to share after individual connections.

Create holiday themed conversation cards.

Write down questions for guests to ask one another when conversation dies down. The cards can be left around the table for guests to access easily. This can be anything from asking about favorite pies to favorite holiday movies.

Set up kids’ games.

Encourage all of the kids at your dinner to interact with fun games at the table. Their placemats can have activities such as tic-tac-toe or fill in the blank holiday stories. You could also set up a kids’ table with card games. This will keep the kids entertained and encourage them to play together when they get bored.

When you set a Thanksgiving table to encourage conversation, always think about what could cause a communication barrier. This could be a physical roadblock, like centerpieces, or a lack of conversation starters. Click here for more dinner table tips, we hope these help you host a memorable Thanksgiving dinner!