Friendsgiving is such a fun opportunity to appreciate and catch up with your buddies that you haven’t seen in a long time. I’ve never hosted one, but I scoured the internet and countless Pinterest boards to come up with the perfect plans, themes and tips for the occasion. Here are seven party ideas and tips that will make your Friendsgiving more memorable than ever.
- the great
britishbestie bake-off -
Whether your friends are baking connoisseurs or allergic to the kitchen, baking is the perfect activity to bring a group of people together. Whether you decide to have a baking competition or try a Gordon Ramsey-style cooking challenge, there are endless options to tailor this activity to your preferences. If competitions aren’t really your style, you could try recreating your fav Crumbl cookies of the season or bake a tried-and-true pumpkin pie. If all that sounds way above your skill set, cookie decorating never fails to entertain an audience.
- the painting party
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If your friends are an artsy bunch, get those canvases out. You can challenge yourselves to paint each other or have a jar of funny ideas to randomly pick. If you want something more collaborative that makes use of having all your friends together, you could set the clock to 1-3 minute intervals and trade your paintings around the circle to see what your brains collectively conjure up.
- The potluck picnic
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If you live somewhere too cold to do this, relocate to someone’s home. You could decorate the place together and have a classic Friendsgiving feast. If you wanted to spice it up, you could make everyone bring a food that fits a specific rule. For example, they could bring something with the same letter as their first name or one that fits a color palette. Learning how to cook as a college student is understandably pretty tough, though, so we’ll look the other way if you just re-plate that pasta from Whole Foods and call it yours.
- The Stroll Down Memory Lane
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Reminiscing on past memories with your best friends is the perfect way to incorporate holiday nostalgia into Friendsgiving. This works especially well for those friends that have been around the sun together too many times to count. However, this can become a great tradition for newer friends to start, too. Whether you choose to do a PowerPoint night where everyone brings a collection of photos or one friend just opens up the photo album, this night pairs well with a filling meal and a cozy sleepover in the name of the good ole days.
- game night
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Put your friendships to the test with a game night. You’re bound to have a good time if it’s with your besties. You can tackle a 1000-piece puzzle or play Jenga or charades. Throw in some prizes or punishments to up the stakes and make sure everyone is engaged.
- brunch at tiffany’s
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In case you’re too ”stuffed” from turkey night with the family, a light brunch might be the ideal way to recover. You can spice it up by getting everyone to dress in a theme. It could be as Breakfast at Tiffany’s or the decade of fashion that you want to go back to. If you want a costume do-over after Halloween, seize your opportunity.
- the movie marathoners
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This one’s for all of the kids who loved going to elementary school on pajama day to just to watch movies (which, let’s be honest, is all of us). Watching movies really isn’t anything crazy or new, but you could add a twist by making everyone bring their favorite movies to watch together. You could also play a blindfolded game of scrolling through Netflix and picking a random line-up of movies you never would have considered to watch before. If you’d much prefer staying within your cinematic comfort zone, binge the Harry Potter movies all over again (this is a holiday tradition I will never get over).
It feels like life is always running at full speed and it’s so difficult to make time for your friends, but Thanksgiving break is designed to do just that. As the seasons get colder and the days get darker, it’s the perfect time to find warmth with your chosen family and celebrate the friendships that make your burdens a little lighter. Hopefully these ideas inspire your friend group to do something special for the holidays. Here’s to a happy and plentiful Friendsgiving.