What You’ll Need for Pie in My Face:

• large sheet of construction paper
• permanent marker
• 15 pie tins
• 4–5 cans of whipped cream
• gummy letters
• 15 small paper squares (optional)

Before You Start:

Using a permanent marker on a large sheet of construction paper, write:

When filled in at the end of the game, this will read, “Who needs to be thanked?” Set the construction paper on a table for everyone to see during the game.

Separate your pie tins into three groups. The first group of tins will be a set of three, the second group will be a set of five, and the third group will be a set of seven. For group one, place one gummy letter in each tin to spell out the word “who.” Stack the tins on top of one another in an order that mixes up the letters. Set this stack aside. Do these steps with the next two groups of tins and letters.

If you are not using gummy letters, you may write the letters on paper squares instead. Seal each letter inside a snack-size bag and place in tins as described above. These are going to turn into letter pies!

When you are ready to play, fill the first group of tins (three tins spelling “who”) with lots of whipped cream, covering each letter. There you have it: letter pies!

Time to Play Pie in My Face!

Invite everyone to join you near the construction paper. Explain to your family that you’ve written a question that needs to be answered. Their job is to fill in the missing letters to find out what the question is. But there’s a catch!

Bring out the first group letter pies. Remind your family that people love to eat pies during this Thanksgiving season and today is their lucky day! They must use only their mouths to eat through the whipped cream in search of a letter for the mystery question. Be sure your family knows that each tin contains only one letter.

There will be three rounds, one round per missing word. In each round, place the tins (scrambled) in a row in front of the players. They must then put their hands behind their back and when you say, “go” they may begin eating their way to the letter.

When all of the letters have been found in a single round, the players must work together to unscramble the letters and spell out the missing word. Place the unscrambled word where it belongs in the question, and then move on to the next round.

Once the question is complete, have your family read it aloud together.

Making Teams:

Small family, big family … any size family will work! Because there are only three rounds, you may consider making teams by having two people work on the same word together. If you have fewer people playing, consider having one person per word. If you are working with little ones, you may choose to pair them up with an adult or older sibling.

Whatever works best for your family is fine by us! Our only requirement is that everyone gets to squirt left-over whipped cream in his or her mouth at least once (wink wink)!

Remember:

At the end of this game, discuss with your family the question, “Who needs to be thanked?” During this Thanksgiving season, many people default to the things we are thankful for, such as our home, car, food, etc., all of which are wonderful! We should definitely be thankful for these things, but we also don’t want to forget about the people we are thankful for. Many people in our lives may sometimes go un-thanked. This month, while you talk to your children about serving, encourage them to serve the unsuspecting people around them with gratitude. Maybe it’s the school janitor, the person bagging your groceries, or the friendly kid across the street. When we serve others in this way, we are really and truly serving our God. He loves it when we love each other!