Since we’re all sad about Halloween being over, we here at Some Nerd Girl thought we might ease the pain by suggesting ways to make the coming holidays even better (or just tolerable if you’re in THAT kind of situation).

So, please to enjoy, 5 ways to make Thanksgiving nerdy!

1. Lightsaber Duels to settle family disputes

We all know that Thanksgiving is a time we bring our families together, and we all know what a powder keg that can be! People you may or may not have seen all year, all with varying opinions and political affiliations – it’s a recipe for drunken arguments. We suggest an alternative to yelling at each other across a half-carved turkey: Dispute Resolution Via Lightsaber Duels. Hey, it worked for Luke and Vader, Right?! Right..?

There is unlikely to be a clear winner, but you’ll probably have so much fun you won’t even care anymore that your uncle is voting for Donald Trump.

2. Light Side / Dark Side designation for the wishbone

Before you break apart the wishbone, designate who represents Light and who represents Dark. Then, let the Force decide the victor!

Winner gets to rule the Empire! Or, at least the TV remote for a while.

3. Instead of football, tune into something nerdy

NetFlix is your friend. Consider letting Doctor Who play in the background, or pop in your collectors edition Harry Potter DVD(s). Encourage discussions about how Voldemort probably just needed more hugs as a child. The Addam’s Family Values is always a go-to lovely and appropriate choice given the time of year.

Other good options: Star Trek (perhaps the wishbone winner gets to pick which series), Sherlock, Clone Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Dark Matter, Lost Girl, Orphan Black, Supernatural…

Shrimp gumbo, shrimp kabob, shrimp pasta…. whoops, sorry, got a little off track there!

4. Cook historically themed items, for the history nerd of the family!

To have a true ‘thanksgiving’ meal, you’re going to have to prepare at LEAST one of these:

Wildfowl (so… uh… like a goose? I don’t even know)

Corn in grain form for bread or porridge

Venison

Chestnuts, walnuts and/or beechnuts

Blueberries, plums, grapes, gooseberries, raspberries and/or cranberries

I realize not much of that sounds like a ‘traditional’ Thanksgiving dinner, but to the history nut, it’s the ONLY traditional dinner to have.

5. Instead of playing football in the side yard, set up a Quidditch pitch and play that!

Who needs Football when you can run around pretending to be a wizard for an hour or so instead?! All you’d really need is some hula-hoops, duct tape and 6 wooden dowels. Easy, right? Oh, and a Snitch. I feel like perhaps whoever lost the wishbone battle will have to play the Snitch – and if they disagree, it can be settled with a Lightsaber battle.

Now go forth, and spread the Nerd love!

Eve is the founder of Some Nerd Girl and the author of urban fantasy novel Children of the Fallen and science fiction novel Colony One. She has been writing since the age of 13 and has been flying her nerd flag for the past 16 years. Fandoms include Star Wars, Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica. Basically if it has ‘star’ in it, she’ll give it a shot. You can visit her website at www.somenerdgirl.com.