Why You Can Trust CNET 5 ways Alexa can entertain your Thanksgiving guests
Make your holiday gatherings better with Alexa.
Nothing brings a holiday gathering together like the right music, lighting and games and more.
During your Thanksgiving celebrations, use Alexa to make the holiday more festive. Here are some tips.
Stream on Alexa
The key to the best musical experience during a party is to use your favorite streaming service paired with your Alexa device.
Don't already have one? Amazon Music is currently offering three months of service for $.99 during the holiday season. If you're already loyal to Spotify, you can stream music from it on your Alexa-enabled speaker. Very recently, Alexa also started letting you listen to your paid Pandora Premium accounts, too.
To link your music player to Alexa, go to the Alexa app menu and tap Settings > Music & Media. Then, scroll to the music service you want and follow the onscreen instructions
Now, whenever you want some music, say something like, "Alexa, play Beyonce's new holiday song," or "Alexa, play my holiday playlist," or "Alexa, play Thanksgiving music." After you make the command, your device will find the song(s) on your preferred music player.
Pro tip: Try "Alexa, sing a Thanksgiving song" for a laugh.
Get the lighting right
My youngest daughter thinks it isn't a party unless there's creative lighting. Alexa can help with that.
If you have LiFX, TP-Link and Philips Hue smart bulbs, you can change the color of your lighting without linking or adding skills. To change the color, say something like, "Alexa, make the lights blue." I suggest going with a yellow tone to give the room a nice cozy feeling.
Don't forget you can dim almost any smart bulb with Alexa. Just say, "Alexa, dim the lights."
Get game updates
We always had the big game playing in the background during Thanksgiving dinners at my grandma's, but no doubt it can be distracting. You can use Alexa to keep everyone updated instead. Just ask, "Alexa, what's the score of the [team] game" or "Alexa, did the [team] win?"
You can also ask her when certain games starts or ends, or how your fantasy team is doing.
Get your game on
There are dozens of fun games you can play using Alexa, like Jeopardy, Deal or No Deal and Bingo. Check out our list of 25 fun Alexa games to play for your next dinner party for some ideas.
Even if you want to play games the old fashioned way, Alexa can help. Missing the dice from a game? Say, "Alexa, roll a die" or "Alexa, roll a 26-sided die." If you need to settle an argument, say, "Alexa, flip a coin."
Tell a story
If you're not into playing games, have Alexa tell everyone a story. For a holiday themed story ask, "Alexa, why do we celebrate Thanksgiving?"
If you're not against Christmas stories at Thanksgiving say, "Alexa, read A Christmas Carol." You can also have her tell a mystery by saying, "Alexa, open Radio Mystery Theater."
Here are a bunch of other new things to try with Alexa
Or, try these 12 ways Alexa can help you this Thanksgiving
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