Christmas Fun and Games
I love Christmas! I’m sitting in my living room with the fire going and the Christmas lights twinkling and I love it! I thought I would share some of the Christmas games we have played over the years to bring some extra fun to the season.
In our family, we gather on Christmas Eve for food, fun and games. Many years ago, we gave up trying to buy everyone a present because everyone totals around sixty now, making it impossible. My siblings and all their kids and grands are included in this celebration, plus aunts and uncles and friends needing a place to go. We love a big crowd! Part of our night is spent watching each other perform in some way. We’ve had magic, skits, singing, dancing, piano, gymnastics and more on Christmas Eve and it’s always fun! And no one takes it too seriously. It’s all about family fun!
But, before the talent portion, we always play a few games. I try to pick games that includes everyone from ages 2 to 87. Like most families, we have all ages for the night and it’s a great time for the little ones to get to interact with the older ones.
First of all, I always have at least three guessing games ready for my guests to try to win a door prize. I put marshmallows or jelly beans or M&M’s or any candy into three separate jars. I have a piece of paper beside each jar with this written at the top: Name…….. guess and numbers down the page. At the end of the evening, I look to see whose guess is the closet to the actual number and they win a door prize. Door prizes can be anything, not too fancy. You can just give them the jar of candy if you want. Or you can give movie bucks and gift cars. It’s up to you and your budget.
Some of our favorite games:
Stuffing Santa: Divide your guests into two teams. Have each team pick one person to be their Santa. Give that person an XXL (even 3X if you can find it) shirt and sweatpants to put on. (The two people chosen should be similar in size.) Give each team several balloons. (Here’s where everyone in the room can help.) The idea is to blow up the balloons and stuff them into the clothes of the two people wearing the red sweat suits. When you say go, each team starts blowing up balloons and stuffing them in their Santa. Set a time limit, maybe five minutes. Once you stop the game, be sure to take pics because it’s super funny, then count the number of balloons each team was able to stuff in their Santa. A small prize can be given to each team member or to the Santa who one or they just get bragging rights.
Minute to Win It Christmas games: These are super fun and only take a minute to complete. I’m just going to tell you to google this because there are so many out there. I will add that you can chose from your different age groups to participate in each game. Again, since we have so many, I usually pick one from each team to participate and then everyone else cheers them one. I try to have enough games that I can use someone from every age group representing in the group. I might call for a teen from your group or someone older than 40. For our little ones, I make sure the game is simple and easy to do. In fact, I often do one game that lets every little one participate. An easy one is a snowball toss using cotton balls and buckets. Give them one minute to see how many they can toss in. Of course, it’s 2018, so everyone gets a prize. LOL! Really it’s Christmas, so everyone gets a prize.
One more thing that I always do. All through the night, I give out door prizes. I have everyone’s name in a small basket and when I draw a name, I ask a Christmas trivia question or have them do something silly (like sing a verse of a carol) to get their prize. Sometimes I will say something like “anyone who has penny in their pocket and can get it to me first wins the next door prize.” I just like to mix it up. Remember, there is so much help on the internet today with game ideas. When I started this many years ago, I depended on books and my own ideas. Now, in just a few hours, I can pick out some fun games and have the whole night planned.
Well, that’s it for today. I hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!
Hugs, Chrys