Holiday Party Games
by Judy Miller at Apples4theteacher.com
When the family gets together during the holidays, anything
is bound to happen. All in attendance get a healthy dose of
food, fellowship, and fun. If your house is the site for this
year’s family party, don’t forget the games!
Games are great for challenging the mind and getting a little
friendly competition going between family members. Choose
games that will work for kids and some for the adults. Some
games will work for both. Here is a list of potential games that
could liven up your family celebration this year.
1. Santa Exchanges – This game is full of fun. The object is for
everyone to bring a wrapped gift and put it in a designated area
like under the tree or on a table. Then each person draws a
number from a hat. In turn, each person gets to pick a gift from
under the tree. When it is their turn, each participant has the
option to pick a gift from under the tree or take a gift from
someone who has already chosen. The catch is that once a gift is
chosen, the person has to unwrap it and show the group. All gifts
should be in the same price range but some will be nicer than
others. Also, the first person to go is the last person to get a
chance to exchange their gift. They get to choose from all the
gifts in the group. This game works best for adults. Younger
children may not appreciate the "exchanging" part of the game.
2. Timed Guessing Games – This includes naming the gifts on
each of the 12 days of Christmas, naming as many Christmas
carols as you can, taking a word and making as many words as
you can from it, and a Christmas word scramble. Kids and adults
are good for this one. You can find tons of printables at
Apples4theteacher.com to use for this game.
3. Family Trivia – Who knows the most about their relatives? Let
each relative write down something that happened to them and
give them to the person in charge of the game. Everyone else gets
a piece of paper. After each question is read, all players write
down whom in the room each is referring to. The one with the
most correct answers at the end of the list wins.
4. Charades – This is a tried and true party game. All of the
puzzles have to relate to Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or other
winter holidays. Some examples include a cartoon, movie, book,
song, or event. The team with the most correct answers wins.
5. Name that Christmas Carol – This is just like “Name that
Tune.” Sing or play a CD with the first line or two of a
Christmas carol. The family contestant has to come up with the
next line correctly. Start off with easy carols and progress to
harder ones as you go up the ladder.
6. Snowman Scramble - Divide the children into two teams, with
one person from each team as the "snowman". Put the snowmen
at one end of the room, with a box of clothes and other things to
dress the snowman in. You could use hats, scarves, jackets, even
a nose on a string, like a clown nose. Have a relay race to see
which team can completely dress their snowman first.
7. Pin the Tail Variations - there are many variations of "Pin
the Tail on the Donkey" that could be played. Use a picture of
reindeer and play "Pin the Nose on Rudolph". Another way to
play is to put Santa's hat on his head. You could have a package
that needs a bow on top. If you want to make it more complicated,
for older kids, have a picture tree with several decorations that
need to be hung on the tree. Whoever gets the most on the tree
wins.
These are but a few of the great games you can come up with to
keep the family in stitches this holiday season. Enjoy the fun,
laughter and memories that will be made!
Source Credit: Judy Miller at Apples4theteacher.com
http://www.apples4theteacher.com/
More Christmas and Holiday Resources:
http://mrscjacksonsclass.com/decemberfunbooks.htm
Games are great for challenging the mind and getting a little
friendly competition going between family members. Choose
games that will work for kids and some for the adults. Some
games will work for both. Here is a list of potential games that
could liven up your family celebration this year.
1. Santa Exchanges – This game is full of fun. The object is for
everyone to bring a wrapped gift and put it in a designated area
like under the tree or on a table. Then each person draws a
number from a hat. In turn, each person gets to pick a gift from
under the tree. When it is their turn, each participant has the
option to pick a gift from under the tree or take a gift from
someone who has already chosen. The catch is that once a gift is
chosen, the person has to unwrap it and show the group. All gifts
should be in the same price range but some will be nicer than
others. Also, the first person to go is the last person to get a
chance to exchange their gift. They get to choose from all the
gifts in the group. This game works best for adults. Younger
children may not appreciate the "exchanging" part of the game.
2. Timed Guessing Games – This includes naming the gifts on
each of the 12 days of Christmas, naming as many Christmas
carols as you can, taking a word and making as many words as
you can from it, and a Christmas word scramble. Kids and adults
are good for this one. You can find tons of printables at
Apples4theteacher.com to use for this game.
3. Family Trivia – Who knows the most about their relatives? Let
each relative write down something that happened to them and
give them to the person in charge of the game. Everyone else gets
a piece of paper. After each question is read, all players write
down whom in the room each is referring to. The one with the
most correct answers at the end of the list wins.
4. Charades – This is a tried and true party game. All of the
puzzles have to relate to Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or other
winter holidays. Some examples include a cartoon, movie, book,
song, or event. The team with the most correct answers wins.
5. Name that Christmas Carol – This is just like “Name that
Tune.” Sing or play a CD with the first line or two of a
Christmas carol. The family contestant has to come up with the
next line correctly. Start off with easy carols and progress to
harder ones as you go up the ladder.
6. Snowman Scramble - Divide the children into two teams, with
one person from each team as the "snowman". Put the snowmen
at one end of the room, with a box of clothes and other things to
dress the snowman in. You could use hats, scarves, jackets, even
a nose on a string, like a clown nose. Have a relay race to see
which team can completely dress their snowman first.
7. Pin the Tail Variations - there are many variations of "Pin
the Tail on the Donkey" that could be played. Use a picture of
reindeer and play "Pin the Nose on Rudolph". Another way to
play is to put Santa's hat on his head. You could have a package
that needs a bow on top. If you want to make it more complicated,
for older kids, have a picture tree with several decorations that
need to be hung on the tree. Whoever gets the most on the tree
wins.
These are but a few of the great games you can come up with to
keep the family in stitches this holiday season. Enjoy the fun,
laughter and memories that will be made!
Source Credit: Judy Miller at Apples4theteacher.com
http://www.apples4theteacher.com/
More Christmas and Holiday Resources:
http://mrscjacksonsclass.com/decemberfunbooks.htm
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