Nothing, absolutely nothing, gets Christmas with the family going more than some homemade, inexpensive party games. Yes, there’ll be much eye-rolling and groaning at their very mention, and there could be cries for another mince pie and some telly instead, but it’s almost guaranteed that the person who moans loudest will eventually be having the most fun! Christmas party games let adults behave like children and that can open children’s eyes to you in a good way. They also allow young children to compete on a level playing field, because everyone is terrible at them and it couldn’t matter less.
So, extract the most from this very special, post-Lockdown Christmas with some silly fun. Here are ten games to get the ball rolling which, with hardly any preparation, will involve children, grandparents and grumpy uncles alike. They may not always be dignified but they come with good wishes for a very Happy Christmas!
Sprout and spoon races using teaspoons. A seasonal take on the traditional egg and spoon race.
Write out a long list of Would You Rather Christmas-themed hypotheticals. Cut them out into strips and fold them into a large jam jar. For example, would you rather be the one who see Santa come down the chimney or be the one who receives the most presents? Would you rather swim in a pool of custard or a pool of gravy? Would you rather go the whole Christmas season without hearing a Christmas song or without watching a Christmas film? Let the whole family debate the options — it can get heated, so screw on the jam jar’s lid and tie a Christmas ribbon round the jar so it’s kept ready for the big day.
Christmas themed bingo. On as many sheets of postcard-sized card as you have players draw out a grid of 25 squares (5x5) and in each one randomly put one from a variety of Christmas stickers. On another sheet, place copies of every sticker you’ve used and cut a square round each sticker. These are your “bingo balls” which you can pull out of a hat and call. Supply mini marshmallows or Smarties to cover stickers on the cards as they’re called out. Or, you can print off free printable snowman bingo cards to laminate or not at https://crazylittleprojects.com/printable-snowman-bingo-game/
Make a list of Christmas songs and cut out each song name and fold into a jar. Use for Pictionary or charades.
Save wrapping paper from the big day and make a pass-the-parcel, inserting Christmas-themed surprises and some forfeits between layers.
Have a race to look for Christmas ornaments hiding round the house. Best done in relay teams. Find an ornament and rush back with it to tag the next team member.
Cut out and colour paper Christmas-themed characters about 25cms long. Give players one paper character each and a magazine. Have a start and finish line. The idea is to waft the magazine to make the paper characters move without touching the character. The winner is the character first over the line. Also works well in relays.
Musical bumps and statues — to Christmas songs of course!
Buy red craftwork pompoms about 2cms in diameter. Paint Rudolph faces on A5-sized paper but draw an empty circle for his nose. Blutac the Rudolph faces to a wall at player heights. Supply all players with a pompom and a spoonful of Vaseline. Players must dip their nose into the Vaseline then get the red pompom to stick to the Vaseline on their nose. Once it’s on their nose, they have to move across the room and stick it to Rudolph’s nose without using their hands.
Decorate a square tissue box with Christmas paper. Cut a long ribbon long enough to go around the waist and be tied. Staple the centre of the ribbon to the bottom of the box at the opposite end to the opening. Slot as many ping pong balls into the tissue box as you can and tie the box to the body, so it sits on your back at the waist. Time how long it takes for each person, toddlers included, to shake the balls free by just wiggling.
Jabberwocky wishes all our lovely nursery family a very Happy Christmas!
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