Festive Family Games
These games can be adapted to kids of all ages, so if you’ve got a range of kids at your party, have fun trying them all.
Pass the Parcel
Best for: Ages 1 to 3
Little hands love to unwrap boxes, so why not give them the opportunity?
You’ll Need:
- Boxes of varying sizes
- Wrapping paper
- A small gift
How to Play:
- Have all the kids sit in a circle.
- Put on some Christmas music. When the music stops (thanks to an adult volunteer), the child with the box gets to unwrap a layer. You have the option of having a set time for this, or just let the child unwrap the whole layer.
- The game continues until the last layer is unwrapped and the child gets the prize inside.
Good to Know: You can use one box, and many layers of wrapping paper. It’s a great way to use wrapping paper from the previous year that you may have saved. Alternatively, consider using newspaper. As well, you can add a bunch of little gifts inside to make sure all the kids get a prize.
Gingerbread Cookie Decorating
Best for: Ages 3 to 5
Whether the cookies are homemade or store-bought, your guests will love personalizing them.
You’ll Need:
- Homemade or store-bought gingerbread men (one or two per guest)
- Icing in different colours
- ZipLoc bags or squeeze tubes
- Candies to decorate the cookies (think leftover Halloween candies, crushed candy canes, etc.)
How to Make:
- Prep a cookie decorating table with a spot for each child and little bowls filled with the different candies, as well as different bottles of icing.
- Give each child a cookie or two, and let the creativity commence.
Good to Know: You can also try decorating these mini-gingerbread houses as an alternative to cookies.
Name that Christmas Carol
Best for: 5 to 95
Carolling takes on a new twist with this fun game that even the adults will enjoy.
You’ll Need:
- A few Christmas carol CDs
How to Play:
- Put the kids into two teams with a pad and a pencil each and let them name themselves something Christmas related like the Elves and the Reindeer.
- Start playing the first carol for a few seconds. Give one team (the Elves) a chance to guess. If they guess right, they get the point. If not, the second team (the Reindeer) get a shot—play the carol for the same amount of time.
- If neither team gets it, have a ‘sudden death’ round with a player from each team. Play the carol for a little longer until one of the two selected team players shouts out the right answer.
- Have a fun carol sing-a-long at the end of the game.