Watch and Learn
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12 Christmas Party Games Ideas
Freeze: Supplies: Christmas music (see bottom of this page). How To Play: Begin playing music, everyone moves and dances until the music stops then they must "freeze" in whatever position they happen to be in.
Christmas Tree Decorate: Cut out a large tree shape (a triangle with rounded corners) from poster board and pin to a wall in the classroom. Ss create decorations, ornaments and wrapped presents from craft paper, and then glue them to the tree.
Pin The Nose on Rudolph: This is a take on 'pin the tail on the donkey'. Put a picture of a nose-less Rudolf on the wall, blindfold the students, spin them around and see if they can pin a red nose in the right place. The nearest wins a prize/points.
Scramble Christmas Words: Supplies: index cards, paper bags. How To Play: Choose a Christmas word such as: Christmas, Candy Cane, Santa Claus, Reindeer.... Write each letter of a word on individual index cards. Put the set in a paper bag. Divide the Ss into teams. Give each team a bag. The first team to decipher what the word in the bag wins. A variation of the game would be to divide into teams with the same number of Ss as there are letters in the word. Each S gets a letter and the team must arrange themselves in the right order to spell the word.
Spelling Banner: Prepare two banners that say whatever you want them to say, ie Merry Christmas, Seasons Greetings, etc. Also prepare a set of letters for the same words cut out in two different colors hidden randomly around the room. Divide the class into 2 teams with two captains--the captains sit and wait for their teammates to bring the letters for their banner. If a student is on the "red" team and sees a letter for the "green" team he/she just leaves it alone. The first team to cover their banner letters wins.
Who am I Santa?: Blindfold one student. The other Ss stand in circle around the blindfolded student. Spin the student around and then stop him/her facing another student. S says "Ho ho ho. Who am I?". The blindfolded S must guess who that student is and call out his/her name.
Mystery Stocking: Fill a stocking or sock with a collection of "mystery items," then pass the stocking around the circle, letting each child guess what is inside. They may shake the stocking, smell it, or simply feel the shape of what is inside. We suggest filling the stocking with simple party favors that the children can keep (if they guess correctly). Consider including crayons or sidewalk chalk, wind-up toys, a toy car, small stuffed animals, a ball and jacks, or a pack of cards.
Christmas ABC's: Give each child a piece of paper with the alphabet written vertically from A to Z. They must come up with a Christmas word that somehow relates to each letter. You may want to set the children up to work in teams if it is too difficult for them to work individually. The first team to complete their list wins a prize. Some of the words they come up with may seem like a bit of a stretch, but that just adds to the fun.
Do You See What I See?: Have two children sit in front of the group, back to back. Give one child a holiday object (like an ornament), and give the other child a piece of paper and something to draw with. The child with the object cannot say what the object is, but he or she must describe the object so that his or her partner can attempt to draw it. The quality of the final picture obviously depends on how well it was (or was not) described. An alternate version of this game would be to give the two children two trays with the same objects. The goal would then be for the players to identically arrange their trays without looking at the other person's tray or naming any of the objects.
Santa in Style: For this game, you will need several rolls of streamers in red, white, and black, a bag of cotton balls, and some masking tape. Divide the children into teams of 3 or 4 kids per team. Each team will choose one person to be Santa and use their given materials to create Santa's costume. Do not supply the teams with scissors—it's more fun to see how they make do without them. Let the Santas walk down the runway of your living room, and judge which one looks the best. An alternate version of this game would be to give each team a bag of items (suitable for either Santa or Frosty) and race to dress one member of their team.
Twelve Days of Christmas Relay: Everyone loves a relay race—especially when it centers on Christmas. Gather a collection of items to represent those named in the "Twelve Days of Christmas." You can find pictures on the Internet and recycled Christmas cards, or grab some items from around the house (i.e. a plastic bird to represent the partridge). Just make sure that the kids all understand which lyric matches each item (and label them if necessary). Divide the children up into two teams (you'll need a complete set of items for each team). Give each team an empty bucket, and place two buckets with the items at the other end of the room. At the word "go," the race will begin, with each team gathering the items in the order of the lyrics—the first child grabs the partridge in the pear tree and brings it back to the team, the second child collects two turtle doves, and the game continues from there. The winning team is the first to collect all twelve items inside their bucket.
Christmas memory game: Put Christmas items on a tray and give people one minute to memorize the items. Take the tray away and have them write as many down as they can remember in 30 seconds.
Christmas Tree Decorate: Cut out a large tree shape (a triangle with rounded corners) from poster board and pin to a wall in the classroom. Ss create decorations, ornaments and wrapped presents from craft paper, and then glue them to the tree.
Pin The Nose on Rudolph: This is a take on 'pin the tail on the donkey'. Put a picture of a nose-less Rudolf on the wall, blindfold the students, spin them around and see if they can pin a red nose in the right place. The nearest wins a prize/points.
Scramble Christmas Words: Supplies: index cards, paper bags. How To Play: Choose a Christmas word such as: Christmas, Candy Cane, Santa Claus, Reindeer.... Write each letter of a word on individual index cards. Put the set in a paper bag. Divide the Ss into teams. Give each team a bag. The first team to decipher what the word in the bag wins. A variation of the game would be to divide into teams with the same number of Ss as there are letters in the word. Each S gets a letter and the team must arrange themselves in the right order to spell the word.
Spelling Banner: Prepare two banners that say whatever you want them to say, ie Merry Christmas, Seasons Greetings, etc. Also prepare a set of letters for the same words cut out in two different colors hidden randomly around the room. Divide the class into 2 teams with two captains--the captains sit and wait for their teammates to bring the letters for their banner. If a student is on the "red" team and sees a letter for the "green" team he/she just leaves it alone. The first team to cover their banner letters wins.
Who am I Santa?: Blindfold one student. The other Ss stand in circle around the blindfolded student. Spin the student around and then stop him/her facing another student. S says "Ho ho ho. Who am I?". The blindfolded S must guess who that student is and call out his/her name.
Mystery Stocking: Fill a stocking or sock with a collection of "mystery items," then pass the stocking around the circle, letting each child guess what is inside. They may shake the stocking, smell it, or simply feel the shape of what is inside. We suggest filling the stocking with simple party favors that the children can keep (if they guess correctly). Consider including crayons or sidewalk chalk, wind-up toys, a toy car, small stuffed animals, a ball and jacks, or a pack of cards.
Christmas ABC's: Give each child a piece of paper with the alphabet written vertically from A to Z. They must come up with a Christmas word that somehow relates to each letter. You may want to set the children up to work in teams if it is too difficult for them to work individually. The first team to complete their list wins a prize. Some of the words they come up with may seem like a bit of a stretch, but that just adds to the fun.
Do You See What I See?: Have two children sit in front of the group, back to back. Give one child a holiday object (like an ornament), and give the other child a piece of paper and something to draw with. The child with the object cannot say what the object is, but he or she must describe the object so that his or her partner can attempt to draw it. The quality of the final picture obviously depends on how well it was (or was not) described. An alternate version of this game would be to give the two children two trays with the same objects. The goal would then be for the players to identically arrange their trays without looking at the other person's tray or naming any of the objects.
Santa in Style: For this game, you will need several rolls of streamers in red, white, and black, a bag of cotton balls, and some masking tape. Divide the children into teams of 3 or 4 kids per team. Each team will choose one person to be Santa and use their given materials to create Santa's costume. Do not supply the teams with scissors—it's more fun to see how they make do without them. Let the Santas walk down the runway of your living room, and judge which one looks the best. An alternate version of this game would be to give each team a bag of items (suitable for either Santa or Frosty) and race to dress one member of their team.
Twelve Days of Christmas Relay: Everyone loves a relay race—especially when it centers on Christmas. Gather a collection of items to represent those named in the "Twelve Days of Christmas." You can find pictures on the Internet and recycled Christmas cards, or grab some items from around the house (i.e. a plastic bird to represent the partridge). Just make sure that the kids all understand which lyric matches each item (and label them if necessary). Divide the children up into two teams (you'll need a complete set of items for each team). Give each team an empty bucket, and place two buckets with the items at the other end of the room. At the word "go," the race will begin, with each team gathering the items in the order of the lyrics—the first child grabs the partridge in the pear tree and brings it back to the team, the second child collects two turtle doves, and the game continues from there. The winning team is the first to collect all twelve items inside their bucket.
Christmas memory game: Put Christmas items on a tray and give people one minute to memorize the items. Take the tray away and have them write as many down as they can remember in 30 seconds.