Xmas games

Xmas games are fantastic ice breakers. Get all the family to relax and mix at a party by playing games and burn off some of those calories. Keep them simple, christmas games such as charades, treasure hunts, relay and team games are all age-old favourites. When you're planning your Christmas party for family and friends, mix up your guests (adults and children and do separate couples, so there is no squabbling) into two teams and call them something along the lines of the Father Christmas All Stars and the Snowmen Melters. This adds to the fun by creating a bit of a competitive edge. The organiser is the Christmas Fairy!

Think about and plan a menu of games that Great Aunt Mary will have as much fun playing as the children, but don't forget Gran and Grandad and stroppy teenages. Manage the tempo, games demanding full on energy are not so good after Christmas dinner (unless you want to see the turkey again!) Here is one of our menus we have used for great xmas games.

Picture Consequences A great after dinner game for all ages from 3 to 103 or older! Play as you would for ordinary consequences, but instead of writing you draw instead. Paper should be folded concertina fashion in four. Draw a head, and pass it on to the next person. Do the same for the body, then the legs, and finally the feet. As an added twist, you could have a Christmas theme and end up with the head of a snowman, the body of a reindeer, the legs of the Christmas Fairy and Father Christmas’ boots. With or without a theme you can be sure the artwork will be sublime and raise oodles of Christmas cheer.

Wrapping Paper Snowballs Place stickers on the snowballs so that you can differentiate those thrown by each team. Place a basket at one end of the room, divide the snowballs between the teams and put down a throwing marker(s) – cushions are ideal. Then let play commence. The winning team is the one that gets most snowballs in the basket.

Waddle with a Balloon Two teams get in line. The first in the queue are given a balloon each. They have to place in between their legs and waddle to a marker and back. They then need to pass it to the next person in their team without using hands. The first team to complete waddling with a balloon is the winner. If the balloon escapes or bursts the ‘waddler’ has to repeat the course.

Treasure Hunt It is a good idea to pair up adults with children, and organise the clue sheets so that hunters aren’t all trying to solve the same clue at once. Make it clear at the outset which rooms are not being used for the hunt, and either make the treasure something that can be shared by everyone, or that there is a small treasure for each person.

Pass the Parcel forfeits Prepare and play as you would Pass the Parcel, but taped down between each layer of paper, players find a forfeit they have to carry out before the music starts again. Make sure that there are forfeits that older players can carry out easily as well as more boisterous challenges for the children.

Name That Carol or Christmas Song involves someone humming a carol or popular Christmas song, everyone guessing what it is and, inevitably, singing it. You can prepare this game by writing out the names of carols and Christmas songs on pieces of paper and put them in a hat for guests to pick out (like charades) or just let your guests choose what that they want to hum.

Happy Christmas!

This picture was taken on Boxing Day in Lowestoft, Suffolk in 1963. My Mum in the foreground and my Dad to the left of her and then Great Aunt Mary, Uncle Roy, Auntie Rose and Granny Howe with Uncle Jim taking the picture at Grans (tiny) house. There was not enough room at the main table for us three children (Linda, Terry and Kevin), so we were on a smaller table set to one side. Crackers had been pulled and hats put on and jokes had been groaned at. We were too excited to be hungry and were waiting to start playing games, which always included a surprise present for the children after each doing a turn of Charades. Uncle Jim would do a bit of rubbish magic and we would all play the card game Newmarket, which involved money and got us really excited because for some reason the three children always won the money equally! And I guess looking at this picture again it must have been where the buzz of Christmas games must have started!

Xmas games that will have your guests howling with laughter need a touch of thinking through. The results are well worth the effort. It's even easier if someone has done all the hard work!
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