Games and Fun Ideas with a Christmassy Theme
Whether you need games for your youth and children’s groups, or you’re hosting an event you need fun ideas and games to make sure eveybody has a good time!
You’ll find something here which works for you, whether you are outside or indoors; in a big space or a small one, with littles, big kids or even grown ups. If you want some cool Christmas crafts you can have at the same time check out this page for excellent ideas.
Theme wise I’ve opted to avoid Santa, so it’s a bit clearer who Christmas is really about. All things wintery and other (British) traditions are up for grabs. But you can easily adapt anything here to make it fit your theme.
Christmas Quizzes
Freeze Frame
Print and stick stills from Christmas films up somewhere they can easily be seen. Give each one a number and ask people to guess which film each is from. If you’re outside laminating will keep the papers dry in the inclement weather and make them reusasble in a future event.Kazoo Karolz
Get a kazoo and play some well known carols - get people to guess what they are. (Warning: this is tricky to do without collapsing into giggles!)What’s the present?
Wrap some unusually shaped gifts, (umbrella, set of coat hangers, wellington boots, pogo stick etc.) again if you already have metallic plastic-y wrapping paper it’s a good time to use it. If that’s an unachieveable wrapping goal then cut out some thick card cut out in the shape and size of the object and cover or decorate that. You could add a clue on a nice big label i.e ‘Dear Grandma, because you always forget yours, xx’ ‘To Little Jimmy, who just can’t stand still!’ and let people guess what might be inside.Christmas Card Jigsaws
Using the front of your Christmas cards from last year (ask around the church, I guarentee someone will have saved them). Cut them up into a jigsaw, that then need to be reassembled. Depending on the age of your players they could be in four to sixteen pieces.
Christmas Games
Snowball Throw
You don’t need much for this one, bean bags in white or you could wrap small balls in a few layers of paper and tape. These are your snowballs to throw at the targets. For extra chills you could arrange the targets as a snowman, complete with a carrot nose for bonus points!Present Stack
Wrap a bunch of empty boxes of all sizes. If at somepoint you already bought metallic wrapping paper that can’t be recycled now is a good time to use it. The game is to see how high you can stack the boxes before they topple!Stick the star on the Christmas Tree
This one is harder to setup, you need to paint or draw at least three Christmas trees (1 tall, 1 medium and 1 short), And lean that up or tape it to a wall. You’ll want a big cardboard star with some bluetack on the back or some star stickers.
The game is to stick the star on top of one of the trees; have some prizes ready for those who get close!Sprout Bowls
Set up your green using masking tape, chalk or rope. Have player one roll a cabbage to be the jack or target. Player one gets 4 sprouts and Player 2 four small potatoes and they take it in turns to roll towards the jack and see who can get the closest - or even a touch! If you have a tarpaulin and some brooms you could even try Sprout curling as a variation.Hat, scarf and gloves
Sit everybody in a circle, take it in turns to roll a dice. Whoever rolls a six (for bigger groups pick two numbers or have two dice starting at different sides of the circle) must pull on a hat, a scarf and gloves then run to the middle to complete the activity. As soon as the next 6 is rolled they have to pass on the winter clothes to the player who sucessfully rolled.
Activities in the middle could be a) the classic cutting up a chocolate bar with a knife and fork, b) use chopsticks to eat dolly mixture, c) Use chopsticks to gather marbles into your own cup, d) fold an origami star or e) anything else that would be a challenge while wearing gloves and in a hurry.Fluffy Sheep
Cover a glass jar in vaseline. Either as a team relay or as individuals, have the players pick up cotton wool balls from one end of the room and run to the jar and stick it on. Alternatives are to smear vaseline on the end of their nose and they have to pick up, transport and stick the cotton wool only using their nose. Or that cotton woll balls have to be thrown at the jar from a distance.