Here are some more of the great ideas my mom has collected over the years…
Candy Cane Hunt – have kids decorate white lunch bags before hunt. Separate into age groups & have age designated areas roped off with caution tape. Tie ribbons to some canes for prizes. Hide in trees, on fences, playground equipment, under bushes. Keep some aside in case some kids don’t find any.
Candy Cane Pass (relay race) – You need 4 candy canes per team. (Have some extra due to breakage.) Player holds 4 candy canes between fingers and passes them down the line, teammate to teammate without dropping.
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Candy Kiss Game – Divide group into two teams. Have a bowl of Hershey’s Kisses on a table with a pair of mittens slightly larger than the players need. Line the teams up about 10-15 feet away from the table. Each team sends a player down, they put on the mittens, take candy kiss out of the bowl and unwrap it with the large mittens. After unwrapping it, they have to pop it into their mouth and go back and tag the next player in line. First team to all get a kiss, wins.
Candy Relay – divide kids into teams and have them form lines. Give the first player in each line a pair of mittens. Give everyone a piece of wrapped candy. At a signal., the first player in each team puts on the mittens, unwraps the candy, and pops into their mouth, the second player does the same, and so on, down the line. The team that finishes first wins.
Christmas 20 Questions – Director start by choosing a Christmas related person, place, or thing. The director says, “I’m thinking of something”. The children try to guess what it is by asking no more then twenty questions that can be answered with YES or NO or I DON”T KNOW. The child who guesses correctly is up next.
Christmas Carol Pictionary Relay
Supplies: List of Christmas Carols, paper and pen and people willing to sing
Team member race to receive the name of a Christmas Carol which they must get their team to recognize and then sing. The first team to have all team members complete the task wins.
Based on the number of Christmas Carols you come up with not all players may get a chance to draw out the name of a song. The goal is however that everyone would have a turn. (Adjust game as needed.)
Divide group into teams. Each team sends one person up to the Gamemaster / Host who gives them the name of a Christmas carol. Then the person returns to group and in the manner of Pictionary tries to get the group to guess the name of the carol by DRAWING ONLY.
As soon as the group knows the song, they must sing it as a group until the Gamemaster / Host gives the thumbs up sign (10 – 20 seconds). Once they get the thumbs up, the team sends a new person for another song. Play continues until one group completes all their songs.
Here are some Christmas Carols to get started. Remember there can not be any duplicate carols.
Jingle Bells
Deck the Halls
Here Comes Santa Claus
Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer
Silent Night
Joy to the World
Away In a Manger
We Wish You A Merry Christmas
Up On the Housetop
Christmas Carol Tag 1- This is played the same as regular tag except that to keep from getting tagged the person must sing a verse from a Christmas carol. You can only use a verse once per person who is it. Another variation is that when you are about to get tagged you stoop down and touch the ground and say the name of a Christmas carol. If the Christmas carol you use in either variation has already been used then you must either quickly think of another one before you get tagged or you are it.
Christmas Carol Tag 2- Same as TV tag except that player must be singing a Christmas carol to be saved. They cannot sing the same verse more than once.
Website for this image: Guide to Buying the Perfect Christmas Gift xmas-gift-ideas.com
Christmas Relays and Races:
- Shoveling snow-each team has to scoop, using Tupperware lid, as many Styrofoam flakes as possible from a bucket in the center (use same bucket for each team) and put them in their own team’s bucket. When finished run and tag next teammate. Repeat until whole team finishes.
- Marshmallow Eating Relay- run to cone and eat a marshmallow. Tag next person. Continue until everyone has had a turn.
- Snowball Toss- each team stands in a circle and gets all their water balloons around the circle (tossing) before the other team and puts them in a bucket at the end of the circle.
- Over and Under Christmas package relay
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Cotton Beard Game – Split group into two or more teams. On one side of the room on a table, put a big bowl of cotton balls for each team. Have the teams line up and have them put Vaseline all over their face and chin. The point of the game is to run to the other side of the room and stick your face in the bowl of cotton and then run back so the next person can go. The winning team is the one who has the most cotton balls in the least amount of time.