20 FUNNY AND ENTERTAINING GAMES TO CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS
December is here! The perfect time to make your festive plans, buy presents and decorate the house. To make sure that Christmas is not just a time spent at the festive table eating treats, it’s worth thinking about fun activities and games. To make your get-togethers not only warm but also fun, we’ve put together some funny and entertaining activities for Christmas celebrations, suitable for families, groups of friends and events with colleagues!
UGLY CHRISTMAS SWEATER CONTEST
You see a lot of supposedly “ugly” Christmas sweaters in the movies, but most of them are really cute. So this activity will require a lot of imagination and creativity. Each participant has the task of turning up in their own ugly sweater, preferably decorating it themselves. This activity can certainly be adapted to the circumstances and the sweater decorating can be done during the party. The main thing is to arrive with your sweater and have everything you need (fabrics, bows, Christmas tree, bells, tassels, needle, thread and glue gun) ready for the host. Each participant creates their funniest ugly jumper to present at the party. It is also important to vote and award prizes in different categories, such as ‘most creative’, ‘most ugly’ or ‘crowd favourite’.
A tradition from abroad
This idea comes from the USA and Canada, where Ugly Christmas Sweater Parties have already become a Christmas classic!
However, we at Skrivanek have introduced the Cute Christmas Sweater Day.
GINGERBREAD HOUSE COMPETITION
This will be a great activity for larger groups or work parties. You will need gingerbread house parts, icing, decorative elements, which you can buy in supermarkets or bake yourself from gingerbread dough. Participants need to split into teams, but can also make a house individually if there are fewer people at the event. The objectives of the activity can also vary, e.g. which team will make the gingerbread house first, or who will be the prettiest, funniest, most creative, etc.
Advice:
If the audience likes special challenges, the challenge can have extra elements, e.g. who can make the tallest gingerbread tower with only one hand!
SECRET SANTA WITH A CHALLENGE
This familiar Christmas activity may seem boring, but it can certainly be livened up and made more interesting with extra challenges and nuances. If usually before the gift-giving day each participant draws the name of another participant to know who to buy a present for, this time prepare another draw box with a special challenge, e.g. the present must be wrapped in newspaper, the present must be handmade, the present must be pink, the present must make a sound when shaken, etc. Double challenges, such as making a gift that is round and heavy or wrapping a gift in foil and containing natural elements, will make the event even more challenging and fun.
We have to say that this is the Skrivanek team’s favourite activity!
CHRISTMAS SONG GUESSING GAME
For this game you will need a music player and recordings of Christmas songs. The game challenges can vary, such as guessing the name of the song from the first chords, or picking up where the song left off. Laughter guaranteed, especially if someone starts improvising!
Whatever songs we in the Skrivanek team mention, the evening will still end with Titanic’s “My Heart Will Go On”!
IMPROVISATION OF CHRISTMAS STORIES
Each participant or team will make up a little Christmas story using randomly drawn words or phrases such as “snowman”, “nut king”, “gingerbread army”. This will be a nice family activity, encouraging the children to get involved and stimulating their creativity.
A tradition from abroad
The tradition comes from Scandinavia, where fairy tales are often told in the family circle, creating a special Christmas atmosphere.
ALMOST THE PERFECT FEAST
Similar to the Latvian TV show “Almost Perfect Dinner”, the main aim of this activity is to prepare a delicious feast for your guests, but there’s a catch. In order to involve as many participants as possible, the guests also have to prepare a dish. It is important to decide who will prepare the main course, starter or dessert before getting together in order to buy the necessary ingredients. Everyone meets in the same kitchen, where the fun part begins – everyone has to be able to share the dishes, the surfaces and the oven. Laughter and fun are sure to accompany this creative chaos.
Tasting the food and giving evaluations is an important part of this activity. Voting for the best dish, both in taste and presentation, is also definitely possible.
CHRISTMAS OLYMPICS
Participants are divided into two or more teams, each of which has to come up with its own team name and perform various relays and disciplines to collect points, with the fastest and most accurate team winning. The tasks can be very different, the main thing is that they have to be done at the party venue.
Some ideas for tasks:
- Ring toss competition. Team members throw plastic or inflatable rings on the head of one team member. Ideally, participants should have hats with antlers on which to hit the rings.
- Candy fights. Plastic cups placed upside down in a row with candy on them. Using a party whistle, participants have to knock them out of the cups, whichever team member does it first.
- Cheerful chefs. Blindfold one participant from each team. In one hand the player has a plastic frying spatula and in the other a bowl to be held above their head. The blindfolded participant uses the spatula to place Christmas gift bouquets scattered on the table in front of the participant into the bowl. The team with the most bouquets in the bowl at the end of the time limit wins.
- Balloon blowers. Plastic cups are placed in a row on the table. One participant from each team moves the cups by stacking them, using only a balloon. The balloon must be inflated so that it expands in cup glass and the participant can pick it up and put it in another cup. The balloon must then be allowed to deflate to release the cup. Hands may not be used.
- Deer paws. Using plastic cups on their hands, participants should read and place the scattered marshmallows on their plate as quickly as possible. The winner is the one with the most marshmallows.
- Jingle Bells. Each participant has a box with a small opening on the back in which the bells are placed. By shaking and dancing, without using their hands, the participants have to shake the bells out of the box, whoever is the fastest.
- Jumping balloons. Balloons are tied to each of the participants’ legs. The task is to break the opponent’s balloon while jumping, but not to break their own.
- Sharp Roller. A plastic cup is placed on a rolled-out toilet paper. The player must roll the toilet paper back so that the glass does not fall over. The fastest and most accurate wins.
- The Biscuit Monster. Players sit on the floor and have an Oreo or other biscuit placed on their forehead. The challenge is to make it go into their mouth by holding their hands behind their back.
- Balance test. Participants have to get down and stand up with a plastic cup with sweets on their head. If the cup falls over in the process, start again.
STRANGE GIFTS DRAW
Unlike Secret Santa, everyone brings a present without knowing who will get it. The gift can be anything that can be hidden under the plastic cup, such as sweets, money, a candle, pickles or an apple. The funnier the better. Plastic cups are numbered and gifts are hidden underneath. Each guest has the chance to draw one or more gifts by pulling out the pieces of paper with the corresponding numbers. It is funny and fun to see the expressions on the children’s faces when they receive, for example, an onion as a gift.
CHRISTMAS ORIENTEERING GAME
This game will require some preparation, because like any treasure hunt, you will need to prepare clues as well as the treasure itself. The treasure hunt can be held indoors or even outside, in the backyard of the house or in the neighbourhood. The important thing is that each clue leads the searchers closer to the target. The clues can be obvious, like looking in the kitchen cupboard, or like riddles where the player has to shake their head a little to know the right answer.
CHRISTMAS SILENT SHOW
This would be a great game at a work party or a large gathering of family and friends. Two or more teams compete against each other. It is important that the words shown are related to Christmas themes such as films, food, decorations, traditions and other things. It will be more interesting and more difficult if you have to guess whole phrases instead of just one word.
GIFT GUESSING GAME
The game can be played in two ways, but the aim is the same: to guess what gift is in the bag.
Option one: A large gift bag or Christmas stocking is filled with different gift items and the blindfolded player has to guess what is in the bag using only their sense of touch. If the gift is guessed correctly, it can be kept.
Option two: The different objects are wrapped in gift paper so that their shape is visible, the player has to guess what is inside just by seeing it but not touching the gift. It will be funnier and more interesting if the shape of the parcels is misleading, e.g. a pan-shaped gift is actually a mobile phone.
Advice: This can be an alternative to the gifting games mentioned above, allowing guests to choose a gift based on appearance alone. To keep things fair, it is advisable to draw lots to decide who will make the choice.
CHRISTMAS TREE DECORATING COMPETITION
Participants compete to see who can decorate a small Christmas tree the fastest with the available decorations. It is important that all the decorations provided for each tree are used. If there are more participants, the tree can be bigger. It gets funny and fun when time is limited!
CHRISTMAS PHOTO CORNER
Christmas is definitely a time when we make beautiful memories with our loved ones. A great festive activity that will appeal to both young and old is the Christmas photo corner. It’s good if you can spare some wall space to decorate and create a backdrop for the pictures. It is worth preparing various themed accessories, hats, glasses, wigs, ribbons, masks. If an instant picture camera is available, the finished pictures can be hung on the tree or a picture wall can be created.
Advice: For added fun, participants can compete for the most creative or funniest photo.
GIFT BAG RACE
For those who like sporty activities, a variety of Christmas-themed modifications of the usual games can be used. One variant is the gift bag race, where, in a relay race, participants from each team have to run to the mark and back with both feet in a gift bag (a pillowcase or a potato sack can also be used, which will be more durable). This game is guaranteed to make everyone laugh! It is best played outdoors when the snow is fresh and jumping with the bag will be even more fun.
CHANGE OF IMAGE
This activity will be a fun way to spend time with friends. The aim is to buy or bring clothes and accessories to be worn by another participant before going out together. The most important thing is to use your imagination, the funnier the outfit combinations the better.
CREATIVE SNOWMAN
A fun activity for children together with their parents. Each team makes a snowman which has to be built in a limited time. It is important that the snowman has everything needed – a nose, a hat and a scarf, extra points for extra props.
CHRISTMAS CHARACTER GUESSING GAME
A sticky note is stuck to the forehead of the participant with a Christmas character from a film, storybook or cartoon. The task of the participant, not knowing what is written on the piece of paper, is to ask the others questions and guess what it says. The participant may only ask the others questions that can be answered with a yes or no. For example, if the question on the paper says “Grinch”, it could be “Do I like Christmas?”, “Am I round?”, “Am I green?” and others.
GINGERBREAD DECORATING COMPETITION
Large gingerbread cakes and different coloured icing and sugar decorations are needed. The challenge is to decorate your own gingerbread in a limited time, more interesting if participants are blindfolded.
GAMES WITH CANDY CANES
These sweet mints in the shape of candy canes are a typical Christmas snack. There are different games where these candies can be used. For example, in the game of stick fishing, the participant has to hold this candy between his/her legs with the curved part downwards. Two bowls are placed in front of the participant: one empty, the other full of these candies (with the curved part on top). The task of the player is to move the candy canes to the empty container using only the attached candy.
Christmas is the perfect time to create unforgettable moments together. Choose one or more of these activities and enjoy a fun and heartfelt celebration!
Merry, bright and snowy Christmas!