Best Christmas Games for Kids
Holiday Game Ideas for Children to Play With Family and Friends
Nov 8, 2009
There are all sorts of great indoor games to play with kids during the Christmas season. Some of them include Pin the Nose on Santa, Musical Chairs with Christmas Tunes and the Christmas Quiz Game Show. They work great at a party, for a fun school activity or at home with the kids.
Play Pin the Nose on Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Instead of playing Pin the Tale on the Donkey, make it pin the nose on Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Get a large sheet of poster paper and draw a picture of a reindeer’s head and color in Rudolph’s nose red. Then get some red construction paper and cut out red circles (aka noses) that are the same size as the nose on the poster. Use a circle of painter’s tape on the back of each nose. Then as per Pin the Tail on the Donkey, blindfold the kids (with a festive-looking piece of cloth), spin them around and have them tape their nose to the poster. Whoever gets the nose closest to the right spot is the winner.
Another option for this game is to play Pin the Nose on Santa Claus and draw a Santa face on the poster. The same red noses can be used for Santa’s nose. This game can also be done as pin the tail on the reindeer and draw out a reindeer and have little brown tails to tape on to the poster.
Musical Chairs With Christmas Tunes
Enjoy musical chairs with Christmas tunes. For those new to musical chairs, it’s easy to play. Have enough chairs for all the kids lined up in the centre of the room and have the kids walk around them in a circle while the music plays. Then randomly choose a time to stop the music and the kids have to find a chair. After each time the music is turned off, remove a chair. Do this until only one chair remains and the person who is able to sit in it is the winner.
Christmas Quiz Game Show
Have the kids break up into two teams and then take turns asking each team Christmas-related questions. Make the questions easy or hard depending on the age and ability of the group. For example for younger kids ask them to name two of Santa’s famous reindeer, for older kids or a tie-breaker question ask kids to name all of Santa’s reindeer. The team with the most correct answers wins.
Play Name That Tune With Christmas Music
Find instrumental Christmas music and play well known snippets of each song. Let each child have a chance to name a song. This can be done either with two teams and tallying up the points or it can be done as just a fun activity.
How Well Do Kids Know Their Christmas Lyrics
This game called How Well Do You Know Your Christmas Lyrics also involves music. Play part of a well known Christmas song and then stop it. Have the child guess what the next few lines are. For younger kids pick out easier chorus phrases for them to remember and for older kids choose lines that they will have to think about more.
Play Pass the Present With Kids
This is similar to Hot Potato, and can be played like Hot Potato as well. Instead of a potato to pass around, have a box with a bow on it. The traditional form of the game has the children sit in a circle and they have to keep passing the potato/present as the music plays. Whoever is holding the potato/present when the music stops is out. This goes on until there is one last person left.
In another version of Pass the Present, have the box be one with a lid that can come off and on. Whenever the music stops, the person holding the box is out, but he or she has a fun way of getting out. He or she has to open the box and reach in and grab a folded piece of paper and read it out. Parents need to make sure there are enough folded pieces of paper for everyone playing ahead of time. The messages can be a fun seasons greeting like, “Frosty the Snowman says you are cool!” or put in some corny XMas jokes for the person to read.
These games from Pin the Nose on Rudolph, Know Your Christmas Lyrics to Pass the Present are great takes on party classics and can be fun at a child's Christmas party or as part of family holiday traditions.
Read on for tips on Having the Best Christmas Party for Kids and Making Simple and Fun Christmas Ornaments With Kids.
HOL101
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
