Six Top Christmas Games for Groups

Christmas! The season which celebrates the birth of Jesus; when we spend time with family and friends, indulging in too much good food, and attending endless parties. It's a time of great joy yet it can also be a time of great stress. One of these stresses may be the organisation of a church, office or club Christmas party. Here are six of the best Christmas games for groups, if you have the task of planning a party for a large group.

To help players become introduced to each other and join the party mood, you should start with an icebreaker game such as "All I Want for Christmas". Players sit around in a circle. One player starts by saying, 'My name is ... All I want for Christmas is ...' and names a real or imaginary gift they want. The player to their left repeats the first players name and gift before adding their own, saying, 'My name is ... All (name of first player) wants is ... All I want for Christmas is ...' Each player continues around the circle to say their name and list all the gifts of the previous players. Any player who cannot repeat the full list is out. When the list gets to 10-12 gifts, it may be easier to start again with a new list.

Group Christmas games will often include a time where each person exchanges a gift they have brought to a pre-arranged value (say $5). A simple raffle can be conducted, but it is a lot more fun to make it into a game. One example of these fun Christmas gift exchange games is "Left Right Christmas Game", where players are seated in a circle holding a gift (not necessarily the one they brought). The games leader reads a story. As the word 'Left' or 'Right' is mentioned, players pass the gift in the corresponding direction. When the story finishes, players open the gift they are holding.

One of the more active Christmas games for groups is "Balloon Relay." Two teams line up at one end of the room. One team is given a red balloon and a wooden ruler. The other team has a green balloon and ruler. Team players must bat their balloon, using only their ruler, around a chair at the other end of the room and back in a relay.

Younger children can enjoy their own Christmas game by playing "Christmas Card Hunt", where they must find the matching half to an old Christmas card, which has been scattered around the area. The child who is first to find three complete cards wins the game.

Do you think your group knows their Christmas carols? Try one of our Christmas carol games to test their knowledge. One example has a player from one team who must draw a picture of a common carol so that the rest of the team can name and sing the first verse of the carol within a one minute time limit.

Finally, "All Tied Up" is another one of the active Christmas games for groups. Each team forms a circle and is given a ball of twine (one red, one green if possible). The first player winds the twine once around their waist and passes it to the next player who does likewise. The first team to wrap themselves completely in twine wins.

For more details on these and many more Christmas games for groups, please visit our website.