Christmas Party Games

Games are the ideal activities of a party. They add more life to the party, keeps boredom at bay, involve all and attend all without personally attending anyone. Given here are some selected ones to be tried for your party.

Some Christmas Party Games Ideas

Santa Hat Game

For festive gatherings with Santa hats. You need everyone to be wearing a hat, so either use the ever popular Santa hats, or otherwise give everyone a normal party hat. The game is based on observation. the objective is NOT to be the last person left with a hat on. At the start announce the simple objective, the only rule is that no one can take their hat off until you have. Let another game or conversation take place, and as time goes by, people will take their attention off you, and even forget the game is happening. Eventually remove your hat and watch as people cotton on. Gradually the hats will come off, amidst sniggers and smirks. Some unsuspecting person (who’s probably busy boring everyone with a hopeless story) will be last to notice, and much to every ones’ mirth, this person is the loser. Serve up an appropriate forfeit, get the hats back on and give the loser the chance to start the next game.

Naming of Candy

For this you need:

About 6 different candies that have given names like M&M's, Crunch, Wrigley's , etc. 1 Die (or 2 dice if the crowd is very large)

Everyone is seated on the floor in a circle. Packaged candy bars or candy are placed in the middle of the circle. Everyone starts by saying their own names. The leader then makes sure that everyone knows what candy is in the middle. someone begins by rolling the dice. If they roll a 6, they can take one of the candies in the middle. The die continues to go quickly around the circle while people keep picking up candy. When all of the candies are taken, people then can get other people's candy.
In order to get their candy, they must state the person's first name and the name of the candy they hold. The person who rolls a 6 and matches the name of the candy and the person takes the other's candy. If they forget either name, they miss their turn and the dice goes to the next person and they continue to roll. (One person can get more than one candy and people can hide the candy behind their back). This is a great way of getting to know people's name and how to get your favorite candies!

Celebrity hunt

Everyone writes the name of a celebrity, famous person or character on a piece of paper which they stick to the forehead of the player on their left (use tape or office Post-It notes). Make sure they don’t see the name. List down the activity(s) or event(s) which has made them famous( but no names). Paste the paper up on the wall so that every guest can see it. This will act as cues and give the participants a direction to make guessing.

Now the game starts.

Everyone else can see your forehead. The objective is to work out who you are.

Going around the table, each payer takes a turn to ask the party questions about who they are - answers can be YES or NO only. If you get a YES you may continue asking, if you get a NO play moves on to the left. Last person to guess their name is the loser. Simple, but very absorbing.

The Grouping Game

This is a good game to play as a mixer. It is a fun, fast moving game. It starts out as everyone collects in one big group. The leader initially calls out a number, usually a number between two and fifteen. The number shouldn't be more than half of the number of total participants. When the number is called out everyone must try to collect in a group that contains that number of people. The group members should be latching arms or have their arms wrapped around each other so that the leader can see who is in the group. If someone cannot enter a group because the number of required members has been reached, he is out of the game. As different numbers are successively called out the number of participants gets smaller and smaller. Eventually, there are less than ten people. The last group, or winning group, should have anywhere from two to five people.

X-mas Present Game

For this you need:
1 Pair of Gloves
1 Hat
1 Die (perhaps two dice if group is large)
A Prize wrapped in several layers of newspaper and boxes.

The group stands in a circle. The gloves, hat, and wrapped box are placed in the center. someone begins by rolling the dice. If they roll a 6, they hurry into the middle and put on the gloves and hat. They then start to unwrap the package. They must move fast because the next person to roll a 6 takes the hat off of the person in the center. The person in the center stops immediately and takes off the gloves, gives them to that person, and he/she goes back to the circle. The game continues like this until the package is completely unwrapped and the last person receives their prize. It's really noisy and incredibly fun!

Musical Chairs

The old favorite. With one fewer chairs than people, a short snippet of music is played while the people move around the room. All the chairs are placed in the middle of the room or arranged in a corner, all facing back on the wall. When the music stops everyone tries to sit on a vacant chair. (Only one person per chair) The person who doesn't find a chair is 'out'. One chair is taken away and the game continues until only one person (The Winner) is left.

Pass It On

Sit close together in two lines facing the same direction. The person in the front of each line rolls a die. When one of them gets a six, both of them pass a small object (a jack, a ball, a bracelet) to the person behind them who passes it on until it reaches the end. When it gets to the last person, that person must get up and race to the front of the line with the object and sit down. The person who sits down first, gets to sit in the front of the line. The person who was second to sit down, goes back to his or her spot. Whichever line rotates from back to front first, wins.

Pass the Small Object

Sit close together in two lines facing the same direction. The person in the front of each line rolls a die. When one of them gets a six, both of them pass a small object (a jack, a ball, a bracelet) to the person behind them who passes it on until it reaches the end. When it gets to the last person, that person must get up and race to the front of the line with the object and sit down. The person who sits down first, gets to sit in the front of the line. The person who was second to sit down, goes back to his or her spot. Whichever line rotates from back to front first, wins.

Winking Murder

All except the detective sit in a circle while the detective waits outside. One person from the circle is elected to be the murderer, and then the Detective is called back to stand in the circle. When he is ready, the Murderer winks at people in the circle. Anyone who sees that they have been winked at lets out a blood-curdling scream and dies. The Detective has three attempts to guess the murderer.

Pass the Orange

Arrange for teams of about 8 to stand in a line, one behind the other (arranged - boy, girl, boy,...). Give each team an orange which the first person should tuck under his chin. This should be passed to the person behind. When the orange gets to the last person, they come to the front of the line and start again. The winning team is the first one which gets their starting person to the front again.

Contest

These games apart you can always conduct a contest sort of thing. Like a quiz for all, or a jiving, or a caroling contest can always be arranged
The winner will be honored - may be with a flower bouquet, or a certificate from the host.

Christmas Fun