Whether you are celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa, there’s only so much eating, talking and TV watching that can be done before your guests start to twitch.
Don’t let your holiday bash be the bummer of the season. Instead, pump up your party by planning a slew of festive activities that will keep boredom at bay. Some seasonal favorites include:
Paper Bag Snowmen: This activity is ideal for young guests. Simply place some white paper bags, fiberfill, yarn, markers, crayons, buttons, glue and stickers on a craft table. Then, have the kids place fiberfill in the bags; tie off with some yarn; stack the bags and glue them in place. Next, decorate the paper bag snowmen with buttons, crayons, markers and stickers. The children can draw on the snowman’s scarf or you can use leftover scraps of fabric to form the cold weather accessory.
Christmas Carol Pictionary: Rather than playing traditional Pictionary, divide up into teams and draw clues on a large dry-erase board or paper and have players guess the name of the seasonal tune. You can also use the same premise to play charades with popular holiday tunes.
Reindeer Hunt: Children of all ages will have fun looking for Santa’s reindeer. Simply hide small plastic toy reindeer or ornaments in shape of deer throughout your home (or in a single room, if you are playing with young children). Then, let the kids loose, so they can hunt down all nine of Santa’s missing deer. The person who finds the most reindeer wins. (Note: You can substitute bells or plastic snowmen for reindeer.)
Tweens and teens may not want to participate in “baby games,” so set up an area where they can decorate cookies, play holiday-themed trivia games, have a karaoke contest, or take part in a gag gift exchange.
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