Christmas Party Games for Kids and Adults

The games you play at Christmas depend a lot upon if there will be children and how old they are. Some parties are just for kids, others are a mix of children and adults. Look through the games here and you'll find some great ones to play at your next Christmas party.

One fun game, mainly for adults, is to re-write Christmas tunes with your own words, then sing them aloud. The one that gets the most laughs wins a prize. Another musical Christmas game is to play a portion of a Christmas song to see who can guess it first. Play just a word or two, at first, and see if anyone guesses correctly. If not, play a couple more words, and so on, until someone guesses correctly.

Still another fun game is to have everyone think of their favorite Christmas song. On the count of three, everyone sings their own song, all at the same time. If you mess up, you stop singing. The one who is still singing at the end of the game, and hasn't messed up, is the winner.

A game that any age can play is the trade-a-present game. Everyone brings a wrapped gift labeled "man" or "woman", or "girl", "boy". Have stickers numbering one through the number of guests you think there'll be. Stick the odd numbers on male presents and even numbers on female presents.

Have a jar full of paper pieces with the same numbering on each of them. Pass the male jar and the female jar, letting each person take a number. Everyone now goes and finds the gift with their number on it. After opening, the real fun begins. Playing peppy Christmas music in the background adds to the fun of this game.

The person who drew number "1" goes to any other guy and takes his present, giving the guy his original present instead. Now the girl who drew number "2" follows suit by walking over to any other girl and taking her present, leaving the original gift with that girl. Follow suit, letting everyone trade gifts, according to the number they drew.

A different way to play this game is to let everyone continue to "take" and "give" the gifts until Christmas music playing ends. At the end of the music each person keeps the last gift they're holding. Still another way is to sit in a circle and play the music. Everyone continues to pass their gift to the left until the music stops. At that point you keep the gift you're holding.

A similar game is played with two decks of cards and some small gifts. Great gifts for adults would be a book of stamps, a $5 bill, an inexpensive wallet or a box of candy. All gifts should be relatively small. Now shuffle two decks of cards well, but separately. Place one deck, face down, on the table and distribute the other cards as evenly as possible, passing them all out. The players hold their cards where they can see them and one player will call the cards that are on the table.

Turn the first card over and call that card. Whoever is holding the identical card, from the other deck, chooses a prize from the table. After all the prizes are distributed, turn over the next card and call it. Everyone should hide the gift they selected behind their back or in their pocket. Whoever has that card can say "stay", which means "keep my prize", or can tell someone else at the table he wants their prize.

The person who does want to trade his prize must remember who drew the prize he wants. For example, after the dealer turns over the next card, and Joe has the matching card, Joe gets to choose who he wants to trade gifts with. Joe says "Sharon, I'll take the $5 bill", and Sharon hands it to him while Joe gives Sharon his original gift.

But, if Joe asks Sharon for the $5 bill and she isn't the one who is holding it, Joe loses his next turn and the card-turning continues. After all cards have been turned the players keep the last gift in their possession.

A fun game for just kids is to let them try to toss Christmas cards into a laundry basket, a few feet away. The cards are difficult to throw and must be hurled just right to land in the basket. The one with the most cards in the basket wins a candy cane, or another prize, for each card he land correctly. Other kids each receive one candy cane for playing.

Have a race to see who can open the most gifts - while wearing gloves, scarf and hat. This is a challenging game and not suitable for very small kids. Teens and adults will love the wrapping game, where you wrap presents with gloves, scarf and mittens on. Or, tie one arm behind your back with red ribbon then see who can wrap the present the fastest using only one hand.

Another game for older kids and adults is to see who can draw the best Christmas picture - while the paper is on their head! Hold a piece of paper on your head with one hand then draw the picture with the other. Everyone votes on whose picture looks the best. Get crazy and put embellishments on the table like glue and sequins, glitter, yarn and buttons. You'll laugh until you cry.

Play a game where each person, as they arrive, is given a piece of paper with a Christmas name on it. It could be "reindeer", "shopper" or "Mrs. Claus". Try not to make them too easy. The person must continue through the party dropping small hints as to who they are. The person assigned "reindeer" doesn't have to crawl around on all fours but can occasionally stamp his foot or give another clue.

A caroler can suddenly burst out in song and sing a few bars of a Christmas carol. The clues shouldn't be too obvious or the game will be over quickly. Towards the end of the night everyone can get a piece of paper and write down who or what they think each person is. The one who guesses the most wins a small gift. This game can be played at a church party, with each person being a Biblical character.

A very unique Christmas party for adults is a pinata party. Most people don't think of pinatas for Christmas but the pinata can be filled with unique gifts for friends. Purchase a Christmas-theme pinata then remove a small section from the top of the pinata. Add small gifts that each person brings, into the pinata, then replace the removed section.

The gifts can be personal items from you, such as gift certificates to your beauty salon, packets of seasonings from your herbal shop, or even small crafts you've made at home. Make sure the items aren't breakable when they fall and are rather small in size.

With all the stress that some people feel during the holiday seasons it's nice to take a little break and enjoy some laughs and fun with your friends and family. There are many games you can play - see if you can invent one of your own.