Grannie's Christmas Party Games for Kids

Christmas is a time when cousins and families gather at Grandma's house for parties and celebration time together. Often the weather outside is cold and dreary, the space is too small for running around playing hard, and the adults are trying to have their own good times. A wise hostess (or Grandmother) will have some fun play and Christmas game ideas ready to suggest to those restless kids while they wait for Christmas dinner or Santa to arrive with new toys and fun times.

For children ages 15 and under these Christmas games can be adapted to fit various age groups.You might even find the adults joining in the fun.

Snowblowers:

In this Christmas game, grandma has to do a little work ahead of time to prepare, but this Christmas and winter themed game will keep them playing over and over as long as the "prizes" hold out and even longer as they race to see who is the biggest blower! Save two large paper towel cardboard cyclinders or some from gift wrap. You can decorate them for fun by covering them in gift wrap and add some Christmas ribbon and bows to the blowers to give them a more festive air. Find some simple small prizes ahead of time, candy, erasers, stickers, little trinkets, etc.

Equipment needed:

1 large table or flat surface, like a dining room or ping pong table. At our house, Grandpa always has a sheet of plywood that fits on saw horses, so this game could be played in the garage or barn also.

Set up:

Tape large paper cups to one side of the table so that the cup openings are level with the table top and clear away any chairs around the table so that player can get on all sides of the table. Put the prizes inside the cups about half way up.

Rules:

Two players compete against each other and then two more and on and on for how ever many kids you have present. You can then have a run off of each of the winners to get a grand champion Snow Blower! You place a ping pong ball in front of each contestant and assign each contestant one of the cups. Each contestant competes to get their ball in the cup on the side of the table by blowing their ball through their snow blower tube. If they accidentally blow the opponents ball off the table, they have to start at the beginning again, or if they accidentally blow their opponents ball and it goes into the cup, the opponent wins! When the winner gets his or her ball into their cup first, they get to choose a prize out of the cup. The next two contestants play and the play continues as long as there are prizes and contestants.

Stuff the Santa

This is one of our favorite Christmas game traditions and one that all ages, even adults can enjoy. Two teams compete to see who can stuff a red one piece union suit with balloons to make the largest Santa. Here's how it's played.

Set up: You need a long johns union suit, red, and balloons that are blowed up ahead of time and stuffed in garbage bags waiting for the game.

How to play: Contestants are divided int teams of four to six players. Draw candy canes to see who gets the longest one and gets to wear the union suit to be Santa. Make the game more fun by having a Santa hat for them to wear also.

Set a timer for 2 minutes and the team has to see how many balloons they can stuff inside the union suit with the "Santa" wearing it. When the time is up, lots of laughter will have ensued and make sure that photos are taken! Count the number of balloons as you undress Santa for the next team.

The next team chooses their Santa and the race begins again to see how many balloons they can Stuff Santa with before their 2 minutes is up. You can have more than two teams, as many as you have guests or children.

This game is so much fun, with everyone wanting a chance to be "Santa" once they see how much fun it is. Have extra balloons to replace the ones that are going to get popped. If a balloon pops, it doesn't count as part of the winning totals.

Christmas Fruit Bowl Game

This Christmas game works well for smaller children but older kids enjoy it at times also.

Set up ahead of time:

Grandmother or an adult writes the names of various fruits on small pieces of paper. Then a circle of chairs is set up, with one less than the total number of kids. Each child draws a fruit paper out of the container to know which fruit they are. Then someone is chosen to be it.

That person who is it, walks around the outside of the circle and the adult or older teen in charge of the game, calls out names of fruits from the list of fruits in the circle. When an apple is called for example, the apple must stand up and race around the outside of the circle trying to get back to her chair before the person who is it,gets to her chair. The person who is it can go any in direction around the circle, but can't go through the circle and neither can the runner.

Occasionally the caller calls out the term, "Christmas fruit bowl" and everyone gets up and runs around the circle one complete time trying to get back to their chair before the person who was it takes a chair. It's mayhem and no one will get it right, but the kids love when fruit bowl is called!

Christmas Jelly Bean Guessing Game

Take a glass jar and fill the jar with jelly beans or Christmas small candies. We use red and green jelly beans for Christmas color. As the kids arrive, have them try and count how many jelly beans they think are in the jar. Then they put their number on a piece of paper, put it in a box with everyone's else's guess. At the end of the party or the evening, the hostess or Grandmother reveals the exact total of how many jelly beans are in the jar and the closest person wins the jelly beans. (have extra jelly beans for for consolation prizes!) This simple Christmas game and activity is one that occupies children for quite a while as they literally try to count and figure out how many jelly beans are in the jar.