Low Cost Games for a Christmas Party with Kids

So it's Christmas, and you are looking for some low cost Christmas party games your kids can play (and maybe you with them). Where to turn? Here is a perfect place, because I have some great suggestions for you! Read on for three fun games my family plays during the holidays when we want to spend time, not money, to optimize our fun. We enjoy them, and I think you will too:

1. The Trivia Game: In my family, trivia is always a popular pastime, especially when running a low-cost Christmas celebration. You can tailor it to your interests and kids. The game play is simple. You take a subject - say, a Christmas movie- and then make up questions. For example, what was the name of Tim Allen's character in The Santa Clause? (The answer, by the way, is Scott Calvin) Before you start, select how many questions you want to ask and once that number has been reached, the winner is the person with the most right answers. You can have the kids shout out the answers or have them raise their hands - just be sure to let them know before the game starts and stick to your own rules! Low cost: free!

2. Another low cost Christmas party game to play with your kids, or at any Christmas celebration, is the Christmas Lyrics game. It can be played either as individuals or in groups and requires one person to be the host. The host picks a word that may be common to Christmas songs, such as 'snow'. Then players must state a lyrical phrase that contains the word 'snow' to stay in the game. An examples of a correct answer is Irving Berlin's, "children listen to hear sleigh bell's in the snow", from White Christmas.'The last person/team standing wins. Low cost: free!

3. A third low cost option for Christmas party games for kids is the Christmas Alphabet game. You start at the top of the Alphabet and the first player must name something Christmas-oriented that begins with 'A'.They might, for example, say 'angel' or Then the next player must say a Christmas word that starts with 'B'. A player is eliminated if they can't name something that starts with their letter, and the last player standing, wins. Low cost: free!

These are games my family either made up or adopted from other games. They're all low cost (free) because they do not involve any purchases; all they require is an imagination, some enthusiasm, and family-time. Plus, they are conveniently portable: you can take these low cost Christmas party games anywhere your family can go. We've played them in the car, while Christmas shopping, at relatives' houses, etc.