'Tis the season for fun and festivities! Whether you're planning a Family Get Together, a Company Soiree, or a big Christmas Blow-Out with friends, you'll need some winter-themed games to keep the little ones entertained while the adults wine and dine. Here at PartyFriendz, we've put together a list of family-friendly activities with a festive twist that will keep your celebration merry and bright! These simple games require little set up from you and call for teamwork, creativity and lots of laughter from your young guests.
Do You Want To Build A Snowman:
A Festive adaptation to the Halloweeny ‘Mummy Wrapping’ game. A great game to work together, get creative and have some fun.
You Will Need:
Rolls of Toilet Paper
Self-Adhesive Felt in Black
Self-Adhesive Felt in Orange
Scarves
Hats
Preparation:
Cut the Black Felt into Circles of various sizes to be ‘pebbles’ for the snowman’s face and buttons.
Cut the Orange Felt into slim triangles to be ‘carrots’ for the snowman’s nose.
How to Play:
Split the players into teams – you will need approximately 4 people in each team.
Each team is given a roll of toilet paper, some black felt ‘pebbles’ in different sizes, an orange felt ‘carrot’, a scarf and a hat.
One team member must volunteer to be made into a snowman.
The rest of the team must make their team-mate into a snowman by wrapping them in toilet roll, sticking the felt pebbles and carrot to them, then finishing it off with a hat and scarf.
They must do this within a set time limit (3 minutes is a good average, younger children my need longer).
The winning team are the team with the most complete/best looking snowman at the end of the game.
Snowball Toss:
A simple team-player throwing game that gets everyone involved.
You Will Need:
20 White Paper Party Cups
Black and Orange Marker Pens (Optional)
Marshmallows
Sweets (optional)
Preparation:
Split the cups into two groups of ten.
Arrange the cups into two ten-cup triangles on the floor at the far end of the room. The two triangles should be placed a metre or so apart. One long edge of each triangle should be parallel to the back wall so that the tip of the triangle points inwards towards the room.
Ensure the cups are placed open-end upwards. If required, place sweets into each cup to keep them weighted down.
On the opposite side of the room, allocate a base for the players to throw from – this should be a couple of metres away from the cups.
As an optional extra, you can use the black and orange marker pens to draw a Snowman face onto each cup, as if the cup itself were the snowman’s head.
How to Play:
Split the players into two teams.
One at a time a player from each team will step up to the throwing base and attempt to throw a marshmallow into one of the cups.
If they manage to get their marshmallow into a cup, the cup is removed from the triangle and the player gets to eat the marshmallow (and optional sweets) inside. The cup is then placed to one side and the next team player has a go.
If they do not get their marshmallow into a cup, the next player has a go.
The winning team is the first team to remove all of their cups from their triangle.
Unwrap the Festive Gift:
A comic dress up game that forces the players to work for their prize! A safe and festive twist on the Chocolate Knife and Fork Game.
You Will Need:
A box (with an optional gift inside)
Gift wrap
Ribbons (optional for extra difficulty)
Scissors and tape for wrapping
A dice
A pair of oven gloves or thick mittens
Other dress up items such as a Santa hat, a scarf, a pair of sunglasses, jewellery, etc
Preparation:
Wrap the box with gift wrap (and optional ribbons) and place it on a table or on the floor in the centre of the room.
Place the oven gloves and other dress up items beside it.
How To Play:
Sit the players in a circle with the gift box and props in the centre.
The dice gets passed around the circle with each player getting a roll.
If a player rolls a 6 on the dice, they yell out ‘six’ and then enter the circle.
On entering the circle, they must put on the oven gloves and other dress up items then attempt to unwrap the gift box. The player must not attempt to unwrap the gift box until they are wearing all of the dress up items and they must only ever touch the gift box with their glove-covered hands.
Whilst the player works on the gift box, the dice must continue around the circle with the other players attempting to roll a six.
Once a six is rolled, the player yells ‘six’ and enters the circle. The previous player in the centre must stop, remove the dress up items and return to their place in the circle. The new player in the centre puts on the dress up items and attempts to open the gift box.
Depending on the age and abilities of the players, the winner can either be the first one to successfully tear off a piece of wrapping paper, or the person to remove the final piece of wrapping paper from the gift box.
To add further difficulty, add ribbons to the wrapping.
Pin the Nose on Rudolph:
A well-known party favourite with a festive theme. It requires a little more preparation than the other games but you don’t need to be artistic to make this game a success.
You Will Need:
3 A4 Sheets of Brown Paper
1 Sheet of Black Paper
2 Sheets of Light Brown Paper
Red Card (enough to create noses for all players)
Blue Tack
Glue
A scarf
A marker or pen
Preparation:
Cut out two large circles from the sheets of brown paper. One circle should be nearly the full size of one A4 sheet, the second should be slightly smaller.
Stick these two circles to the wall with blue tack, with the small circle on top and the large circle on the bottom. Arrange them with a overlap along one edge to create his head (as shown on the image above).
With the third sheet of A4 brown paper, cut out two triangles. Glue these sticking out diagonally from the top left and top right sides of the smaller brown circle stuck to the wall. This will be his ears.
Cut out two small oval shapes from the black paper and glue them a few inches apart in the middle of the smaller brown circle on the wall to make his eyes.
Next cut out two large antler shapes from your sheets of Light Brown Paper – a basic 'Y' shape works well, or follow the shape on the image above. Blue tack these protruding out from the top of the reindeer's head.
Draw an ‘X’ an inch or two above the middle point of the large brown circle on the wall – this is where Rudolph’s nose should be!
Finally cut out circles from the red card to make noses and stick some blue tack to the back of each one. You will need one red nose for each player (remember to write each player’s name on their red nose so you know who’s is who’s later on).
How to Play:
Blindfold your first player, spin them round, then let them stick their red nose to Rudolph’s face.
Repeat with each of the other players.
The winner is the one who gets their nose closest to the ‘X’ in the middle of Rudolph’s face.
This game can also work with Pin the Carrot Nose on the Snowman or with Pin the Christmas Hat on Santa!
Don't forget, here at PartyFriendz we live for everything party! Check out what we can add to your celebration for a little extra holiday sparkle:
Christmas Character Visits - festive visits from our Santa Clause or Christmas Elves
Party Character Visits - festive visits from our huge selection of Party Princesses or Superheroes
Mini Disco Packages - relax and let one of our entertainers run the party for you with games, music and sweetie prizes
DJ Packages - dance the night away with our professional DJ Service
Party Extras - add extra activities such as Face Painting, Balloon Modelling or our Glitter Bar
Get in touch for more information and availability.
From everyone at PartyFriendz, we ho-ho-hope your festive season is filled with holiday cheer.
Happy Holidays!