Indoor Snowball Fight

Once you have all finished opening your gifts, why not scrunch the paper into balls and have an indoor snowball fight, or if that sounds a bit too boistrous how about turning the waste paper basket into a basket ball net and see who can throw their scrunched up paper ball into the net, this way you get the tidying up done and the kids think they are playing a game.

Christmas Carolling

What you need:  Lyrics of Christmas Carols 

Teach the kids some Christmas Carols or maybe get them to sing a little carol service for you.  You could print off some copies of your favourite carols like While Shepherds Watched The Flocks at Night, Oh Little Town of Bethlehem, Away in a Manger and of course We Wish You a Merry Christmas. 

Word find

What you need:  Pens and paper for each team/person 

Give everyone a pen and paper and get them to see how many words they can make (of 3 letters or more) from a festive word or phrase using each letter only once.  For example "Merry Christmas" or "Santa Claus" or "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer".  This game can be played in teams or individually. The winner is the one with the most words. You could also have a bonus for the one with the longest word. 

Carol Charades

What you need:  Cards/paper with names of carols, an egg timer and a piece of paper and a pen to keep score

Divide everyone into teams. I find it is best to have a mix of ages and sexes in each team to make the competition more even.  Have a pile of pieces of paper, face down on the table, with names of Christmas carols on them.  The teams take it in turns with one player acting out the name of the carol for their team to guess, this player may not speak until the timer has run out.  If their team hasn't guessed by the time the egg timer runs out they don't score a point. If the other team know it they can earn a bonus point.  The winning team has the most points at the end of the game.

Christmas Pictionary

What you need:  Cards/paper with Christmas themed items or characters, an egg timer and a piece of paper and a pen to keep score

How To Play Pictionary

• Just like charades, divide the group into teams.
• Have a pile of pieces of card or paper, face down on the table, with names of Christmas items or characters on them such as turkey, Santa Claus, Christmas tree, elf, snow, fairy lights, etc.  
• The teams take it in turns with one player drawing the word on the top card for their team to guess. The person drawing is not allowed to speak, mime or write letters or numbers.  If their team hasn't guessed by the time the egg timer runs out they don't score a point. If the other team know it they can earn a bonus point. 
• The winning team has the most points at the end of the game.

Carol Anagrams

Give everyone a copy of these and a pencil and see who can figure them all out.

1. English tint (6,5)
2. Wean Mary Again (4,2,1,6)
3. Thorniest elf (3,5,4)
4. Gets ink where (2,5,5)
5. Belittle hot hometown elf (1,6,4,2,9)
6. The Swiss are hip (1,3,5,5)
7. The chalk sled (4,3,5)
8. Gilded ringing horn, oh my (4,4,7,2,4)
9. Thy lovely thin head (3,5,3,3,3)
10. I acknowledge songs (4,4,9)

Answers:

1. Silent Night
2. Away in a Manger
3. The First Noel
4. We Three Kings
5. O Little Town of Bethlehem
6. I Saw Three Ships
7. Deck the Halls
8. Ding Dong Merrily on High
9. The Holly and the Ivy
10. Good King Wenceslas

Christmas Memory Game

This game is played individually.  The first player starts by saying "I went Christmas shopping and I bought..." and says something starting with the letter "A" like apple.  The second person then repeats what the first person said and adds something that begins with the letter "B" like banana. This continues with an additional item being added everytime. When someone can't remember an item they drop out of the game. The last player who can remember all the items wins.

 Watch a Christmas Film

If your guests don't fancy playing a game preferring instead to doze in front of the TV, there are plenty of Christmas themed films available which are suitable for the whole family.