Games and Activities

As everyone arrives, give each guest an empty Christmas stocking. Provide them with glitter glue pens to print their names onto the stockings. This can serve as the goody bag holder.

Play Pass the Present. Purchase enough small presents for each child to receive one. Have the kids sit in a circle and pass a present to music. When the music stops, whoever is holding it opens the present and sits out. Continue the game until all children have received and opened a present.

Gingerbread House Building. Collect a few large appliance boxes from a local store and cut out a window and door in each. Provide the kids with colorful tissue paper, construction paper, packing peanuts, and anything else you can think of and glue sticks. The kids can spend time turning the cardboard boxes into a gingerbread home.

Tree Decorating. Using upside down sugar cones have the kids decorate their own tree using: white frosting tinted green with food coloring, silver and gold balls, stars, mini chocolate candies, shoestring licorice, and mini gumdrops.

Make Ornaments. Provide tin foil, construction paper, yarn (for hooks), and Christmas stickers and let the kids make their own ornaments for decorating their Christmas trees. If you have room on your own tree, or an extra tree available, have them decorate this tree.

Create a Reindeer Obstacle Course. Every one of Santa's reindeer must keep in flying form, and must complete the reindeer agility course. Use old Christmas wreaths for tires to run through, a skipping rope with red and white stripes, a Christmas tree that they circle, a ride down a slide, and a plywood board they have to balance themselves on.

Present Wrap. Provide the kids with boxes and wrapping paper and see who can wrap their boxes fastest. Make it more challenging by providing mitts that they must wear while wrapping their gifts. Alternatively, have the kids work in teams where the wrapper is blindfolded and their partner gives them instructions.

Tree Wrap. For this game, you need some willing adults, green crepe paper rolls, tree garlands, and lightweight, unbreakable ornaments. Divide the kids into teams, one per adult. Provide each team with a roll of crepe paper, a box of ornaments, and at least one garland. The kids must make their adult into a tree by wrapping them with the crepe paper roll and then decorate the tree with the garland and ornaments. The first team done wins!

Play Nutcracker Tag. Buy or make a Nutcracker Mask and have one kid wear it while the other kids are the mice ─ just like Clara’s Dream. Make it freeze tag and have the Nutcracker use a play sword to tag the mice.