To energize the Christmas meal and keep everyone busy between bites, choose easy and friendly games. Enough to create laughter, strengthen bonds and experience a New Year’s Eve that everyone will remember.
At Christmas, the hours around the table can sometimes seem endless, especially for the youngest. What if, this year, you transformed the wait into a fun and playful moment? No need for major preparations or a Monopoly marathon: a few simple games will be enough to entertain young and old. Whether to lighten the mood, keep the children busy or avoid tricky subjects, here are our best ideas to add a dose of fun to your Christmas meal.
1 – The game of effort
For this part, you will laugh, but you will have to resist to be able to hold on and earn the most points. Two teams will face each other. The instructions are simple: install two buckets equidistant at the end of a room, and place one behind the other in two columns (one column per team). Each participant will have to place a foam ball between their thighs and as quickly as possible, they will have to throw it into the bucket without using their hands. Obviously, to succeed, everyone will adopt a certain position, like when you sit in the toilet. Ready ? Go!
2 – The gift unwrapping competition
Laughter guaranteed with this game which consists of unwrapping a gift as quickly as possible… while wearing potholders! To play it, all you need is two oven mitts and a die available. The players line up: the first starts trying to unwrap the gift, while the next player rolls the die until they get a six. At that point, he takes the place of the first, while the next person rolls the die in turn, and so on until someone has managed to completely unwrap the gift. You can choose to use a real gift that the winner will win, or simply an empty cardboard box for the fun of the game.
@diversion.animations Do you want to add some madness to your Christmas Eve? These 3 game ideas are perfect for laughing, creating memories and getting everyone in the festive mood! Wrapped gifts, draws and puzzle competitions, this is a Christmas that becomes a real adventure. Test them out on your next New Year’s Eve and transform your party into an unforgettable moment
Christmas Rock Party – Beat-Hoven
3 – A Christmas version of beer pong (and suitable for children!)
Everyone knows the concept of beer pong: you line up cups filled with beer at the end of a table, and the goal is to successfully insert a ping-pong ball into them from a distance. In the Christmas version, no alcohol in sight. The beer is replaced by small objects or mini gifts, which the player wins once the ball falls into the glass! A game where everyone ends up a winner, and which is perfect for children.
4 – The life-size Gluttonous Hippos
Like the famous game “The Gluttonous Hippos”, you will have to collect as many Christmas baubles as possible. This game requires a little bit of organization: a large space, and above all, a lot of Christmas balls. In each team of two, one will play the “hippo” and try to retrieve the balls from the ground while his partner holds him by the feet. Bursts of laughter guaranteed!
5 – Secret Santa revisited in game
Do you know the principle of Secret Santa, which means that everyone buys only one gift and draws lots to the person to whom they will give it? Here, we revisit this concept: each gift is associated with a color, but you have to play to win it. Not all have the same value: you line up ribbons in stages, from the worst to the best gift, and you have to try to reach the furthest to win the supreme gift. And to reach it, we unroll… toilet paper! When the roller stops in front of a ribbon, you have won the gift that matches its color.
6 – Post-it game: which Christmas character am I?
The Christmas version of the post-it game consists of guessing which holiday-related character is written on the post-it stuck to your forehead by asking questions to the other players. For example, you can refer to Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer, the Grinch, or any character associated with Christmas, there are no limits!
7 – The short Christmas straw
We all know the game of straws: everyone draws a straw, and the one who gets the shortest loses. In its Christmas version, mystery gifts are placed in a circle, all connected to pieces of rope that meet in the center, hidden by a cup or a roll of toilet paper. Only the end of each rope sticks out: it is impossible to guess which corresponds to which gift. But we exchange one of the gifts for a raw egg… which will be burst on the loser’s head! Of course, if you want to avoid messes, the egg can be replaced with any fun token, or just a “sucky” gift. This game can also be a version of Secret Santa, without any losers.
8 – Christmas version of bingo
In its original version, the game of bingo consists of filling a row, a column or a diagonal with the numbers drawn at random. In its Christmas version, the numbers give way to personalized clues for the family: you have to find someone who ticks the boxes. For example, you can write in the boxes things like “doesn’t like chocolate”, “made presents at the last minute”, “wears an ugly Christmas sweater”, or even “prefers natural trees”. The possibilities are endless to adapt the game to your family members!
9 – The Christmas candle challenge
The principle of this game is simple: you line up a row of small candles, and each player must try to extinguish them all in a single exhalation. And it’s harder than it seems! It all depends above all on the number of candles used, but it is possible to prolong the pleasure by organizing rounds: during the first, ten candles are lined up, then twelve, then fifteen, and so on.
10 – Christmas Pictionary
Christmas Pictionary follows the classic rules of the original game, but focuses on holiday-related words, like “tree” or “gift.” Two teams compete to guess drawings in less than a minute, with the option for the opposing team to respond if no one finds it.
