Holiday Games to Engage the Family

RUDOLPH RACE

Supplies: Red pompoms, spoons, Vaseline and Rudolph poster or drawing taped to a wall. 

Give each player a red pompom and a spoonful of Vaseline. Players have to race to be the first person to put a red pompom on Rudolph’s nose (make sure to put a bit of Vaseline on his nose as well) on the other side of the room.

Players dip their nose into the spoonful of Vaseline, then get the red pompom to stick to their nose. Then, they move across the room and stick it to Rudolph’s nose, without using their hands! 

PINE CONE TOSS

Supplies: Pine cones, buckets or containers, skewers or other stick to hold up signs indicating how many points each bucket is worth. 

Set up the buckets, either in a row or placing some farther back for added difficulty. Attach the signs to the skewers or sticks and place them in the buckets.

Give each player the pine cones to toss, and add up the number of points they earn. You can mark one cone as being worth double the points by painting it gold, tying it up with ribbon or doing something else to distinguish it from the others. 

You can also use snowballs if the weather cooperates … 

CHRISTMAS CHARADES

Make a list of holiday-related terms or actions and cut it up so each strip contains one idea. Divide your group into two teams to play against each other. A member from each team will face the team to compete. They will pull a Christmas-related term or action out of the bowl and act it out to the best of their ability. 

This is such an easy game and so easy to customize, too. Your list can include generic Christmas terms, traditions or people specific to your family or location. Make age-appropriate for any group.

The first team to guess the action being acted out gets a point if you’re keeping score, or you can just play for fun. There will be much mirth and merriment along the way, whatever you do!