It’s winter break and you have a full house! Looking for ways to entertain a rambunctious little crowd this season? Look no further than AquaMobile’s 4 Fun Festive Christmas Games that can be enjoyed by all ages! Check out our Cookie Recipes and Holiday Crafts for more inspiration. Here are all of the steps you need to have some fun this holiday season!
Festive Games: Holiday Memory Cards
Give this classic a yuletide twist! This memory game can be printed and coloured in or drawn by hand.
You will need:
- Paper (ideally card stock)
- Printer
- Crayons or markers
- If you do not have access to a printer, hand drawings or magazine cutouts work too!
Preparation:
1. Print off cards with matching images. Little ones can choose the colours they want to use on the cards.
2. Make sure there are 2 cards of each item to ensure they have a match. Here is a list of images to draw or print out to create your own deck.
- Candy cane
- Snowman
- Santa’s Boot
- Present
- Christmas tree
- Stocking
- Bow
- Teddy Bear
- Gingerbread man
- Snowflake
- Tree Ornament
- Star
- Or you can always print off our version of the Matching Memory Game!
Festive Games: Santa’s Elves Spy Mission
When it is too cold outside, children might be left bored inside the house. Try this physical activity to give them hours of fun. This is a good hands-on game that they want to try again and again. Add this idea to your Christmas game list this season!
You will need:
- Crepe paper, streamers or yarn
- Tape
- Prize (candy, ribbon, small toy)
- A hallway in your home that will not need to be walked through frequently for at least one hour.
How to Play this Christmas Game:
- Measure the width of your chosen hallway. Cut 20 sections of yarn or streamers at a length that is 2 feet longer than the width of your hallway.
- Tape the yarn or streamer “laser beams” in zig-zag patterns from one wall to the other. These streamers should imitate the laser beams.
- For the yarn approach, you might not need tape. Wrap the yarn around corners, handrails and railings to create a laser maze. (Warning: yarn is harder to rip and poses a risk situation if tangled in. Always supervise your children when playing.)
- Place mission objectives at the end of the laser maze. This could be spotting party favour toys hidden around a room, riddle or a task. Instruct your spy elves on what they must accomplish or bring back to complete the mission! Create a task like throwing bean bags into a basket on the other side. (Tip: Trick them into doing their chores by putting 5 pieces of dirty laundry into a laundry basket or putting away their toys as their mission!)
- After completing the task, they must climb back through the laser maze to get a mission accomplished stamp or badge. Create as many missions as you want to encourage children to keep collecting badges!
Festive Games: Minty Ice Fishing
Take a trip to the North Pole with a festive Christmas game! With some candy canes, foam fishies, pencils and yarn, you can create a minty ice fishing experience for your little swimmers. This can be done individually or with friends for a fishing party! How many minty fish can you catch?
You will need:
- 6-10 candy canes per child
- Matching number of foam fish cutouts
- A bucket or container (note that the candy canes should protrude from the top of the bucket)
- Approximately 4-5 feet of yarn per child
- 1 pencil or any long sturdy object (yardstick, wooden spoon) per child.
Preparation:
- Make your candy cane fish by cutting two parallel slits into each foam fish width-wise. The slits should be one inch apart and half an inch long. Attach your fish to a candy cane by slipping the candy cane through slits made in the foam fish. The fish should be facing the hooked part of the candy cane. Place tape strategically to ensure the foam fish remains attached to the candy cane.
2. Place all of your candy cane fish inside the bucket to have the hooked end of the candy cane poking out of the bucket.
3. Time to make your fishing rod! Tie the yarn to the end of the pencil. This will be the handle. Tie the other side of the yarn to the straight end of a candy cane. Now you have a fishing rod!
How to play this Christmas Game:
1 player: Using your fishing rod, see how many candy cane fish you can catch. The end of the yarn attached to the rod has a candy cane attached, which can be used to hook the upright candy cane fish. Try to catch them all and see how many you can catch in 1 minute!
2 or more players: Players take turns seeing how to fish they can catch in a minute. The one who catches the most wins!
Festive Games: Never ending Candy Ball
There are so many layers to uncover much like Willy Wonka’s Neverending Gobstoppers! In only 15 minutes, you can set up a Christmas game that will provide tons of fun and excitement!
You will need:
- Individually wrapped candies or party favours which can be purchased at your local grocery or department stores
- A roll of plastic wrap (heavy-duty, not Saran). You can also use old wrapping paper or newspapers too
- 2 dice
- Tape – any kind will do!
Preparation:
- Wrap a prize in newspaper and then in plastic, sealing it with tape. The “biggest” prize should be in the centre and layers should be challenging to pull away. (Tip: place a jingle bell in the middle to give the ball a lively sound!)
- Add another prize to the existing “ball” and wrap it on top of the plastic wrap to create a layer. Repeat until each prize is encased in its layer. The snowball effect should give you a large ball full of candy and prizes.
How to Play this Christmas Game:
- Have players sit in a circle.
- Pass the ball to a participant and have them try and unravel the top layer of the ball.
- To the right of the person holding the ball, have another player start to roll dice. When they roll doubles, they receive the ball. The dice are also passed to the right. Your time to unwrap the ball is limited to the dice-throwing luck of the person beside you!
BONUS GAME! Festive Games: Minute-to-Win-It Santa Hat Stacking Cups
Here’s another game to add to your Christmas games list. Old plastic cups can make for an exciting Minute-to-Win-It style game that’s fun for the whole family. There is almost no preparation time either!
You will need:
- 2 sets (10-15 each set) of plastic cups (preferably red and green!)
- 2 pom-poms can be substituted with a styrofoam ball
- A flat, sturdy surface
How to play this Christmas Game:
2 people start with a stack of 10 cups. Starting at the same time, each person stacks the cups in a pyramid shape with 4 cups as a straight line as the base. Do this one with one hand and add a pom-pom on top when finished. Whoever finishes their Santa hat stack first wins!
Cups can be added or taken away to make the challenge easier or harder.
