Christmas
Table Games
If you're getting everyone together for
Christmas dinner, you want to provide some fun activities and
games in addition to just the meal. Here are some good ideas to
keep the crowd in the Christmas mood and keep them busy and
diverted until the meal is ready.
Guess the dinner - Have all the people who are not working in
the kitchen do a smell test and try to figure out what's on the
menu for dinner. Sure, turkey or ham or roast beef might be an
obvious choice and an easy one if they are traditional in your
family, but what's the potato smell? Is it a hashed brown
casserole, or baked potatoes? Are they mashed with sour cream or
garlic? Are there brussel sprouts for dinner or squash, or both.
The winner, or the person who most closely guesses the items on
the menu, gets a taste test.
Board game fun - Bring out the most kid-like board game you
have. This might be one that was just opened that morning or
something you already have. Get the men in the house (not the
boys, but grown men) to sit down on the floor and play the game.
A great picture can be had when the fathers and grandfathers are
on the living room rug playing Candyland or Chutes and Ladders.
Better yet, bring out a princess game and enjoy watching the men
get dressed up like princesses as the game goes on. As a
secondary activity, pit the kids and dads against each other in
a game of monopoly or cards. The kids can play with their dads
on a team or the dads can play against the kids. Either way,
it's sure to be fun.
Tablecloth - If the children are getting restless waiting for
the meal, have them decorate the tablecloth. This isn't the
time, then, to put great Aunt Martha's tablecloth on the table,
but something inexpensive and yet not disposable. You can keep
the tablecloth from year to year and enjoy watching the
progression of the children's art through the tablecloth. Be
sure to have them use permanent markers and have them date and
sign it, if they are old enough. If they're not, date and sign
it for them. You'll want that bit of information later.
Outdoor fun - Have a fun game of "toss the hat". Fill Santa's
hat with some candy or other small items and try to toss the hat
around without the items falling out. You can have a relay with
Santa's hat where everyone wears Santa's hat, then hands it to
the next person, who has to put it on and then take if off and
then hand it to the next person. How about a rousing game of
football, where the goal line is made of discarded Christmas
ribbon? Or a game of soccer where the soccer ball is a rolled up
ball of discarded Christmas paper.
Worst presents - Who has the best story about the worst present
they ever got? Before dessert have everyone share their best of
the worst stories. Be sure that you don't tell the story in
front of the person who gave you the worst present! What was the
most interesting present you ever got? Or the best handmade
present? What was the best present that came this Christmas?
Dessert isn't handed out until everyone shares a story, good or
bad.
Where's Santa? - While eating dinner, have a fun activity going
on that's sure to delight the children. Using a Santa hat, play
a game of "where's Santa"? Surely he's back at the North Pole by
now, right? Have someone start with the Santa hat and under the
table, that person passes it to someone else. Everyone tries to
decide where the hat is. Whoever has the hat (they can keep it
in their lap while they eat) winks at someone else when they
catch their eye. If someone gets winked at, they say, "Santa's
lost!" and this continues, with the passing of the hat and the
winking, until someone figures out where Santa is.