The perfect family party occasion, Christmas is a time for sticking to tradition. But what if you switched things up a little this year? Without turning things upside down completely, why not add a few little surprises between the cocktails and the gifts, maybe some crazy outfits and some fun games people of all ages can really get into?
Quirky décor
Garlands with pictures
On a wall or on a garland, attach photos of each family member from when they were 5 or 10 years old. You’ll bring back memories for the older folks and the younger ones can try to guess who’s who.
Recycled ornaments
To keep the kids amused, get them to make pretty ornaments with the left-over wrapping paper or old Christmas cards. They’ll be super proud to hang them in the tree!
Christmas photo space
Install a photo wall in a corner of the living room with Christmas accessories (elf hats, Santa beards, funny eyeglasses, light garlands, etc.). Invite each guest to dress up and have their photo taken! Lots of fun and memories in the making!
To theme or not to theme?
- A white, red or green party theme
- A glitter Christmas
- Tacky Christmas (there’s always the tacky Christmas sweater, but you can ask people to wear tacky socks, eyeglasses and hats)
- Slacker party (everyone wears sweatpants or pyjamas!)
- Movie night (everyone dresses like a Christmas movie character)
- Decoration divas (people need to wear a Christmas decoration as an accessory, like a reindeer headband, a garland necklace or tree ornament earrings).
Games: laughter guaranteed!
Everyone likes to have fun and games. Even the simplest games liven up a party like nothing else. Here are just a few.
Le bas de Noël mystère
Remplissez un bas de Noël avec une dizaine de petits objets sur le thème de Noël (boule de Noël, bonbon, décoration de bûche, etc.). Fermez l’ouverture du bas avec un élastique. Chaque joueur plonge la main dans le bas et essaie de deviner les objets qui s’y trouvent en une minute, puis note les mots sur une feuille (les plus jeunes pourront se faire aider à les écrire). Celui qui a trouvé le plus grand nombre d’objets gagne.Musical ice cube
Hand an ice cube round the table. The player who ends up with the completely melted ice cube is out. Start again with a new ice cube until there’s only one player left.
No yes, no no
Pin 5 clothespins to each person’s clothing. During the party or for a predetermined time, no one is allowed to say yes or no. Each time a person says yes or no to someone, that person steals a clothespin away from them. Anyone who is out of clothespins can’t steal any more. The winner is the person who succeeds in stealing all the clothespins or who has the most clothespins at the end of the predetermined time.
Christmas ABCs
This can be played as individuals but it’s more fun in teams. Give each team a sheet of paper with the 26 letters of the alphabet written out in a single column. The goal is to find a Christmas-related word that starts with each letter. The winning team is the first to find all 26 words or the most words in a predetermined time.
Rainbow
Each player has a bowl of coloured candies in front of them (like Smarties, M&Ms or Skittles). Using a straw to suck them up, players have to sort their candies into piles of the same colour in front of them. The first to finish wins!
