Need ideas for a Christmas Party? Look no further!

1. Swapping Secret Santa

Ages 12-18
Budget: 0–medium budget
Space needed: Small–medium

• Everyone brings a present to the party, or you can buy and wrap pre-prepared ones. Make sure you have enough for everyone. They could be good and useful or completely silly and useless!
• Ask the group to sit in a circle with the presents in the middle.
• The person wearing the most colourful outfit can pick a present first.
• Once they’ve opened the present, the person on their left picks a present, unwraps it, and can choose to keep it or swap it with the first person.
• Next, the third person has a go at picking a present, opening it, and choosing whether they want to keep it or swap with an already opened one.
• This continues until everyone has had a turn.

 

2. Gingerbread House Competition

Ages: 7–18
Budget: Medium
Space needed: Small-medium

• Split your group up into smaller teams – no more than 4 works best. For younger-aged groups, you might need a leader in each team.
• Give each team a Gingerbread House kit. These can be bought online, and often in supermarkets too.
• Give each team 15 minutes to build and decorate the best gingerbread house.

 

3. What’s in the Christmas Box?

Ages: 7–18
Budget: Medium
Space needed: Medium

• Beforehand, find a large cardboard box. Cut a hole large enough for a hand on one side, and another square hole large enough for the rest of the group to see on the opposite side.
• Gather Christmas-related items. For example, a bowl of sprouts, a jar of cranberry sauce, tinsel, a Christmas hat, wrapping paper, a gingerbread man, a star from a Christmas tree, a bauble.
• Gather the group in front of the viewing side of the box – it should be empty to start with.
• Ask for a volunteer, to come to the front. They’ll close their eyes whilst the item is being put inside the box, and the rest of the group should be quiet to not give away any clues!
• Once the item is in the box, allow the volunteer to poke their hand through the hole and feel around. They should guess and say aloud what it is.
• If they get it correct, you could give a prize.
• Keep playing until you’ve run out of items!

 

4. Christmas Selfie Challenge

Ages: 7–18
Budget: 0 
Space needed: Medium–Large

• For this one, you’ll need to make sure that everyone in your group has permission to have photos taken of them. You may also need to tell the children/young people not to post the images online and to delete them after the game.
• Split the group into teams, and give each group a list of selfies they need to take.
• These could include: acting out a Christmas scene, with a Christmas tree, in real or fake snow, spelling out each letter of the word Christmas, acting out a Christmas carol or song.
• Give the groups 20 minutes to take all these photos. The photos should feature a minimum of all but one member of the group.
• Once the photos have all been taken, the groups should return to the leaders where the series of photos will be checked.

 

 

5. Christmas Name that Tune

Ages: 10+
Budget: 0–Small
Space needed: Small

• Beforehand, create a Christmas playlist. The songs should be well known but could be either secular or carols.
• Explain that you are going to play the first 5 seconds of a song. If someone thinks they know it, they should stand up really quickly! For younger-aged groups, you might need to play the song for the first 10 or 15 seconds.
• When the leader says their name, they should give their answer. There should be no hesitation, otherwise it will be passed to the person who stood up next fastest.
• Give each correct person a prize, such as a chocolate coin or a candy cane.

 

6. Santa Says

Ages: 4–10
Budget: 0 
Space needed: Medium 

• This game is played the same as Simon Says.
• Ask everyone to stand.
• A leader at the front start by saying “Santa Says…” followed by, “touch your knees/touch your eyes/spin around once” etc.
• The group should do what Santa says.
• If the leader just says, for example, “touch your nose” without first saying “Santa Says”, and the child/young person follows, then they are out.
• The game continues until only one person is left in.

 

7. Do You Want to Build a Snowman?

Ages: 4–18
Budget: Small budget needed
Space needed: Medium

• Split the group into teams of fours. For younger aged groups, a leader might be needed in each team.
• Give each group toilet roles, a scarf, a hat, and a carrot.
• Set a timer for 3 minutes – longer for younger aged groups.
• In this time, they need to wrap 1 person in toilet role, wrap a scarf around them, put a hat on their head, and a carrot in their mouth.
• The best-looking snowman wins!

 

8. Pipe Cleaner Nativity Scene

Ages: 10–18
Budget: Small
Space neeed: Small

• Split the group up into teams of four, giving each group the same number of pipe cleaners.
• Within 10 minutes, each team should make the nativity scene with their pipe cleaners.
• The best-looking nativity scene wins.

 

9. Reindeer Antlers

Ages: 12–18
Budget: Small
Space needed: Medium

• · Split the group up into teams of twos-fours, giving each team an equal number of balloons and a large pair of tights.
• · After the count of three, each team needs to blow up their balloons and push them into the tights.
• · The first team to do this and wear the tights on one team player’s head is the winner.

 

10. Snatch the Bauble

Ages: 7–18
Budget: Small
Space needed: Medium-large

• Split the group in two, with the two halves in separate lines facing each other.
• Place a bauble between each person facing each other – they are now pairs.
• The leader will call out different instructions, such as “toes”, and the children/young people will need to touch their toes. Or “head”, and they need to touch their head.
• When the leader shouts, “bauble”, the pairs need to snatch the bauble that sits between them quickly.
• The first to snatch each bauble is the winner, and the other player is eliminated.
• At the start of every round, make sure the children/young people each have a pair, with a bauble that is equally distance between each one.
• They should be standing up straight, rather than crouched ready to snatch!

 

More ideas for your Christmas party:

• Hold it in a different venue to usual, even if it is just a different part of the Church
• Play Christmas music
• Provide Christmas snacks
• Hold a best-dressed competition
• Decorate the room with Christmas trees, fake snow, banners etc.
• Hold a quieter space with crafts or a film on
• Do a talk on the Christmas message!