SANTA’S BELLY BURST
You will need: lots of balloons!
5 minutes
Give each young person an already-blown-up balloon. Ask them to put it up their jumper so they have a belly like Santa Claus. The aim of the game is to be the last Santa full of mince pies. Split them into two groups and give each group one minute to pop as many balloon bellies in their group as possible. The last Santa standing is the winner. Finish with a final round where the winners of each group go head to head.
REINDEER RELAY
You will need: numerous pairs of tights with the toes cut off, balloons, ribbon
10 minutes
Split the young people into groups of three and give each group a pair of tights and two pieces of ribbon. Divide the balloons equally between the teams. One member of the team must put the tights on their head. The aim of the game is to blow up the balloons and stuff them into the legs of the tights. Once they have made large ‘antlers’ they must tie the end of the tights together to keep the balloons in. The game can be won based on different rules, for example the tallest, the first to finish or the funniest.
SNOWBALL FIGHT
You will need: at least 30 blown up white balloons and some masking tape or something else to divide up the room
5 minutes
In the United Kingdom we can never guarantee a white Christmas but that should not hold us back from having a snowball fight! Before the session, divide the room into two with masking tape and blow up the ‘snowballs’. Split the young people, armed with the snowball balloons, into two teams on either side of the room. The aim of the game is to have the fewest snowballs on your side after the two minute snowball fight. A similar game called ‘White Christmas’ can be played with unravelling toilet rolls. Give the teams as many toilet rolls as you can muster, already slightly unravelled and the game proceeds in a similar fashion. This version gets very messy.
PASS THE SNOWBALL
You will need: cling film, dice, small bags of sweets and a prize or prizes. This game needs a bit of extra preparation so beware!
15 minutes
Wrap whatever you use as the prize in cling film and continue wrapping the cling film around the prize adding in the packets of sweets, as if you were about to play pass the parcel. Depending on how many young people attend, more than one parcel may be needed. Split them into groups and give each group one of the cling film ‘snowballs’ and a dice. Each team must choose their ‘trump’ (not that one) number on the dice. One member of the group should start unwrapping the snowball and the next in the group should start rolling the dice. When the trump number is rolled the young person should be given the snowball to unwrap and the next person in the team starts to roll the dice. Continue like this until someone wins the prize in the middle. You can add in other rules, for example wearing gloves or using two dice and moving on when you roll a double.
MAKE A SNOWMAN
You will need: a random box of fancy dress and toilet roll
5 minutes
In groups the young people have five minutes to make the best snowmen out of the resources you provide. An added bonus would be shaving foam, cotton wool balls and glue as they go down a treat but unfortunately can get extremely messy!
RUDOLPH THE RED NOSED REINDEER
You will need: red ribbon with a red pom-pom attached
10 minutes
Tie the ribbon with the pom-pom around a young person’s neck so that it is hanging very loosely. The aim of the game is to be the first person to balance the pom-pom on your nose without using your arms.
SNOW IS FALLING
You will need: paper bowls, cotton wool balls, spoons and blindfolds
10 minutes
Get volunteers up to the front and give them two paper bowls. Fill one with cotton wool balls and leave the other empty. Sit the volunteers on chairs and put the full bowl resting on their knees and the empty bowl resting on their head. Blindfold them and give them a spoon. The aim of the game is to get all of the cotton wool balls into the bowl on top of their heads. The winner is the one who has the most cotton wool balls in the bowl.
CHRISTMAS BOX FORFEITS
Many of the games mentioned above have winners and losers. To add to the fun, you could also add an array of forfeits for the losers of the games. These could range from fun things like unwrapping a present with your feet to eating a mince pie using no hands. Use your imagination to create a fun stream of winning and losing forfeits!
Happy Christmas to one and all and let us look forward to a well-earned break.
