Christmas Party Games!!

My mum's friend always has Pass the Parcel for the adults. In between wrappers are small, silly toys and gadgets such as a bouncy ball, folding teaspoon, dice, etc. You could put in forfeits instead.

I've recently seen a Christmas version of Pick Up Sticks - toss a pile of candy canes onto the table. In turn, you put a candy cane into your mouth with the curled end downwards. Use this to try to extract a cane from the pile on the table - if any move, you're out.

Using pool noodles or lengths of foam lagging, bop balloons across the table to each other. If the balloon goes over the heads and onto the floor, the team that batted it gains a point. First team to seven wins.

HeadBanz - make paper headbands and attach a card to the front. On each card should be a different character (you could have Christmas themed ones, such as Santa, Elf, Rudolf, etc). You have to guess which character you have on your headband by asking questions - but the answers can only be Yes or No.

Play a Left/Right game, such as this one

http://christiancamppro.com/twas-the-night-before-christmas-gift-exchange-game/

You can have just one gift, or you could have something for everyone. It's fun if you have something that people are more likely to want, and something that they are not as keen on - so maybe a box of chocolates and a bag of sprouts.

If your family has a musical bent, you can buy musical crackers which each have a whistle inside which plays a different note from all the rest.
Easy instructions and 'music' is provided which enables each person to blow their note at the right time, so that all together the notes make a well-known tune.

https://www.dsmusic.com/products/christmas-crackers-with-whistles-concerto-sheet-music-design-box-of-8?gclid=CjwKCAiA9MTQBRAREiwAzmytw1styNC8hHg7PZY5d6FtxE8GDNH8v0P0cyRSKVvWniOXYu1FARPk0hoC57wQAvD_BwE

Cards against humanity is great - but very rude/risqu! so play with the right people.

Dirty Santa (white elephant is another name). Everyone brings a present, you take turns choosing/snatching from another person. After x amounts of goes everyone opens the one they are left with.

I saw a video on FB the other day. It was a group of people round a table, one person had oven gloves on & the person on their left had 2 dice. They chose a number (you could choose anything really) and the person with the dice had to try & roll that number, while the person with the oven gloves had to try & unwrap a layer of the wrapping paper. When the person with the dice managed to roll the chosen number, they would give the dice to the person on their left & they would take the oven gloves & present. I didn't watch the full video but I assume it went on like this until the present had been fully unwrapped. I guess you could put other smaller gifts in each layer of paper or something.

I hope I've made sense explaining that. It looked quite funny.

Also 2 really stupid & a bit messy games - the After Eight games.

Game 1 - put an after eight on your forehead & you've got to try & manoeuvre it down your face just from wiggling your forehead, eyebrows, nose, mouth, anything really, to get the after eight into your mouth. First one to get the after eight in their mouth wins. If they drop it, they have to put it back on their forehead & start again.

Game 2 - sit at a table. Leave the after eight in the individual wrapper that it comes in and place it in front of each person with the opening of the wrapper facing away from them. Without using their hands they have to get the after eight out of the wrapper and eat it.

Every Xmas Eve we play 'the present game', about twelve of us. You need a pile of small presents, we all chip in and get some so there are some surprises: only a pound or two per present, things like keyring, pen, notebook, chocolate sprouts ☺, and always a really awful one, (last year DD wrapped a copy of Nigel Farage's autobiography!) you need three or four presents per person. Everyone sits in a circle and takes turns to throw a dice. If you get a six you take a present from the pile, but don't unwrap. When all the presents are taken, you set a timer for ten minutes or so and go round again, but this time if you get a six, you take a present from someone else. When the time is up, what you have is yours. This is much more fun than it sounds, particularly if drink has been taken!