CHILDREN'S CHRISTMAS PARTY

Candy Cane Relay – Divide the children into two teams. Give each team five small candy canes. On signal, the team members pass their canes to the end of the line and then back again.

Christmas Charades – Divide children into groups. Each team acts out something which relates to Christmas. The others try to guess what the group is acting out.

Christmas Package – Wrap a small gift in several layers of paper. The children sit in a circle. When music begins, the gift is passed to the right. When music stops, the child who has the package begins to unwrap it. When the music begins, the gift is passed. This continues until the gift has been completely unwrapped. Whoever has the gift, when it is finally unwrapped, gets to keep it. If you have a larger group, use two or more gifts.

Christmas Stocking Hang – Put a piece of masking tape on the wall to represent a fireplace mantel. Give each child a paper stocking. One at a time, blindfold each child. Play as Pin the Tail on the Donkey.

Christmas Story Draw – When the leader says “Go”, the first person in each line goes to the paper taped on the wall and starts to draw something from the scene of Jesus’ birth in the manger. When the leader says “Change”, the next person goes and draws. This continues until the leader says, “Stop”. Have the children sit, as the leader reads the Christmas story from Luke 2.

Gift Exchange – Form a circle and give each the name of something relating to Christmas – Star, tree, manger, angel, etc. “It” calls out two such names. The children with these names try to exchange places before “It” can get one of their places.

Name That Tune – Pianist plays a few measures of a Christmas song on the piano. Two contestants are up front. The first to raise his hand and give the correct answer wins. Alternate the contestants.

Singing Carols – Sing favorite carols together.

Snowball Relay – Make circles on the floor with masking tape. Put 12 cotton balls inside each circle. Each team lines up facing their circle. The first person runs to the circle, picks up the snowballs and puts them outside the circle. The next team member runs to the circle and puts cotton balls all back inside the circle. Continue until all have played.

Tree Ornament Relay – Paper trees are taped to the wall. Each child has an ornament made of paper. One at a time, each team member runs to the tree, attaches an ornament, and returns to their team. The first group getting all the ornaments attached to their tree wins!