Christmas creeps up on us every year it seems quicker and quicker each time, and each year we have to keep the children happy and entertained in new and interesting ways. That cardboard box your two year old found so interesting (more than the toy that came in it!) may not suffice as years go on and children start having parties and want interactive games with fun, excitement and gifts! (Of course!). Here are a few great, fun Christmas activities for kids that will make their holidays!
1. Pass the Parcel
An oldie but still a goodie for kids aged about 3-8 years. Wrap a small gift in many layers of spare gift wrap, cellophane, newspapers or old magazines. Have some suitable Christmas music ready to play and get the children to sit in a circle. Give the gift to the first child and get them to pass it to the next kid to their left or right as long as the music keeps playing. Every now and then stop the music and whoever has the box gets to strip a layer off. It is best to stop the music to let every child have a chance to tear a layer off letting them all have a go at it! The child who tears the last layer off gets the gift of course.Now everyone may have played this before so here are some variants!
Gift layers - In this variant put a very small gift in every layer such as a cookie, a small flat toy or something similar. This means every child who strips a layer gets something so no one feels like they have lost!
Gift giving - Instead of letting the child with the gift take a layer off, they choose someone else in the circle to have a turn. This can encourage gift giving behavior, it is amazing how many kids are so sweet and choose the child who has not had a turn yet to open a layer!
2. Gift steal
Don't be afraid of the name of this game it is not really stealing gifts! In this activity sit the children in a circle and have a gift for each child. How the children get the gift can also be fun, let them come up one at a time and choose the parcel they like the look of most maybe, or give every child a random number and call them out one at a time to get a gift is more random. If you do not mind a bit of a ruckus however you can just call GO and let the kids run up and grab ONE gift and go and sit back down, this can get out of hand though so beware! Once each child has a gift you then give them a chance to "steal" a gift off another child replacing it with their own. This exchanging of gifts can also be done in multiple ways, from spinning a bottle, to the random number game or passing a ball around like the first game and when the music stops allow that child to exchange a gift (this way you can make sure all the children get a turn). This game is a little rowdy as the children may all want a certain package (the biggest!) but the excitement it generates is certainly a lot of fun!
3. Team Christmas jigsaw
This activity requires two or more teams and has a few variants. You need a few squares of cardboard you paste the words "Merry Christmas" on and surround it with Christmas stickers and pictures to make it look interesting. You then cut the board up into squares, triangles or other odd shapes depending on how difficult you want to make it. Do the same divisions on all jigsaws for fairness of course! You now have a Christmas jigsaw! You can do a few things with this.
Spell off - In this game the kids take it in turns to pick a piece of the jigsaw out of a box (randomly). Take it in turns between each team and give each child a chance to pick a piece. The challenge is to spell out the "Merry Christmas" before the other team. The team who wins gets a small prize!
Timed Jigsaw - Again more rowdy! However this is a great fun game that encourages teamwork as well! Put your jigsaws in boxes and when you call GO empty them on the floor and let each team try to put the jigsaw together as quickly as possible. The team that assembles the jigsaw first gets a prize!
I hope these Christmas activities for kids have given you some ideas to keep your children entertained at parties and help build the Christmas spirit! Merry Christmas all!
Still looking for more activities?
How about Christmas arts and crafts too?
And what about great Christmas recipes?
The Complete Christmas Collection is a fantastic e-book that covers all of these and more to make your Christmas season a roaring success!
http://xmasstuff.blogspot.com/2007/10/complete-christmas-collection.html
Source: www.a1articles.com