So, what are you going to do with the children on Christmas Eve to make the day that bit more special for them and tire them out enough so that they will sleep through to at least nine o'clock on Christmas Day, because that is the actual reason behind the party in the first place.
Some of these games can be played before or even on any big day and some could be adapted for different age groups, because in essence, they are merely ideas for you to play with.
1] Hire a face painter. Plenty of students from the local art college can do face painting and children love it - girls particularly adore Hello Kitty and a face painter could do half a dozen kids in an hour. You could theme your face painting to match your party. Do this first thing to get the party moving along.
2] Some households have a rule that everyone in the family may open one present on Christmas Eve, but that the rest have to be a surprise for the big day. So why not drag out the act of giving the present by turning it into a Treasure Hunt?
This is also a great means of getting the children out of the way, when you are worrying about those last minute items that you need to get on with. A lot of people keep old Christmas cards to cut up for decorative purposes, so you could compose clues on the cards and put them about the house and backyard.
3] A little more sedate, but still lots of fun, is a sing-song. Do this after tea to give the food chance to go down. You don't have to sing carrols (in fact best not to, they will already have had enough of them).
Try some choral singing. Sit everyone around the room or in a circle outside and sing songs where a quarter of the circle starts, and the next quarter comes in after a few bars.
You could also try memory songs like: "I am the music man and I come from down your way and I can play...." or "Tomorrow is Christmas Day and in my Christmas stocking I will get an ...Apple", the following one repeats the refrain, but says an Apple and a Bunny" and so on to Z. A circle is also great for Chinese Whispers.
4] Another great circle game is Musical Chairs and another is Pass The Parcel. Musical Chairs is a good game for using up some of the vigour that eating will have restored to the party-goers.
So is Pass The Parcel although it is a lot more sedate in that the children stay seated. Both games get younger children to whoop with laughter and help tire them out.
5] A harder game is Where is Santa? A child is picked to be Rudolf and is escorted out of the room to get blindfolded whilst someone is picked to become Santa. Rudolf is brought back in and paced in the middle of the circle still blindfolded.
Santa has to wink at a variety of individuals who have to say "Yo, ho, ho". Santa is the sole one who never speaks.
6] How about Pin the Tail on the Reindeer for the final game and give a prize for the winner of every game.
Some of these games can be played before or even on any big day and some could be adapted for different age groups, because in essence, they are merely ideas for you to play with.
1] Hire a face painter. Plenty of students from the local art college can do face painting and children love it - girls particularly adore Hello Kitty and a face painter could do half a dozen kids in an hour. You could theme your face painting to match your party. Do this first thing to get the party moving along.
2] Some households have a rule that everyone in the family may open one present on Christmas Eve, but that the rest have to be a surprise for the big day. So why not drag out the act of giving the present by turning it into a Treasure Hunt?
This is also a great means of getting the children out of the way, when you are worrying about those last minute items that you need to get on with. A lot of people keep old Christmas cards to cut up for decorative purposes, so you could compose clues on the cards and put them about the house and backyard.
3] A little more sedate, but still lots of fun, is a sing-song. Do this after tea to give the food chance to go down. You don't have to sing carrols (in fact best not to, they will already have had enough of them).
Try some choral singing. Sit everyone around the room or in a circle outside and sing songs where a quarter of the circle starts, and the next quarter comes in after a few bars.
You could also try memory songs like: "I am the music man and I come from down your way and I can play...." or "Tomorrow is Christmas Day and in my Christmas stocking I will get an ...Apple", the following one repeats the refrain, but says an Apple and a Bunny" and so on to Z. A circle is also great for Chinese Whispers.
4] Another great circle game is Musical Chairs and another is Pass The Parcel. Musical Chairs is a good game for using up some of the vigour that eating will have restored to the party-goers.
So is Pass The Parcel although it is a lot more sedate in that the children stay seated. Both games get younger children to whoop with laughter and help tire them out.
5] A harder game is Where is Santa? A child is picked to be Rudolf and is escorted out of the room to get blindfolded whilst someone is picked to become Santa. Rudolf is brought back in and paced in the middle of the circle still blindfolded.
Santa has to wink at a variety of individuals who have to say "Yo, ho, ho". Santa is the sole one who never speaks.
6] How about Pin the Tail on the Reindeer for the final game and give a prize for the winner of every game.
About the Author:
Owen Jones, the author of this article writes on many subjects but is presently concerned with hello kitty face painting. If you would like to read more, please go over to our website entitled Kitten Cannon 3.
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