Christmas Day Games - ideas please

[pebbles77]

I'm a huge fan of the name on the head game but my inlaws aren't fans and i've been asked to organise our games this year.

I'll looking for non bought games - ie not board games

Any ideas please?

Thanks

We don't do board games either - I always keep a couple of presents and wrap them in loads of left over Xmas paper or newspaper etc and we have a couple of games of pass the Xmas parcel.

My dd does always win the prizes (she's 4 and loves pass the parcel), but you could wrap a present that could appeal to everyone. It's good fun and doesn't involve anyone 'moving' or doing much after being overly stuffed with turkey!!

We love games at our house!

The name game, everyone writes 10-20 famous names on slips that go in a bowl, charades style. Teams take it in turns where a player has to describe as many persons in a minute or two without the obvious sounds like, spelling etc. Eg linford christie would be 100m sprinter, lunchbox etc.

Logo game, this takes a bit of preparation and is more of a quiet quiz but put a load of famous logos printed on sheets and winner gets most right eg fairy baby, Nike tick. Use google images for a start point.

White board pictionary, we use a usual pictionary game but play on White boards borrowed from work.

Pringles game, you have to pick the tube off the floor using your mouth and no hands on the floor, the tube gets cut down by about an inch each round. Both my sisters can get just the lid off the floor.

I could go on...

We have made up a game recently in our household that we have lots of fun with though it requires you to be film fans..

you take it in turns to say a line from a film and then you have to guess what film it is.. Its great fun as even smallish kids can play it (brush up on your disnay and pixar movies laughs)

Apart from that Penguin Pile up is a fun game that kids can take part of as is Uno

needs a bit of preparation but a name the celebrity quiz works well if you get photos of a good cross section of sportsmen/writers/actors/celebs/politicians for everyone to name.

otherwise you could try consequences or a version of Boggle where everyone has to make as many words as they can out of a selection of scrabble letters placed in the centre.

charades?

just thought of another one-Kim's game
(selection of small objects on a tray everyone looks for 1 minute then covered with a cloth, try and remember and write down as many as you can)

All write down something about yourself no-one else in the room knows, then put the piece of paper into a basket. Then one person reads them out and you have to decide who is matched to each story. Even with very long standing family members this can be enlightening, hilarious and great fun, but does rely on everyone being happy to be involved and children have to be of a certain age to understand.

Humming charades - hum tunes pre-decided by you, and teams have to guess what it is. Harder than it sounds.

Do they like silly, active or cerbral games?

oh wow, i just checked back and here are just so many ideas.

i'm loving the cover the tray game - good for kids too

pringles game - fab - we used to play this with a brown paper bag - my dads trousers ripped!!! - definitely up for trying this again

thank you everyone, really appreciate it, keep them coming

Are you there Moriarty?

Each player is blindfolded and given a rolled up newspaper (or anything that comes handy and is not likely to injure) to use as a weapon. The players then lie on their fronts head to head with about three feet of space between them - or in other versions hold outstretched hands, or stand holding hands as in a handshake. The starting player says "Are you there Moriarty?". The other player, when ready, says "Yes". At this point the start player attempts to hit the other player with his newspaper by swinging it over his head. The other player then attempts to hit the starting player with his newspaper. The first player to be hit is eliminated from the game and another player takes his place. The objective of the game is to remain in the game as long as possible.

There is a small amount of strategy to the game. In order to avoid being hit, each player may roll to one side or the other. The decision of which direction to roll, or whether to roll at all often determines whether the player is hit by his opponent. A player who can quickly roll out of the way after speaking or striking will have a definite advantage in the game. However, like most parlour games, the appeal of this game largely lies in its spectacle and humor rather than its strategy.

Pass the Slipper

Players- Six or more
Duration- A few minutes for each round
Equipment- Traditionally a slipper, but any similarly sized object will do

Players form a circle, sitting on chairs or the floor with one person standing in the middle. They must close their eyes while the 'slipper' is passed from person to person behind their backs. When the center person opens her eyes, the passing immediately stops and she must hazard a guess as to who holds the 'slipper'. If the guess is correct, they trade places. If wrong, the eyes are closed and the passing begins again.

Do You Love Your Neighbour?
Players- Five or more
Duration- A few minutes for each round
Equipment- Chairs, one less than the number of players

The chairs are lined up with all players sitting down except for one. The standing player asks one of the other players, 'Do you love you neighbour?' If he replies no, then the two players either side must quickly jump up and swap seats. He may reply yes, but must attach an exception. Eg 'Yes, except for those wearing blue jeans' or '...except for those with blonde hair.' Then all of those players must jump up and find a new chair.
Whatever the answer, while players are attempting to find a new seat the player who asked the question can try to sit down. Whoever is left standing asks another player, 'Do you love your neighbour?'

Reverend Crawley's game

You need at least seven or eight players, preferably more. You all stand in a circle and link hands - but not with the people on either side of you, and not both hands with the same person. This has the effect of turning the group into a huge human knot, and your joint task is to untie it. You work together to step over each other, crawl under people's arms, climb through gaps, and so on - all without letting go of the hands you're holding.

The outcome is truly bizarre and counter-intuitive: the knot virtually always unties into a single ring of people holding hands in a circle (or, occasionally, two interlinked rings).

Ring on a String. You need a long length of string, which each person holds with both hands. A ring is placed on the string, and each person must move their hands together and over the string and then towards the person next to them either side so the person guessing can't tell where the ring is.

Oh ring on a string has reminded me of ring in the flour... Fill a pudding bowl with packed flour and tip moulded flour onto a plate place a ring on top the mound. Take it in turns to cut away at the flour, the person who let's the ring fall must pick it up with their mouth.

KangarooCaught - do you want to come and join us for Christmas :)

Fab, what shall I bring? If it's sprouts, let me know, I'll get them on now.

well, not as classy as those posted but the after eights game.... put after eight chocolate (out of its wrapper) on your forehead then using facial muscles only wriggle it down til you can eat it. IF your guests like that sort of thing, it is hilarious.

lilolilmanchester - i've just practised the after eights game home alone and am wetting myself - love it - will definitely be doing this one :)

KC - just bring booze, my sprouts went on 2 weeks ago!!!

My cousin and I are the organisers of the Christmas Quiz [eight years this year!] and it has had some truly bizarre rounds over the years. We tweak it as necessary. If you've got preparation time some things are great fun - our family always enjoys 'Guess the intros' [with a few seconds of a track played]. One we did last year went down well too - we got our younger cousin to act out famous scenes from movies, e.g. the 'Can I have some more?' scene from Oliver, but with him the only actor and no sound. So he shuffled on his knees towards the camera with a bowl in his hands, a row of stuffed teddies on either side. Or Matilda - he danced on a pouffe in the middle of the room while we threw cards and poker chips at him.

One year we did a round where each team nominated someone, and then they simultaneously held a cube of ice between their palms. Last one to stay in wins [it HURTS - we used to play it at work on the bar].

We also do craft rounds, but that depends on your family. Like they get a pile of random stuff and have to make something - could be specific like a nativity scene, or just anything they fancy, in a set time. Last year we did simultaneous general knowledge questions and whoever answered first correctly won another piece for their team.

Last year we also invented Swap. You all get in a vague circle [doesn't matter if there's gaps, just that you can get to the person next to you] and start with something [anything at all - could be an orange or a cushion or whatever you like]. You pass it round, and when it gets back to the first person, you add another item. Basically, you want to be the last person in the game. You lose if you drop anything. Sounds simple, but when the pile gets big and all the items are different shapes it's more complicated than you'd think to take it from person and just hand it over to another!

We used to do the Pringles game too, but with a cereal box, so you end up with just the flat bottom of the box [and if all people left can pick that up, you can still cut it smaller]. My cousin was the undisputed champion for over a decade until a wedding two years ago when he got ousted by a seven year old. He was not happy.

Lovely thread, thank you! Have just made up a Christmas Pass the Parcel based on this. Eight layers, 4 treats 4 forfeits ( incl eat a cold brussels sprout ), prize a 200 piece Christmas puzzle we can all do afterwards.

Old fave since it involves eating chocolate:

Need: clothes to put on e.g. hat scarf gloves jacket and also a dice, knife and fork and a very large and yummy slab of chocolate, still in it's wrapper (although could take it off to make it easier)

Players sit in a circle and take turns to throw the dice. Whoever throws a six must then rush to the centre, put on all the clothes and tackle the chocolate with the knife and fork. The other players keep throwing the dice until the next 6 is scored and it's their turn.

My kids love playing Monopoly. The old ones are the best! But I do like the new Harry Potter Cluedo. We got a box of Penguin Pile Up but no instructions. Can anyone help?

Spoons.
You need one less spoon than all the people round the table.
Ie 8 people round the table, and you need 7 desert spoons running down the middle of the table.
You need a pack of cards and then everyone is dealt 4 cards each.
The dealer then starts to deal extra cards to the person to their left.
Each person is trying to get 4 of anything, ie 4 kings, 4 2's, 4 10's etc. You must only have 4 cards at any one time, so must put down the new card you've been dealt, or one of your others.
The first person to get 4 of anything picks up a spoon and all the others must too when that person goes for it.
The person who doesn't get a spoon is then out, and the next round is 6 spoons with 7 people playing right down to 2playing and then the winner.
It is fast and furious when you get used to it and extremely competitive.
Great fun, but remember to remove anything breakable from the table as it can get vicious

This is great - just planning our Xmas games. Has anyone got anymore?

A funny quiz we played last year turned out absolutely hilarious even though it sounds boring. Get an adult with a child and try and write down as many american states as you can. It was so funny, the adults after a few drinks were making them up, disputing states that were actually canadian and pretending their spelling was the true 'olden' style spelling. The best bit was the kids knew more than the adults.