Exciting! Recreational Activities to Enjoy at a Christmas Party
Are you looking for Christmas activities you can enjoy with family and friends? There are lots of perfect party games that will make everyone—from kids to adults—smile, such as a “present delivery relay” where you dress up as Santa and carry gifts, hand-clapping games set to Christmas songs, and a lively “Christmas Basket” game that gets everyone excited.
In this article, we’ll introduce Christmas-specific activities that are easy to prepare and fun for any age or group size.
Use them to help create wonderful Christmas memories!
- [Children’s Club] Easy and fun indoor games. Exciting party games
- [Part 2] Recommended Indoor Activities and Recreation Games for December
- [Play Right Away!] Exciting Recreation Games Recommended for Elementary School Students
- Recommended for upper elementary grades! Exciting indoor recreation and games
- Christmas party booster! A collection of game ideas that large groups can enjoy
- [Fun!] Quizzes to Liven Up a Christmas Party
- A collection of simple indoor recreational games
- [Elementary School Rec] Recommended Games and Performances for a Fun Party
- Recreation Activities That Excite Kids’ Clubs! Plans and Ideas Children Will Love
- Christmas Party Ideas! Fun Activities and Game Ideas
- Play ideas kids can enjoy from 1st to 6th grade [indoors & outdoors]
- Let’s play Christmas songs with handmade instruments! Craft ideas for sound-making instruments
- [For Kids] Exciting Class-vs-Class Games: Team Competition Activities
Get the Party Started! Fun-Filled Christmas Party Activities You’ll Love (21–30)
Spoon race
The “spoon race” is where you run to the finish line while balancing a ping-pong ball or another sphere on a spoon.
It’s a very simple game, but when you get flustered your hand shakes and the ping-pong ball falls off, and if you try to run faster to reach the goal, your body sways and—again—the ball drops.
Setting rules like making it a team competition or restarting from the beginning if the ball falls would likely make everyone take it more seriously!
Rolling Balance Game
The Rolling Balance Game is a game where Santa tries to deliver presents to children without falling into holes.
Cut several holes in a piece of cardboard and assign points to some of them.
Roll ping-pong balls—pretending they’re Santa or the presents—across the cardboard so they roll into the children’s holes that have points.
If you make the non-scoring holes a bit smaller, the ping-pong balls won’t drop all the way through, making it easier to play—highly recommended.
For the scoring holes, make them large enough for a ping-pong ball to fall in clearly, and place a paper cup underneath to catch it.
Set a limit on the number of ping-pong balls or the time, and compete to see who can score the most points!
Get the Party Going! 10 Christmas Party Games You’ll Be Obsessed With (31–40)
Jenga
Since its release in the UK in 1983, the balance game Jenga has been loved for many years.
While Jenga is typically known for pulling and stacking wooden blocks, there are now versions made of jumbo-sized paper that you assemble and play with.
Kids love the oversized Jenga, making it a great recommendation for Christmas parties.
And because it’s made of paper, it’s safe even if it falls!
Paper cup balance game
It’s a game where you build a tower out of paper cups and cardboard, decide the order by playing rock-paper-scissors, and then each person removes one paper cup in turn.
The tower looks stable, but it surprisingly collapses quite easily, so choose carefully when picking a cup! Even if it falls, you can quickly rebuild it, and since it’s made of lightweight materials, you won’t get hurt even if something hits you.
Best of all, you can enjoy it over and over again.
It’s easy enough for little kids to play, so try it at a birthday party with children of different ages.
Christmas games using paper cups
There are lots of cute, Christmas-themed paper cups on sale, aren’t there? How about using them to try out some different games? For example, you could race to see who can build a tower of paper cups the fastest, or play a shell game, juggling the cups to guess where an item is hidden.
If you top the cup tower with a star or use ornaments as the hidden items, it will feel even more Christmassy.
There are plenty of other games you can play too, so if you’re interested, give it a search!
Drop the Handkerchief
“Hankachi Otoshi” (Handkerchief Drop) is a classic among children’s games! First, choose one player to be “It,” and have the other participants sit in a circle.
“It” walks around the outside of the circle and quietly drops a handkerchief behind someone.
When the person realizes it’s been dropped, they chase “It,” who runs away.
If “It” manages to sit in the empty spot without being caught, the roles switch.
The suspense of wondering when it will be dropped is part of the fun!
Sketchbook Theater
You might think there aren’t many people left who enjoyed kamishibai, but actually, the traditional paper-theater style is still being performed in all sorts of places today, like community centers and senior facilities.
The good things really do get passed down, don’t they? How about spending a lovely Christmas with an evolved version of kamishibai—the “Sketchbook Theater”? You could call Sketchbook Theater a “kamishibai-style pop-up picture book,” packed with clever staging that keeps audiences engaged.
It’s a high bar to clear, but it might be fun to try making your own Sketchbook Theater while enjoying the process.