My mum is Canadian and we usually celebrate Thanksgiving with a turkey dinner that is like a practice run for Christmas! This year we were in lockdown so my mum cooked up a feast and delivered food parcels to our house and my sister's houses. We ate our dinner together over Zoom. It wasn't the same but it was brilliant in a whole different way.
So when the news of the change to Christmas bubbles was announced, I wanted to think about how I could still spend some time with my family. My children don't cope very well with Zoom conversations. They get silly and start running around! During the first lockdown our most successful Zoom calls were where we played games like Bingo.
So I thought we could have a go at playing some Christmas games. These are a collection of games I have played at friends houses, baby showers etc over the years. We will play some of them at home by ourselves and some with our family and friends via Zoom.
I wanted to share them on here incase anyone else is looking for a way to make Christmas 2020 entertaining. I have made a list of games and written down what both families will need to have ready. I hope you have lots of fun!
Do you want to draw a snowman?
You need:
paper plates
felt tip pens
Hold a paper plate on your head. With your other hand try to draw a snowman. Compare your pictures and vote for a winner.
Chocolate Tumble:
You need:
one small piece of chocolate/gingerbread man per player
Place a small gingerbread man on your forehead. Try to move the gingerbread man from your forehead to your mouth without using your hands! Try wiggling your eyebrows, twitching your nose or making different facial expressions to help! We have also played this with chocolate buttons which was even funnier because they started to melt and stuck to us!
This year we played with After Eights.
Snowball Transfer
You need:
2 plastic bowls
a spoon
cotton wool balls or white pom poms
a scarf/tea towel to use as a blindfold
Place a bowl of cotton wool 'snowballs' on the table. The person playing should wear a blindfold and hold the other bowl on the top of their head. With their other hand they should try to scoop the snowballs from the bowl in the middle of the table and transfer them to the bowl on the top of their head. You could set a timer and see who can get the most snowballs into the bowl on their turn.
Oven Glove Present Opening Challenge
You need:
oven gloves or ski gloves
empty boxes wrapped in wrapping paper
Take it in turns to try opening a 'gift' while wearing over gloves.
Let it Snow!
You need:
a bowl
a plate
flour
butter knife
chocolate
Fill a bowl with flour. Press it down and add more until it is full. Put a plate on top then tip the bowl over. Lift the bowl carefully to create a mound of flour on the plate. Place a chunk of chocolate on the top. Players take it in turns to cut away some of the flour. They should try not to make the chocolate fall. If someone makes the chocolate fall they should try to pick it up using just their mouth!
Christmas Scavenger Hunt
You need:
Make a list of household objects
One person is in charge of reading the list. Call out one of the objects and see who can be the first person to find it and bring it back.
Chocolate Coin Hunt
You need:
Chocolate coins/candy canes
Hide the chocolate coins around the house and see who can find the most.
Snowman Stack:
You need:
3 large marshmallows per player
The aim of the game is the first person to stack the marshmallows on top of each other to make a snowman. To make it hard for older children or adult you could use tongs. You could also see who can make the most snowmen in one minute using mini marshmallows.
Christmas Card Tree Race
You need:
10 Christmas Cards
Stand the Christmas cards on their side so they make a triangle shape like a Christmas tree. Line them up along the edge of a table. Each player should start in the middle of the table. They need to blow the card so that it falls off the table, then move to the next card working their way along towards the end of the table. The first person to reach the end is the winner
Baby it's cold outside!
You need:
2 sets of clothing e.g. christmas jumper, hat, scarf, gloves, coat etc.
Choose 2 players. See who can get dressed first. You could support younger children who could go head to head with an adult.
If you have a go at any of these activities and share any photos on social media I would love to see them. Please tag @miniwritersclub. There are lots more Christmas activities available in the Pre-writers Club. Click here to sign up for a 7 day free trial.
Anna