Christmas Table Games
If you're getting everyone together for Christmas dinner, you want to provide
some fun activities and games in addition to just the meal. Here are some good
ideas to keep the crowd in the Christmas mood and keep them busy and diverted
until the meal is ready.
Guess the dinner - Have all the people who are not working in the kitchen do a
smell test and try to figure out what's on the menu for dinner. Sure, turkey or
ham or roast beef might be an obvious choice and an easy one if they are
traditional in your family, but what's the potato smell? Is it a hashed brown
casserole, or baked potatoes? Are they mashed with sour cream or garlic? Are
there brussel sprouts for dinner or squash, or both. The winner, or the person
who most closely guesses the items on the menu, gets a taste test.
Board game fun - Bring out the most kid-like board game you have. This might be
one that was just opened that morning or something you already have. Get the men
in the house (not the boys, but grown men) to sit down on the floor and play the
game. A great picture can be had when the fathers and grandfathers are on the
living room rug playing Candyland or Chutes and Ladders. Better yet, bring out a
princess game and enjoy watching the men get dressed up like princesses as the
game goes on. As a secondary activity, pit the kids and dads against each other
in a game of monopoly or cards. The kids can play with their dads on a team or
the dads can play against the kids. Either way, it's sure to be fun.
Tablecloth - If the children are getting restless waiting for the meal, have
them decorate the tablecloth. This isn't the time, then, to put great Aunt
Martha's tablecloth on the table, but something inexpensive and yet not
disposable. You can keep the tablecloth from year to year and enjoy watching the
progression of the children's art through the tablecloth. Be sure to have them
use permanent markers and have them date and sign it, if they are old enough. If
they're not, date and sign it for them. You'll want that bit of information
later.
Outdoor fun - Have a fun game of "toss the hat". Fill Santa's hat with some
candy or other small items and try to toss the hat around without the items
falling out. You can have a relay with Santa's hat where everyone wears Santa's
hat, then hands it to the next person, who has to put it on and then take if off
and then hand it to the next person. How about a rousing game of football, where
the goal line is made of discarded Christmas ribbon? Or a game of soccer where
the soccer ball is a rolled up ball of discarded Christmas paper.
Worst presents - Who has the best story about the worst present they ever got?
Before dessert have everyone share their best of the worst stories. Be sure that
you don't tell the story in front of the person who gave you the worst present!
What was the most interesting present you ever got? Or the best handmade
present? What was the best present that came this Christmas? Dessert isn't
handed out until everyone shares a story, good or bad.
Where's Santa? - While eating dinner, have a fun activity going on that's sure
to delight the children. Using a Santa hat, play a game of "where's Santa"?
Surely he's back at the North Pole by now, right? Have someone start with the
Santa hat and under the table, that person passes it to someone else. Everyone
tries to decide where the hat is. Whoever has the hat (they can keep it in their
lap while they eat) winks at someone else when they catch their eye. If someone
gets winked at, they say, "Santa's lost!" and this continues, with the passing
of the hat and the winking, until someone figures out where Santa is.