Christmas Snowball Games

Miniature Snowman Game

• This festive version of the family favorite "bucking bronco" game involves wrapping up warm and heading out into the garden. Begin by preparing clothes and accessories for the snowman; for example, a small jacket cut out of cloth, an old hat for him to wear or a pipe made from Popsicle sticks and an egg-cup. Then, make a miniature snowman out of two snowballs and balance him on a fence post. Take turns to carefully place the accessories on the snowman, with the loser being whoever knocks the snowman off while dressing him. The winner is the player who manages to complete the snowman. An indoor version of the game involves making the snowman out of balls of wool or cotton.

Storm the Fort

• This is a slightly more organized version of a traditional snowball fight. Divide your group into two equally sized teams and decide which team will begin as the attacker and which as the defender. The defenders are given a set amount of time to build their fort, while the attacker's plan their attack, then the attack begins. If an attacker is struck by a snowball, they must return to the starting point; if a defender is struck by a snowball, they are out of the game. The attackers have captured the fort if they set foot inside it or if they knock all the defenders out of the game. The teams then switch roles.

Snowball Target Practice

• Snowball target practice allows each member of the family to test his aim against a brother, sister, parent or grandparent. Go somewhere where you have a lot of room, like a garden or other open space, and line up a set of targets. These could include cans, plastic plant pots or other nonbreakable items. Assign a points value to each of the objects -- more points for smaller items -- and let each family member take turns to try and knock them off in exchange for points. The person with the highest amount of points after a set amount of rounds wins.

Snow Assault Course

• Build an assault course out of snow for your friends and family to navigate. This will include large mounds of snow to hurdles, banks of thick snow to wade through and columns of snow to slalom through. Meanwhile, other friends or family members through snowballs onto the assault course to disorientate the participant even more. The winner is the person who complete the assault course in the shortest amount of time.