Holiday-Themed Games

Valentine's Day

• Valentine's Day is a celebration of love and togetherness, so Valentine games should reflect the holiday's focus on love.

  For the game "Love Thy Neighbor," get your group together and sit them down in a circle. Set a two-minute timer. During this two-minute period, players must write down as many things as possible that they like about their neighbor to the right. When the timer buzzes, they give this paper to their neighbor. Rotate the players to give people a chance to write about as many people as possible.

  For kids, have a competition to create the "coolest" Valentine's card. Give them red construction paper, glue and scissors.

  For a frisky and ultimately laugh-filled adult's game, bring "spin the bottle" back from their teen years.

Halloween

• Halloween brings out the spooky streak in adults and kids alike. The holiday is already associated with lots of fun activities and adding games into the mix just makes it that much more entertaining.

  Stage a pumpkin race to get everybody moving. Give each player a pumpkin and a long stick. Line everyone up in a straight line, with a finish line about 100 feet away. Players must use the stick to roll their pumpkins across the finish line. Play this game in full costume for even more fun.

  Hold a costume party and offer a prize to encourage everyone to wear great costumes. Also, set a jar filled with candy in a prominent place. Players can win the jar by guessing the amount of candy inside it.

Thanksgiving

• There are many games to play at Thanksgiving, like the traditional bobbing for apples, where players stick their heads into a bucket of water to pull out apples using only their mouths. Give the player who pulls out the most apples a jug of apple cider as a prize.

  "Pin the Tail on the Turkey" is a Thanksgiving version of the classic "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" game. It only requires a construction paper turkey and several construction paper tails.

  Hold a themed scavenger hunt, for which you hide several Thanksgiving items around the house and yard, such as a pumpkin pie, a toy turkey, a pilgrim hat, an Indian headdress and other themed items you can find at a party store. Let the players keep whatever they find.

Christmas Games

• Families often gather several times throughout December, leading up to the Christmas holiday itself. Help keep these get-togethers fresh with Christmas games.

  Stage a Christmas quiz for adults and older kids, where players get five minutes to write down as many facts and legends about Christmas as they can remember. Hold a Santa Claus look-alike contest and gag gift exchanges.