Hobbies And Interests
Guess Who?
A simple and amusing game for little kids is the Guess Who? game. Find pictures of Christmas story characters that are familiar to children. Christmas coloring books are a good place to find pictures of Rudolph, Santa Claus, Mrs. Santa Claus, elves and other characters like the Little Drummer Boy, angels, shepherds and the Grinch.
Divide the children into two teams and help them decide on a name for their team. Make suggestions if necessary to get the game going. The Snowballs or The Reindeer are examples of fun Christmas season team names. Set up two bulletin boards and make a name tag for each bulletin board with the team name on it. Decide which team goes first by a coin toss. Each child on the teams takes turns guessing the hidden character that is in the picture with Santa. You may also provide clues. If a child from the first team does not guess correctly, the other team will get a chance to guess the character. Pin the character on the bulletin board of the team that guessed correctly.
The team that identifies the most characters wins the game. When the game is finished, both teams can take pleasure in coloring the characters from their bulletin board. You may also expand the game to have children describe what Santa is doing or to make up a short story about Santa based on the picture.
Christmas Card Toss
Divide the children into teams. Collect enough Christmas cards of different sizes so that each team member has one card. Place two laundry baskets side by side and have the children form two lines about 4 or 5 feet from the baskets. Each child at the head of the line will then toss their card at their team's laundry basket. If the card does not go in the basket, the child retrieves the card, returns to the designated spot and tries again. The first team to get all their cards in the basket wins the game.
This game is harder than it sounds and it is engaging and entertaining. A variation on the game is to play against the clock. The team to get the most cards in the basket at the end of one minute or two minutes wins the game.
Pin The Hat On Santa
This game is a variation of the familiar Pin the Tail on the Donkey game that children often play at birthday parties. Draw a large Santa minus his hat. Cut out red hats from construction paper and glue white trim on the hats using white paper or cotton balls for added fun. Give each child a Santa hat. If the children can, they should write their names on their hat. Parents or teachers can write their names on the hats for younger children. Roll a strip of tape and stick it on the back, or use double-sided sticky tape on the side of the hat without the child's name. Blindfold each child in turn with a scarf, spin him or her around a few times and send the child in the general direction of the bulletin board to stick the hat on Santa. The child whose hat is closest to where it should be wins the game.