10 Games to Play on Christmas Day in Australia
Christmas day is all about enjoying time with family, friends and loved ones. It usually involves escaping our summer heat and cooling down in the shade with a cold drink, good food and a lot of laughs. Fun Christmas games are a great way to add to the entertainment of an already festive day and below are some of our favourites.
1. Water Balloon Fights!
Is there any better way to cool down on a stinking hot Christmas Day then with a good old-fashioned water balloon fight? A great game to kick off after all the food has been eaten and the heat of the day is starting to get unbearable – kids (and big kids) will love teaming up and seeing who can get the most point scores on other players.
2. Snowman Bingo
Snowman Bingo is a game that all of the family – young and old – will be able to get involved in. A great game to put down on the table and play while guests are waiting for the main course to be served. Simply make up a different bingo board with famous Christmas characters (Santa, Rudolph, Frosty etc) for each guest and then call them out in a random order. Bingo playing pieces are white marshmallows (parts of Frosty). The first one to have all of their characters called is the winner!
3. Marshmallow Toss
Yes, it is as simple as it sounds but actually completing it successfully may be a different story. Give each guest a small bag of marshmallows and a place a small drinking cup at the other end of the room. On the word ‘GO!’ they each have 60 seconds to get as many marshmallows into their cup as possible. When the time is up, however many marshmallows they have managed to drop into their cup they get as their prize.
4. Gingerbread House Competition
This game is loved by all and can be played as individuals or as teams. At the start of the day give each player/team a gingerbread house-making kit. Over the course of the day, in between eating and festivities, they are to construct and decorate their own gingerbread house. At the end of the day everyone else votes on who they think did the best job.
5. Draw a snowman
We like to keep our games at Christmas simple so everyone can get involved – but also full of laughs too if we can. Draw your own snowman is a game that ticks both of those boxes. Get each guest to place a paper plate on top of their head and then using their free hand get them to draw a snowman on it – without looking! They need to draw the body, eyes, carrot nose and top hat too. I promise you, the results when they take the plate down to have a look at their masterpiece will be hilarious.
6. Backyard Cricket
Ok, we live in Australia and that means that unlike our northern counterparts we usually have some pretty perfect, albeit hot, Christmas weather. For this reason, grabbing the cricket bat and ball and playing an old-fashioned game of backyard cricket just can’t be beat. Not a great deal of running needs to be had for most of the time either, which means there is still plenty of time for chats and a drink while you play.
7. Christmas Charades
It’s almost tradition, right? Put together a small pile of cards each write a Christmas song, movie or character onto each one. In teams or individually, you can then take turns drawing a card and then have fun getting your family / friends to guess through the usual charade rules. Although the person describing usually can’t talk – this game usually gets quite rowdy with excited guesses!
8. Candy Cane Hook
Combining one of the most beloved Christmas treats with a bit of fun and silliness, Candy Cane Hook entails holding a candy cane upside down in your mouth and using the other end (the hooked end) to get as many other candy canes out of one bowl and into another without using your hands. The winner is the person who can get the most into their bowl in a minute.
9. Christmas Wrapping Race
After all of those presents we needed to wrap, (and maybe to give the little ones an idea of how hard it really can be), give each person a pile of different shaped items, some wrapping paper and sticky tape. On the count of three they need to wrap all of their presents as quickly and as neatly as possible. The winner is the first person to have wrapped all of their presents successfully so that no part of it is showing.
10. Christmas Guess Who
This is a great one to play with family members just before gift giving begins. Before the day take a polaroid picture of the people in your family. On the back of each one, write something that is very specific to them that only family should know. Things like “this person is well known for their amazing Christmas pudding”. Place each polaroid on the tree so that the image of the person is facing the tree and the question is visible to everyone else. One person then goes up and asks the question and whoever answers it correctly keeps the polaroid. The person who guessed the most right is the winner and gets to open the first present!
If you have any favourite Christmas games you and your family play we would love to hear about them especially related to Christmas in Australia where we make up for the lack of snow with water games and beach days
Ngaire
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