‘Tis the season for party games!
The Christmas season is the perfect time to build relationships in your small or large group setting and incorporate some much needed fun at the end of a long fall semester.
Before you promote the 23rd Annual White Elephant Gift Exchange, take a look at these ideas to assist your Christmas party planning!
Celebrity Christmas
Everyone loves playing charades and catchphrase. So can we just combine those two games and limit the topic to Christmas celebrities? Definitely! Celebrity is the undisputed party game king. It is easy, fun, and low-risk for your students to play!
This is a team game much like charades. Each player must think of three celebrities (real people or fictional characters, but they must be widely known) and write each celebrity on a piece of paper. Once everyone has written down three celebrities you place all of the names in a bowl.
From there you play three rounds of games:
- Charades
- Catchphrase
- One Word
For a complete list of the rules check out the post on Ministry Bubble.
Pharisees
Have you found yourself playing the party game Mafia and wished that there was a Christian version of this classic game? Well, thanks to Elle and Kenny Campbell at Stuff You Can Use you can now play Pharisees.
The plot is simply this: During the night the Pharisees are trying to stone the disciples and during the day the disciples are trying to figure out who is a Pharisee so that they can excommunicate them. You can play this game with 5-48 players and it is an inexpensive game. Head to the Stuff You Can Use website for more info.
Over The Mountain
Do you want to get to know crazy stories about your students? Then you need to play Over The Mountain. It is a game of mass chaos, high energy, and fun facts. Set up chairs in a circle with each student sitting in a chair. Make sure that there are not any extra chairs but that each seat has a person in it. There will be one person in the middle of the circle who does not have a chair.
The person in the middle of the circle will say, “Over the mountain if …” followed by anything the student wants to say such as…
“Over the mountain if you listened to Justin Bieber this week.”
“… if you have ever flown on a plane.”
“… if you have locked your keys in your car.”
“… if you have been dumped by a boyfriend/girlfriend.”
If any of the students who are sitting in the circle have done what the person said, they have to stand up and switch chairs. They must go across the circle or at least a few chairs away from their current chairs. The last person will not be able to find a chair and will start the next round.
At any point, the person in the middle can also yell “TRAINWRECK!” Then everyone must get up and switch chairs.
Christmas Saran Wrap Game
Are you looking for a creative game to play during your Christmas party? Then Saran Wrap Ball is a must! The people at Awesome Jelly posted this incredible game. The premise is simple: students are unrolling a ball of Saran Wrap that contains candy, gift cards, and other gifts. Students will pair up in groups of two for this game. One student will unroll the Saran Wrap ball, trying to release gifts, while the other one rolls two dice, trying to roll doubles. Once the dice lands on doubles (two 2’s, two 4’s, etc.) the player with the Saran Wrap ball has to give the ball to the other person then it is his turn to roll the dice! For a complete list of the rules, how to make the ball, and instructional videos click on this link.
Elf On The Shelf Sardines
The Elf on the Shelf craze sweeps the internet this time of year. This year you should throw a twist on this idea by playing Sardines! Let your students play Sardines with the person who is hiding dressed as the Elf on the Shelf. Simply dress a leader up like the elf from Elf on the Shelf, and have him or her hide in or around the church in a frozen position. Once the leader tells them to, students will frantically search for the elf. When a student finds the elf, the student will join the elf and hide from everyone else. The last person to find the elf is the next elf. There are various twists you can add to this game: You can divide this up into smaller teams, have multiple elves for larger groups, or the elf can give a gift card to the first person who finds him to make it more exciting.
Christmas Photo Booth With Senior Adult’s Old Sweaters
Students love tacky sweater parties around Christmas. You could set up a photo station for students to use and supply it with old sweaters, hats, scarves, and gloves from senior adults in your church. Start asking senior adults to donate old Christmas clothing and you will be surprised by the festive gems hiding in your church members’ homes! Just remember, don’t call it tacky in front of them. Those senior adults wore those homemade sweaters with pride through the mid-1980s!
Now What?
What other games are you playing this holiday season? Make sure to comment below so other youth ministries can add your ideas to their holiday parties!
CHASE SNYDER is the founder of MINISTRYBUBBLE.COM and serves as a Family Pastor in Knoxville, Tenn. He seeks to live a life that glorifies God and disciples others through their day-to-day lives, and his passion is equipping those in the church to seek those who are outside of it. Check out his writing at MINISTRY BUBBLE or connect with him on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, or INSTAGRAM.
The post Festive Christmas Games appeared first on Youth Specialties.