Fun Games to Play this Christmas

Christmas day is more than chapatis and kuku (chicken) fry. It is a day for the family to come together, set aside their differences and simply enjoy each other’s company. Never mind that your sister never returned those boots she borrowed, or that Uncle Nani just got too involved in your business. This is a time to celebrate love and life and off course the birth of Christ.

Though how do you keep the family entertained and having fun as the food cooks?

Here are 5 fun kids’ games to play this Christmas:

1) Christmas Hunt
You’ve probably all heard about the Easter Egg hunt where ‘chocolate eggs’ are hidden in different corners of the house (some in obvious places, some a little harder to find) and the kids go on a scavenger hunt to find them. Well, who said we can’t do the same for Christmas?

Depending on how many kids you expect, buy some chocolate (should be in small individual wrapped pieces) and hide these in different corners of the house. Once majority of your guest have arrived (especially those with kids), gather them all together and send them off on a scavenger hunt. This should keep the kids entertained for an hour or so.

2) Match the Animal
This is a game which is bound to entertain the whole family and everybody can play. On pieces of paper write down the names of different animals. Each animal should appear on two pieces of paper only. Put each piece in a separate bowl.

Have your guests stand in two lines facing each other and have each select a piece of paper from their respective bowls. The name of the animal written on the paper should not be shared with the other participants.

After reading the name of the animal the participants should then act like this animal and find their respective partner on the opposite line who picked a paper written the same animal name. 

3) Musical Chairs
Musical chairs has been a party favourite passed down from generation to generation for as far back as I can remember. It involves arranging chairs in a circle and having the kids dance round the chairs as some music plays in the background. Once the music is turned off the kids quickly sit down and the one left without a seat is eliminated from the game.

NB: The number of chairs should be one less than the number of kids playing, for example if there are 5 kids playing the chairs should be 4.

With each elimination a chair is taken out until finally we have one chair and two kids and the kid left sitting is the winner.

4) Merry-Go-Gift
This game is similar to musical chairs but it involves passing a gift around from child to child and the child left holding the gift when the music stops gets to remove a layer of wrapping form the gift. The child who removes the final wrapping paper gets to keep the gift.

To prepare for this game, buy a gift and wrap it with many layers of wrapping paper such that each wrap can be removed individually.

5) Christmas Tree Competition
Lastly, another fun game for the kids to play as they wait for the pilau to cook is Christmas Tree Competition. To prepare for this game, buy some different coloured manila paper, some clean toilet rolls, sellotape, safety/kid’s scissors and some prizes (depending on the estimated number of kids per team).

Divide the children into small groups and give each of them an equal number of crafts items. Each team is tasked to build a creative and beautiful Christmas Tree and the team with the prettiest tree wins a prize. The judges could be the parents present at the party.

Do you have any other fun games you often play during Christmas? Feel free to add this to the list by leaving a comment below.

 Happy Holidays from all of us at Mama Mzazi Mommy & Me