For people who love a little competition, Christmas day games for family fun are the perfect option to turn a humbug holiday into a memorable event. The Christmas Family Olympics has become a popular trend lately. While it won't take over from opening presents, sharing a feast, and snacking on cookies, these games can bring folks of all ages together.
Start with the Olympic Uniforms: Family Christmas Pajamas
Turn this long-standing tradition on its head with a game-day focus. Family Christmas pajamas offer a cozy and comfortable way to feel like part of the team. You don't have to go for sports themes or imagery. Consider snowflakes if you include outdoor activities like strapping on a pair of Nattork roller skates. (These make the perfect gift for ten-year-old boys and girls, and young people of other ages, too!) Reindeer patterns are perfect for the Reindeer Games idea. Any style works as long as it's festive and matching.
Top Christmas Olympics Game Ideas
Depending on how many people you have at your holiday celebration, you can separate gaming groups by age or leave everyone playing together. Make sure you choose Christmas day games for family that everyone can enjoy.
Fun indoor games for everyone:
Candy Cane Fishing
Everyone puts a candy cane in their mouth and 'fishes' for other candy canes in a bowl. You can incorporate an active element by transporting them from one bowl to another on the other side of the room.
'Snowball' Shoveling
Use plastic spoons and mini marshmallows as snowballs for a similar game of transporting yummy treats from one place to another. An alternative uses drinking straws to suck up the marshmallows and move them to a bowl.
Hungry, Hungry Reindeer
Prior to the party, get together with the kids and turn some red party cups into reindeer with googly eyes, pipe cleaner antlers, and a drawn-on smile. Then, use these for a cotton ball or candy grab game similar to the classic Hungry, Hungry Hippo game. This works well with a large table full of scattered M&Ms or similar small candy.
Fun outdoor games for active kids and adults:
Christmas Elf Roller Skate Race
Everyone needs a pair of Nattork inline skates or roller skates for this exciting outdoor game. It just so helps that they make an amazing Christmas gift for teens and older kids. Create a few festively wrapped, unbreakable boxes, and arrange them at the end of the driveway or sidewalk. The participants are elves who must deliver them to Santa's sleigh. Make it a relay race with mixed teams of ages and ability levels for maximum fun.
Santa Limbo
Use pillows to stuff the front of jackets until everyone has a Santa belly sticking out the same distance. Then, use a red and white-striped limbo stick for the challenge. Who can get under the lowest bar without bumping their belly?
Of course, if you're lucky enough to have a white Christmas, that opens up a whole new list of holiday Olympic family games to try. Snowball fights, shoveling races, and snowman building can finish out the day with fun.
The youngest children might want to dive into their new toy pile, and popular Christmas gifts for teens often send them into their own little world of screens and video games. Don't let this happen during this holiday season. Instead, foster a sense of family fun with a new tradition: fun, festive, and friendly competition with a variety of games everyone can enjoy.