During the holiday season, many people have plans. Some go out of town to visit friends and family, while others spend time with themself. However, lots of people have parties and get-togethers. During this time, people share stories, have dinner, and play games. But what games do they play and what games could you do at your next holiday party?
Every student loves the winter break. It gives people a chance to relax and catch up with their outside life.
Makayla Penner, a freshman at Santa Rosa Academy says what she is looking forward to most. Penner says, “I absolutely cannot wait to visit my friend in Tennessee after Christmas.” She is so excited because a few years ago, Penner’s friend had moved to Tennessee and now, they have a plan to always get together and keep their friendship alive.
While some go out of town, others stay in and do nothing out of the ordinary. Christmas is just another holiday that passes by each year for them. But to others, it has a much deeper meaning.
Della White, Santa Rosa’s Arts and Technology teacher, has a very special place in her heart for this season. Mrs.White explained, “a few months before my husband and I were supposed to get married, our wedding venue got shut down, so we decided to surprise our guests (all of our closests friends and family) and got married in our backyard during our Christmas Eve party 9 years ago!”
With all of the excitement and rushing to stores to get the last toy off of the shelf, it is hard to plan out a party. Sure, everyone knows there needs to be gifts, a meal, and something to keep people entertained in between. And what is it that keeps people entertained? It is most likely a game.
Isabelle Marie Lumamba, a freshman at Santa Rosa Academy explains what she usually does at parties. Lumamba says, “At parties in general, I recently played bingo and would you rather. Usually I’ll see board games out, some easy sports (basketball/ping pong), and some challenging team games (like a relay race).”
Those games are very common among any party and can be used during any season. But during Christmas time, there are even more fun contests that can be played.
White has many fun games she and her husband plan out. She says, “During Christmas Eve, we play the white elephant gift exchange every year, but we also do games like Reindeer Toss or Pin the Tail on the Reindeer for the younger kids.” The White Elephant game is a gift exchange game where everyone buys a gift and wraps it up pretty. Then, everyone sets the gifts in the middle. Then, everyone sits in a circle around the gifts. Next, people draw from a hat, a number. That is the order they go in. The first person takes a gift from the circle and opens it, revealing what is inside. The second person can choose to either steal the gift from the first person or take another gift from the pile. The same thing goes until the last person picks. If a gift has been stolen twice, then that gift is frozen and can no longer be stolen.
Lumamba also has a fun tradition that her family puts together. It takes a little more time to put together, but perhaps you could do it next year.
Isabelle Lumamba says, “ During Christmas, we like to do a family talent show. Usually, the kids do the talent show and sing or do some type of instrument. We also like to participate in the nativity play at church. Lastly, early in the morning for 9 days, we go to church. We start December 16 and end on December 24.” Not only that, but she has fun games during the festive party as well. Lumamba explains that she does Secret Santa with all of those who come over and other common family board games.
There are many games to play including:
1. Have two chairs about three feet apart with the backs facing one another. 2. Tie a string from one chair to the other with much tension. 3. Have one person at a time stand on the chair and drop a candy cane. 4. The goal is to have the candy cane land on the string without having it fall to the floor.
1. Collect candies, dollars, and other small gifts. 2. Grab a candy or gift and wrap it in Saran Wrap. 3. Then, tear the Saran Wrap, put another gift around the first one, and start the process once more. 4. Continue the process until you have used all of the saran wrap and gifts. 5. Have the players surround the ball while having someone holding two dice. 6. The first person will put on oven mitts and begin trying to pull off the saran wrap without ripping it. 7. The person on their right will roll the two dice until they land on the same number. 8. Once that happens, the person on the right will get the ball, put the oven mitts on, and begin the process again. 9. This will continue for the rest of the game.
The players will all sit in a circle with a bowl of candy canes in the middle. 2. Each player will have a candy cane that they put in their mouth. 3. Each player will have to try and get as many candy canes in their pile while only using the candy cane in their mouth to grab it. 4. They will have around four minutes to do so.
Though people play lots of games such as these, many other things can be done to entertain everyone.
Evangeline Aitchison, a freshman at Santa Rosa Academy has a fun trip where she goes up to Washington for the holidays. Aitchison said, “My favorite things about winter break are seeing my family, watching the snowfall, and skiing.” There is much snow and ice everywhere that makes it perfect for the winter games and Evangeline Aitchison makes sure not to waste it.
All in all, there are many ways to have fun at a winter party. Whether it be by going out of town to visit friends and family, playing winter sports and having talent shows, or having everyone over for a party. These are all wonderful ways to enjoy the holiday, but all have some way of keeping everyone entertained, and that is with competition and games.
