Christmas is a wonderful time for games.
During the long nights of December, Christmas games and puzzles provide indoor enjoyment. Adults and children alike can use games and puzzles liven up their parties, at home or at the office. Many games adapt to both a secular and a sacred focus. Others will occupy travelers or shoppers waiting in mall lines to purchase gifts. Create your own spin on a game you play throughout the year by adding familiar Christmas themes. Does this Spark an idea?
Traditional Puzzles and Games
Think outside the box.
On-line game sites provide printable anagrams and other word games focused on the Nativity or Santa and his reindeer. Print word searches, crosswords and trivia questions concerning Christmas baking or international traditions to keep school-aged children busy at home or while traveling. Christmas mazes and jigsaws provide amusement and can often be printed for free. Use your Christmas tree to play a game of I-spy, creating a list of items to find hidden cleverly within the tree branches. This also works with trees in the shopping mall, and your children can forget about the long line-up while searching. Draw a treasure map, and make your children hunt for presents, providing clues as to their whereabouts.
Technology Games
Technology can help.
With computers and sophisticated phones come many options for play. Free Christmas-themed online games include "I Live at Santa's House" where children aged three to seven can help Santa bake cookies, test toys or decorate a tree. On your phone, help Santa save Christmas from an evil gnome with "Snowed-In." Some Christmas programs can be downloaded straight from the Internet, and others require CD download. For phone games, find out if there is a fee to avoid any nasty surprises when your bill comes.
Grown-up Games
People of all ages can play.
Enliven a party or amuse your friends with games that use Christmas props. For the game My Better Half, revelers break into pairs. Supplied with gift-wrapping materials, each team member wraps an arm around the other partner. They attempt to cut, tape and wrap, each using just one hand. The winner is the first pair to wrap their gift. Guess My Name involves the names of popular characters, foods or items associated with Christmas. These are written on pieces of paper, and each party member has one stuck to his back without knowing what it says. When each person's turn comes to guess his name, the other players see the word then give him clues. In Where Is Santa's Hat?, everyone wears a Santa hat at the start of the party. The last person left wearing the hat wins the game. Some will forget to keep the hat on throughout the evening, taking it off to cool down or when their heads itch. For prizes, continue with the Christmas theme by giving out elegant parcels of cookies, chocolates or tree decorations.
Tags: games puzzles, help Santa, Puzzles Games, with Christmas, your children