ORLANDO, Fla. – Games at Christmas are a time-honored tradition. The idea of parlor games goes back to medieval times with games like Blind Man’s Bluff, Hunt the Slipper and Charades.
Some of them could get dangerous, too – a Victorian game called Snapdragon involved fishing fruit with your hands out of a bowl of brandy that had been set on fire.
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This is what people did before video games for entertainment.
With temperatures in Central Florida expected to be in the 30s and even 20s on Christmas Eve, Snapdragon might sound tempting. But below, we have a list of safer games that the whole family can play with items you can find around your home, or things that aren’t too expensive to buy.
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Plastic Wrap Gift Ball
Here’s a good alternative to stocking stuffers.
Get a box of clear plastic wrap, and a bunch of little gifts and a really good prize for the center (a lot of people use cash). Wrap your center gift with your plastic wrap until you have a good ball started, then wrap the next gift in the wrap, then the next and the next, forming a big ball until all the plastic wrap is gone.
To play the game, roll a pair of dice. The person with the highest roll goes first. The person to the left of them starts rolling the dice while the other person unwraps the ball as fast as they can. They keep going until the dice roller rolls doubles, then the ball and the dice go to the next two people in a clockwise motion around the group. Each person gets to keep the prizes they unwrap until the last prize is found.
Remember, the goal is to unwrap the ball, not rip it open. So you have to find the end of the wrap in order to open it up.
People include individually-wrapped candies or snacks, little toys, bracelets, lip balms, stickers, all the way to bigger items. Use what you can afford.
Need help? There are lots of YouTube tutorials for wrapping the ball and playing the game.
Who Am I?
This is a classic game you’ve probably played at a party at some point. All it requires is a sticky notepad and a pen.
Sit in a group and pass around the sticky notepad and pen. Each person writes a name on the notepad and hands it to the person next to them, upside down. That person puts the note on their forehead – no peeking!
Keep passing the notepad around until everyone has gotten a name.
Now, each person gets a turn to guess who they are by asking the group yes or no questions like “Am I a woman?” “Am I famous?” “Am I alive?” That sort of thing. Keep going until the player discovers their name, or they give up.
You can also find app versions of this game where you hold your phone up to your head and guess the name based on the questions. They go by titles such as “Heads Up,” “Charades,” “Deckheads” and more.
Snowman Toss
This has the added benefit of being a craft for the kids. Take white reusable cups and decorate them to look like snowmen, then stack them up in a pyramid. Throw softballs at the cups and see who can knock them all over.
Never Have I Ever
Here’s another game you’ve probably played at a party, although this is modified for good, clean family fun.
Get M&Ms or some other small candy and give an equal amount to each person in your group. Then each person gets to ask the group a question starting with “Never have I ever…” like so: “Never have I ever… cheated at a board game.” “Never have I ever… gotten an F on a test.” “Never have I ever… snuck a treat before dinner.”
Each person who has done one of those things has to eat a candy. Keep asking questions until someone runs out of candy. The goal is to have the most candies left at the end of the game.
Christmas Punch Pong
Remember, we’re going for good, clean family fun. So skip the alcohol and try juice or soda or even colored water for this game. Set your cups up to form two triangles (kind of like a Christmas tree), one on each end of your table.
Throw a tiny ball, preferably a ping pong ball, onto the other end of the table with the goal of getting it into one of the other person’s cups. If you land the ball in a cup, the other person as to drink. The first team/player to eliminate all of the opponent’s cups wins.
Honorable Mention: Uno
Every home should have a deck of Uno cards. This is a THE holiday game in the Zizo household. You can get a deck for $5, sometimes less, and the rules are simple – each person starts with seven cards in their hand, and on their turn has to put down a card that matches either the number or color of the card at the top of the pile.
When you get down to one card in your hand, shout “Uno!” as fast as you can. The goal is to end the round with no cards in your hand. Watch out for Skip cards, Draw Two and Draw Four cards, because your opponents will try to increase your hand.
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