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Can't say Cookie Game
Make necklaces using small candy canes and red ribbons. When the guests arrive, give each person a necklace to wear and tell them they're not allowed to say the word cookie. If a person says 'cookie', they lose their candy cane necklace to the person who caught them saying it. At the end of the cookie exchange, the person with the most candy cane necklaces gets a prize.
Submitted by Darilyn
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Match the Cookie Memory Game
A game I play every year at my cookie exchange which helps everyone break the ice and get to know each other’s names is the Match the Cookie Memory Game.
Since I know ahead of time who is coming and what cookie each person is bringing, I simply list everyone’s first name in one column and list the cookies in random order is a second column on a sheet of paper. I ask each person to introduce themselves and the name of the cookie they are bringing and tell people to pay close attention.
At the end, they have to draw a line to match each person’s name to the cookie she brought. The person(s) who matches the most correctly wins a prize.
Submitted by: Kathryn McCarty, Chicago, IL
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Who Are You?
Make a nice holiday basket and have it filled with names of famous people. Have everyone submit an entry, fold the paper and place in basket. Hostess starts taping a piece of paper with a famous name to a persons back. Everyone walks around and asks people questions to figure out 'who they are'. You are allowed to ask one person, one question as to 'who you are'. Am I male or female? Politics or entertainment? Famous or infamous?
Intent: To get people to circulate, make new aquaintences and break the ice!
(Thanks, Diane for this one!)
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Christmas Bowl
Hi Robin!
I'm in the process of getting ready for my 4th annual Cookie Exchange this Sunday afternoon. I came up with a new idea for a game using several groups of Christmas Trivia questions that I have collected over the years. I'm calling the game Christmas Bowl (which is a variation of the old 'College Bowl' which used to be on TV. Here is how it goes:
SET-UP: 2 small tables, bells, marker board and marker for writing points, timer, toss up questions and bonus questions, enough small prizes for one team. (Toss up questions are simple Christmas trivia questions. Bonus questions are harder, little-known Christmas trivia questions and the answers are multiple choice) I found these on the internet at different holiday games websites.
Arrange chairs around a small table (like a TV tray) for each team. Place a jingle bell tied to a ribbon on the table for each person..
Divide group in half. Each team picks a captain. (The captain will make the final decision for the team’s answer to a Bonus question.) Have each lady take up her ribboned bell. Read the rules so all know how to play. Begin with a toss up question. The first player to ring bell and get it right gets 10 points for their team, and gives their team an opportunity at a bonus question just for them. This is followed with another toss-up question, and the game proceeds. A player may ring bell during the middle of the question, but if the answer is incorrect, they lose 5 points and the other team gets the question. Teams may not confer with one another on the toss-up questions, but are able to do so on the bonus questions. Play for 2 seven minute halves. When timer rings, half or game is over.
At half-time, take a break and you, the hostess and game moderator, bring out the gift-wrapped prizes and place in middle of room. (This can give teams incentive to play better in the second half!)
Resume play after gifts are “show-cased”. Don’t forget to re-set timer! At the end of the seven minutes, timer rings. Count up points and winning team collects prizes.
I hope this is successful! We will be playing several other fun games so no one will leave my party empty handed!! And, of course, we'll all have lots of cookies!
Thanks for all the great work you do on your website. It has been a great help to me in planning the Cookie Exchange parties.
Blessings,
Sue Burmeister
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The Ministers Cat
(From the movie 'Scrooge' (Albert Finney version, my favorite!)
An old, old, party game.
The Ministers Cat is a alphabetical word game.
Everyone gets in a circle and claps hands to the beat.
When someone blows it by not saying an adjective in alphabetical order, they are out.
Start with A.
Example:
'The ministers cat is an Orange Cat', 'the ministers cat is Ornery cat'. 'The ministers cat is a , um, uh, oh shoot, I can't think of anything!' Ooops! You blew it.You're out. NEXT! Start game with the next letter.'The ministers cat is a Purple cat'...
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Pass the Key
You need two similar sized Very Large Keys (about 6 inches long), each tied to the end of a long length (60 feet or more) coarse string. The keys and string should have spent a few hours in the freezer immediately before being brought out.
Line up two teams of about eight to ten.
The key must be passed down trousers and dresses and skirts and the string will show the route followed. The winning team is the first to get everyone 'threaded.
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Guess the Picture
A Good game to get people talking together at the start of the party. Collect a set of pictures of your town / locality / personalities etc. and display them on the wall with a number. The guests have to identify them and write the name on a sheet of paper. The winner is the one with the highest score.
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Pin the Nose on the Rudolph
...a spin-off of the kids game 'Pin the Tail on the Donkey'. I have a poster of Rudolph and a few red crafting pom-poms with tape on them. Each guest will be blind folded and attempt to put the nose in the right spot. The closest person wins!
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7/11 Dice Game
All you need is a manual egg timer, two dice and a plastic flat Christmas cookie container to throw dice in or a pie pan works too and several wrapped prizes. I usually give out two gifts/game.
I have four to six friends sit in a circle on the floor. The object of the game is to roll a 7 or 11 to gain possession of a prize(s). The wrapped prize(s) are passed from one person to another, as someone rolls a seven or eleven. It's fun because the presents are taken away and passed around a lot, when someone else rolls a 7 or 11. I usually set the timer for 3 or 4 minutes. Make sure people in circle roll the dice fast, where everybody gets to roll at least two or three times. The person(s) who has the prize in their possession, when the timer dings is the winner. Once you win, the winner(s) get out of the circle and someone else can play or the circle just gets smaller, depending on how many people want to play. It's a lot of fun and my guests love to play it. It's funny to see people's reactions when, they get the prize in their hands and then somebody else rolls a 7 or 11 and takes it away from them.
I usually buy inexpensive prizes at my local dollar store; Christmas mugs filled with Christmas candy, little bags of Christmas coffee, Christmas ornaments, envelopes filled with lottery scratch off tickets, little bottles of liquor, candy cane sticks, bottles of wine and gift certificates for a blockbuster rental or to a movie.
Anyway this game is a lot of fun and my guests always like to play it each year.
Happy Holidays!
Karen Wargo
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Robin, I don't know the actual name for this game, but we play it every year at our Church Christmas Party sponsored by our Women's group.
The Ever Changing Gift Exchange
The game is started by telling each person who wants to participate to bring a $5.00 gift. All gifts are placed under the tree and our preacher counts the number of participants, making strips of paper for the total count.
Each person selects a paper with a number and the gifts are selected in turn. Each person opens and shows their gift. The next person has a choice of opening a new gift (for their gender) or selecting a gift from another person. If they take another persons gift, that person can select a new gift or take someone else's gift (but not the one they had taken).
If a person obtains the same gift three times, they get to keep it. This is great fun and works best with groups of 30 or less. It can be time consuming as those who have gifts taken get to pick again before the next number is chosen to select their gift.
We state approximately $5.00, but some go slightly higher. I bought a very nice Nativity afghan at Wal-Mart for about $7.95 and it really went around the party until it was finally selected for the third time by one of our ladies for keeps!
A fun addition to the game rules is that once a gift has been opened by someone, it can later be selected by another participant of either gender.
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Two truths and a lie
Sent in by Donna Brashier
This can even be played with friends that know each other well.
Everyone writes down two truths and a lie about themselves. When everyone is finished, you go around the room and read the 3 things you've listed about yourself.
One by one everyone guesses which is the lie. After everyone has guess your answer, you reveal which is the lie and you move on to the next person. Each guest keeps a tally of how many lies they've detected. The person that guesses the most lies, wins.
I'm hosting a cookie exchange and white elephant swap next weekend. I've really enjoyed the ideas shared on your site! Thanks!
Donna Brashier
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Hello Robin,
I was reading through your website and found it to be very informative. Thanks! Anyway, I'd like to share a game with you to share with others who are interested in holiday party games.
For Christmas parties:
Ornament Name Game
I use colorful round metallic tree ornaments with a safety pin attached instead of an ornament hook. Also, using name tags with adhesive backing, I write a word associated with the holiday season on each tag; for example, Snowflake, Rudolph, Mrs. Claus, Santa, Elf, The Grinch, Holly, Bells, Yuletide, etc. etc.) I place the pinned ornaments in a decorative basket close to my door, along with another basket with the name tags.
As my guests arrive, I pin an ornament to them and I have them pick a tag from the basket. They place the name tag on and I tell them that this is their name for the duration of the party. I also tell them that they must pay close attention to all the other guests name tags because they must use the name on ones name tag when addressing them also. Once all the guests arrive, and although everyone is aware of their new names for the day; I get everyones attention and I still have each guest introduce themselves using their new name.
It is explained to everyone that whenever someone calls them a name other than the one on their name tag, they can take that persons ornament and pin it onto themselves. Also, if someone hears someone address 'Janet' as 'Janet' instead of her tag name which may be 'Snowflake', that person may take the persons ornament only if 'Janet' wasn't aware that she was just addressed by her real name. It's very simple and a LOT of fun. Also, if a person loses their ornament to someone, they are still in the game. They must still address everyone by their tag name and they can still take someones ornament if they hear that person use a persons real name, etc.
The person who has the most ornaments pinned to them at the end of the party wins a prize. I ususally makeup a nice holiday basket with a variety of small gifts in it. This game is enjoyed by men and women and I customize it with different occasions. On Thanksgiving, I use turkey's instead of ornaments, etc.
Thanks for letting me share...
Juaneece Clark
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Tell me your favorite party game!
