Christmas Party Games

Christmas is just around the corner.  Many are now planning for their company party, family reunions, barkada get-togethers, etc.  I know this because Casa Minerva has already been getting a lot of inquiries and booking requests for the Christmas season.  Deciding on the date and venue is not so hard if you made your reservations early.  What is more challenging is planning for the activities for the actual party.

As head of my own company, I am also the one who plans for our Christmas parties.  This is my way of "giving back" to my staff for a year of service and for trying to keep up with my demands at work.  Every year, it becomes more difficult for me because I have to think of new games and new gimmicks to make the party more fun and memorable.  Aside from the Christmas raffle and exchange gifts that people don't get tired of, I can't just keep on repeating the usual games like musical chairs and treasure hunt.  The following are some of the games we had in our past Christmas parties:​

AGAW BITIN (ADULT VERSION)

​Pabitin is a popular game in the Philippines, usually played in town fiestas. It involves a lattice of bamboo sticks (called a balag) suspended in the air with string. The lattice is strung with plastic bags containing small toys, snacks, sweets or coins. It is suspended in a way that it can be lowered and raised quickly. Children gather under the lattice as it is lowered to reach the party favors.

​Since ours is the adult version, we placed adult items like bags, wallets, etc. in the plastic bags, some of which had money inside.  Be prepared for the lattice to be destroyed during the game because adults, unlike kids, could get more aggressive.

PASS THE PRESENT MUSICAL GAME

This is played like Pass the Ball, Stop the Music game except that instead of a ball, a Christmas present is used.  Players stand and form a circle. When the music is turned on, the player holding the present should pass it to the person next to him, who then passes the present to the next person in the circle. This should go on until the music is stopped suddenly. The player who is to be found holding the present at this point should be considered as OUT and should leave the circle.  The last player left in the circle is declared the winner.

STICK THE NOSE ON RUDOLPH

This is a variation of the Pin the Tail on the Donkey game.  A picture of Rudolph is taped to a wall within easy reach of the players. One at a time, each player is blindfolded and handed a red paper "nose" with a tape on its back. The blindfolded player is spun around until he is disoriented.  The player then gropes around and tries to stick the nose on Rudolph. The player who sticks the nose closest to the target is the winner.

CHRISTMAS CAROL RELAY

Players are divided into at least two teams. One team starts singing the first verse of a Christmas carol. As soon as they finish, the other team starts a different carol and so on. Teams cannot repeat a carol that has already been sung and have only five seconds to begin a new carol or they are out.

iHENYO (CHRISTMAS VERSION)

This is an iPad application derived from Pinoy Henyo, a game popularized by the Philippine TV Show, Eat Bulaga,  The mechanics are as follows: (1) divide the players into 2 teams; (2) a mystery word is given to each team; (3) one of the team members will guess what that word is by first asking the category (person/
thing/animal/food/place or tao/bagay/hayop/pagkain/
lugar) then a series of questions answerable only by yes, no or maybe (oo/hindi/pwede).; (4) each team is given 2 minutes to guess the mystery word correctly, and; (5) the fastest team to finish will be declared the winner. Since this is the Christmas vesion, the mystery words we used were mostly related to Christmas.

THE SINGING CHRISTMAS BEE

This is derived from the Philippine game show, The Singing Bee, where the players' knowledge of songs and song lyrics is put to test.  Since this is the Christmas version, Christmas songs/carols are used. The host will provide the title of the song then a portion of that song is sang by the host.  The first player is asked to sing the next line of the song.  If that player fails, he/she is OUT and the next player in line tries the same song.  Whenever a player sings the correct line, a new song is introduced.  This goes on until only one player is left and is declared the winner.

LECHON-HAMON-KESO GAME​

​Body parts are assigned to each Noche Buena​ food, i.e. lechon - head, hamon - waist, keso - knees.  The host calls out the name of a Noche Buena food and the players must touch the corresponding body part.  The players must do this quickly and repeatedly as the host randomly calls out food names faster and faster.  Once a player makes a mistake, he/she is OUT and the last player left is declared the winner.

SANTA CLAUS PUZZLE GAME​

Players are divided into 2 teams.  The host briefly shows a picture of Santa Claus simultaneously to both teams.  Each team will be given a puzzle of the Santa Claus picture and they will be asked to start putting the puzzle pieces together at the same time.  The team that finishes first is declared the winner.

​THE AMAZING CHRISTMAS RACE

This is played as an obstacle course or relay race. Each team must have the same number of players and make their way through a series of activities in relay fashion. In our version, teams were asked to each form a line.  The first player in line must tie a red ribbon around his/her legs, jump repeatedly to get a Christmas tree ornament, stick that ornament to a poster of a Christmas tree, and jump repeatedly again to the start of the line to pass on the ribbon to the next player who goes through the same series of activities.  This goes on until the last player in line makes his way back to the starting point of the race.  The first team to finish is declared the winner.

POP THE BALLOON, WIN A PRIZE

This is a nice game to end your party.  Last year, we decorated our venue with balloons.  I didn't tell my staff that each balloon had a small piece of paper inside. "Merry Christmas!" were printed on some but most had a name of a prize.  On my cue, I asked the players to grab as many balloons as they can, pop them and claim the prizes written on the pieces of papers they collect from me.  

So those were some of the most memorable games we played during our company Christmas parties.  I hope that I inspired you to be creative in planning yours.  If you are interested in having your Christmas party at Casa Minerva, please call +63916-2208322 or +63939-0276845.