potofgold's Blog

Christmas Party Ideas For Memorable Holiday Celebrations

by: Dee Schrock

I don't know about you, but when I think of Christmas parties, I think of warm, toasty get-togethers with family and close friends. A cozy fire complete with sentimental stories. Do we ever really let a year go by without mentioning, "You'll shoot your eye out kid" from a Christmas story?

Or maybe your idea of a Christmas party is a little more like National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation? Well, maybe not quite that eventful- but here are a few ideas to start your holiday season off right!

Christmas parties are thrown for a wide variety of guests, and each should be considered in order to be a success. Christmas parties can be for family, friends, office co-workers, or one big combined party. Here are some ideas for different guests in mind:

Activity Ideas

·Christmas caroling party. Go caroling in the neighborhood and invite the group to your house afterward for hot chocolate and desserts.

·Potluck dinners. Arrange for everyone to bring a dish to share. It not only makes it easier for you, but your guests get to try new dishes and show off their culinary skills.

·Christmas around the world potluck dinner. Have guests bring dishes that reflect their ethnicities and countries of origin.

·Volunteer at a charitable organization. Arrange for your group to gather needed items for a charity, such as a hunger center. Get the real "reason for the season" going and give back to the community. Come back to the hosts home and share your experiences over coffee.

·Holiday lights tour. Caravan through local neighborhoods and enjoy the festive lights and decorations.

·Cookie baking parties. Get a large group together and bake up a storm. Divvy up the desserts to each guest so that each has a variety to have for their own holiday guests.

·Christmas craft creations. Have each guest be responsible for one craft to make, including the purchase of supplies. Each guest will demonstrate how to do the craft, and other guests will try to make their own. If you have 15 guests, each will go home with 15 new Christmas crafts to decorate their homes.

·Kid friendly. Any Christmas party can cater to kids by having a separate area for Christmas videos, crafts, and Shirley Temples.

Games

·Pin the nose on Rudolph

·What’s in the bag? Take a bag and put in Christmas items such as a stockings, candy canes, etc. Each guest reaches her hand in the bag and must guess the item. The best guesser wins a prize.

·Christmas trivia. Test your knowledge about popular movies, TV, pop culture, and other trivia.

·Christmas bingo. Create a bingo card with a Christmas-related theme in the middle, such as a snowman.

·Christmas word scramble. Think of words such as reindeer, stocking, etc, and scramble them on a small cardboard page.

·Name that tune. Play a Christmas CD and the first to guess correctly, wins a prize.

I hope these Christmas party ideas helped spark some fun ideas for your upcoming celebration!

Tips and Advice for Hosting an Unforgettable Christmas Party

by: Catherine Spelling

It's just about that time of the year again! Each year, around this time, people start to get into the festive spirit and decide to celebrate with a party of some sort. I host a party for my friends and family every year, and each year I learn something new. In my experience, there are a few things you can do to make the party enjoyable for everyone…yourself included.

Plan your party well in advance. The holidays are a busy time for everyone, so give your guest as much advance notice as possible. Your best bet is to send out the invitations in late November, so your guests can have the time to plan ahead. Organization is the key to a successful party.

It is important to have some idea how many people will be attending your party. You could include a stamped envelop with the invite, so your guests can RSVP. If you are unable to confirm the number of attendees, save yourself some trouble and plan to have a few more people than you invited. By approaching the party this way, you will be sure to have enough food and drink for everyone.

When considering your menu, try to keep things as simple as possible. This does not mean you have to compromise the quality of your food. Experience has taught me that homemade desserts are always a big hit. Consider serving an array of tarts and pastries, along with tea and coffee. As for the other food, try to serve finger foods such as sandwiches or wraps. You can purchase a platter of these at a very reasonable price, and save yourself a lot of time. I also like to have to an assortment of appetizers such as breaded shrimp and spring rolls.

Regarding beverages, you should consider having a selection of things to choose from. Be sure to stock up on Egg Nog! You should have a reasonably well stocked bar that includes red and white wine, rum, whiskey, vodka, and beer. We love Irish Cream with our coffee! Keep in mind that not everyone likes to imbibe, so be sure to have an assortment of soda and juice on hand. Tea and coffee are absolute necessities.

Another thing you could do to make the party more exciting, is to base it around a theme of some sort. You can tailor your food and drink to the theme, as well. Wouldn't it be great if everyone showed up dressed in costume? We had a party a few years ago, and it was in the theme of a Victorian Christmas. It was so much fun seeing everyone together and enjoying the holidays dressed in wonderful evening gowns and tuxedos! So good luck, and have a wonderful holiday!

Children's Christmas Ice Breaking Party Games

by: S. Roberts

Ice breaking party games are a brilliant way for a group of people to get to know each other, get over shyness, and generally 'break the ice' and therefore make way for festive fun. Icebreaker games are designed so that there are no winners or losers. The main aim of the game is to have fun as a group, so that there are no isolate persons. It also encourages the group to communicate and overcome shyness.

Here are three ice breaker games you could try at your children's Christmas party...

Christmas Tree

The group sits in a ring with the host or play leader in the centre.

The host labels the children with one of the following (making sure there is a minimum of 2 of each)

Star, Bauble, Tinsel, Angel, Snowflake

The host now calls out one object. For example - Snowflake. All the snowflakes must now jump up and exchange positions with other snowflakes, the game continues in this way with the host calling out different objects and the children exchanging places with objects of the same kind.

If 'Christmas Tree' is called out, all of the children must jump up and exchange places with other objects.

This game is fast and furious and energetic and usually very well received by older and younger children alike. It breaks the ice by mixing the children up and sitting them next to new people.

Christmas Theme Chinese Whispers

An old game that can be given a Christmas twist, simply divide the children into two teams and arrange them to sit in two lines.

Have ready some (previously made) cards with festive sentences written on them, but make sure that the sentences are out of the ordinary.

For Example - Rudolf likes Christmas pudding on Mondays, but Prancer likes plum pudding on Mondays and Christmas pudding on Wednesdays.

To begin the game, give the two children at the front of the lines the festive sentence to read.

The children then have to whisper the sentence to one another until it has passed up the line. Remember: Each child my only whisper the sentence once, they may not repeat it.

Finally, when the message gets to the last child in the line, this child has to say the message out aloud for everyone to hear.

There aren't any winners or losers, its just lots of fun listening to garbled messages. If you have only a few children don't divide them into teams.

Christmas Pictionary

Preparing the game - Have 20 cards with a Christmas item written on each. For example: Christmas Fairy, Roast Turkey, Holly and Ivy, Santa's Sleigh, Christmas Trimmings, Christmas present label...

How to play

Divide the children in to two teams. Each team takes it in turns to play rounds. To play a round, one child in the team must be chosen to be the drawer for that round (The drawer changes for each round played) The drawer takes a card from the top of the pile and reads it without speaking.

The drawer then has tree minutes to draw what was written on the card. However, the drawer must write letters or words and they must not speak.

The rest of the drawer’s team must try to guess what was written on the card from the drawings, all within the tree minutes. A point is awarded each time a team guesses correctly (word for word) what was written on the card.

The first team to collect 4 points is the winning team.

This game can be difficult for younger children.

Ice breaker games help to introduce the children at the party to one another. Once everyone has had a chance to speak to a few new people, it paves the way for more party fun and everyone will have a great time

Pin the Red Nose on Rudolf Christmas Party Game

by: S. Roberts

This is a simple children's Christmas party game. I deal for young children due to the simple rules and it’s all round good fun.

Preparing the game

Draw a large reindeer to pin on the wall or to stick to a table. Try not to leave indented drawing lines on the paper, we don't want any cheating!

Make a red nose and cut it out. Or you could paint a Ping-Pong ball red and use that for Rudolf's nose. Stick some blue tack on the back of the nose so that it easily sticks to the large reindeer drawing.

How to play

Blindfold your first contestant with a scarf. Give them the nose and then turn them round 3 times and then guide them to the reindeer picture.

The contestant must then stick the nose on where they think Rudolf's nose should be in the picture whilst still blindfolded.

Once the nose is stuck in place, the contestant can remove their blindfold to see the result. The referee should mark the spot with a small 'x' and then label it with the contestant's name. Blindfold the next contestant to repeat the process.

Once everyone has taken a turn, the winner is the contestant whose 'x' is closest to the correct place for Rudolf's bright red nose.

Download a printable Rudolf at http://SantasPostbag.co.uk