As early as the 16th century it was customary to play games at Christmas. Late medieval English law allowed servants and commoners to play games at Christmas that were forbidden the rest of the year. These games included tennis, dice, cards, billiard and others.

Christmas games enjoyed in the modern period were blindman’s bluff, feed the dove and hot cockles. In Hot Cockles each player in turn is blindfolded. The blindfolded player puts his hands behind his back, palms up. One of the other players hits the hands of the blindfolded player. The blindfolded player must guess which of the other players has hit him. If he does so correctly, he may penalize the player whom he “caught.” Those who preferred a greater mental test might retire to a game of chess, while the physically agile might challenge each other to tennis or skittles.

The English also enjoyed playing cards and gambling at Christmas time, especially with dice. During the reign of the Tudor kings, working people may have found greater pleasure in these games than the well-to-do, since they were prohibited by law from playing games except at Christmas time. In the sixteenth and 17th centuries the Puritans condemned those who celebrated Christmas by playing games and gambling.

In Victorian England parlor games remained popular Christmas entertainments throughout the 19th century. Victorians favored such games as Snapdragon, Forfeits, Hoop and Hide (Hide and Seek), charades, Blind Man’s Bluff, Queen of Sheba (a variation on Blind Man’s Bluff), and Hunt the Slipper. In Snapdragon players gathered around a bowl of currants covered with spirits. A lighted match was dropped into the bowl, setting fire to the alcohol. Players challenged one another to grab a flaming currant out of the bowl and pop it into their mouths, thus extinguishing the flames. A bit of light verse describes the fearful delights of this game:

Here he comes with flaming bowl,
Don’t he mean to take his toll,
Snip! Snap! Dragon!
Take care you don’t take too much,
Be not greedy in your clutch,
Snip! Snap! Dragon!
With his blue and lapping tongue
Many of you will be stung,
Snip! Snap! Dragon!
For he snaps at all that comes
Snatching at his feast of plums,
Snip! Snap! Dragon!
But Old Christmas makes him come,
Though he looks so fee! fa! fum!
Snip! Snap! Dragon!
Don’t ‘ee fear him, be but bold-
Out he goes, his flames are cold,
Snip! Snap! Dragon!

Players heightened the effect of the glowing, blue flames by extinguishing all other lights in the room except that cast by the burning bowl.

In Hunt the Slipper players formed a circle around one person. They held their hands behind their backs and passed a slipper around the outside of the circle. The person in the center of the circle had to guess who was in possession of the slipper at any given moment.

A number of other English Christmas games have now disappeared so completely that only their picturesque names remain behind. Folklorists cannot now say how they were played. These forgotten games include Shoeing the Wild Mare, Steal the White Loaf, Post and Pair, Feed the Dove, Puss-in-the-Corner, and The Parson Has Lost His Cloak. Before a Christmas party broke up for the evening, the sleepy guests might play one last, quaintly named game called Yawning for a Cheshire Cheese. The players sat in a circle and yawned at one another. Whoever produced the longest, most open-mouthed, and loudest yawn won a Cheshire cheese.

Christmas Games are also played in other Countries. Some traditional Christmas games are for children. In many nations Advent calendars amuse children with a kind of counting game in the weeks before Christmas. Children in Mexico often play games with pinitas at holiday season parties. In Iran youngsters play egg-tapping games at Christmas time. Most Christmas games, however, involve adults and younger people. In a number of different countries sporting matches, games of chance, or fortune-telling games are associated with one or more days of the Christmas season.

In past times Swedes used to play games with Christmas gifts, which they call Julklapp, on December 24. On St. Stephen’s Day both Swedes and Norwegians used to race horses (see Norway, Christmas in). Ethiopians celebrate Christmas Day by playing ganna, a sport that resembles hockey (see Ethiopia, Christmas in). In the United States, many people enjoy watching football bowl games on New Year’s Day. In Lithuania people entertain themselves on Christmas Eve with fortune-telling games.

Some popular Christmas games we enjoy today are Yankee Swap, Elephant Gift Exchange, cookie exchanges, caroling and others. There’s no doubt that Christmas party games still play a big part in making the season special and memorable.

Plan a tree decorating party.

Firstly, you will have to decide if you are going to use a live tree or an artificial one. Live trees are popular – reserve one well in advance to make sure that you are not disappointed.

Now plan the tree decorating party. Set the tree up in a spacious spot – where there is place for everyone to gather around the tree and there is space to put the gifts under the tree. Cover the container that holds the tree with green paper. Purposely leave your tree naked, and invite your friends, family and especially the children to dress it up for you.

Make a list of what you need to decorate the tree:

• Ornaments
• Tinsel
• Glowing strings of lights
• Art materials to make ornaments
  • Card board
  • Glue sticks
  • Glitter
  • Magic markers
  • Yarn
  • Cotton balls
  • Popcorn to pop (Try to get colored microwave pop corn)
  • Construction paper
  • Large needles with a large eye
• Bake gingerbread men, stars and hearts
• Cookie icing and sweets
• Prepare stencils of hearts, stars, snowflakes and snowmen

On the day:

Lay out your collection of ornaments and lights, as well as art materials.

Gather the older children and let them pop the corn. Pop enough corn to make pop corn strings and for eating. Eating pop corn while decorating adds some fun.

Ask for volunteers to make pop corn strings by threading pop corn onto long sections of yarn.

Instruct the younger children how to make star, heart, snowflake and snowmen decorations. Demonstrate the use of a stencil. Cut out the different shapes. Cover the shapes with shiny paper or paint and decorate them with glitter and magic markers. Everything goes — even the hideous ones will be funny. Write the names of all the guests on a heart or star decoration.

Make a few bowls with cake icing, each a different color. Put the different sweets into small bowls. Gather the youngsters in the kitchen and have a gingerbread man decorating demonstration. Leave the rest to them to decorate.

Once all the decorations have been made gather everyone around the tree and decorate. Don’t forget to put the fairy on top!

Lastly, switch on the tree lights.

Now your tree is ready for gifts to be placed underneath.