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| Fun Family Party Entertainment |
Fun Family Festivities for Christmas:Entertainment
Preparations are completed and the guests have arrived! What can we do for fun that will entertain kids and adults alike?
Games: Ask our family what they love best about our parties and they will tell you it’s the games. Purchased games, i.e. Bunco or Pokeno, can accommodate even large families. Inexpensive prizes, including nostalgic candies or travel-sized toiletries, concealed in inexpensive gift bags, lend an air of excitement to winning. However, our guests also enjoy simple games like the Stocking Guess1, a Christmas scavenger hunt, and others that can be found on Christmas game sites2 on the Internet.
Activities: Our family looks forward to activities such as an Edible Gift Exchange3 or an old-fashioned taffy pull4. Caroling, a visit to a local church live nativity, or a group walk or drive through the neighborhoods to view the Christmas displays entertains party-goers of all ages. Circle back to the house for a welcome cup of hot chocolate and a fistful of homemade cookies and everyone ends the evening with a smile.
Movies: Classic movies like “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” or “Charlie Brown’s Christmas” are a great way to occupy the kids and give adults a little talk time. Providing a big batch of popcorn to eat or to string with cranberries adds to the merriment.
Far from boring, irresistible Christmas parties are events that family members will fondly remember and eagerly anticipate year after year. And all it takes is a little creativity mixed with an extra dollop of hospitality. Try it!
1 The Stocking Guess: Fill a Christmas stocking with small items such as various sized coins, a pen, a button, yarn, ribbon, an ornament hanger, a craft wiggle eye, a bead, a piece of material, a nail, a screw, a nut, a toothpick, a twist tie, a match, a pebble, a seed, etc. Close the top and pass the stocking around. After each person has had 10 seconds to feel the stocking, have them write down what they think is inside. For younger kids print a handout with clipart of many items (including ones NOT in the stocking) and have them circle what they think they have felt in it. The winner who guesses the most gets a prize.
3Edible Gift Exchange: Each guest brings a wrapped, edible gift. Write each person’s name on three slips of paper and place in a stocking. Randomly re-distribute the gifts. When a person’s name is drawn from the stocking, they can either open the package they are holding or exchange their gift with someone else. The game continues until all names are drawn. Everyone will end up with a gift.
4 Old Fashioned Taffy Pull: Try this yummy recipe from Diane Laney Fitzpatrick on About.com http://parent-child-activities.suite101.com/article.cfm/have_a_taffy_pull
Blessings of the season today and always!
Pam.©2011 Pamela D. Williams
