Just because the gifts are opened and the wrapping paper is strewn about the living room doesn’t mean the fun of Christmas is over. Add some fun party games to Christmas day and extend the fun of Christmas.

A Game for Large Gatherings
Have a lot of people over for Christmas Day? Then try playing the hat game. When people arrive, give them a Santa hat. These are inexpensive and can be purchased for $1 at the dollar store, or even less in bulk, if you plan ahead. As everyone goes about their business of getting food, chatting with others and the like, the room will look very festive with everyone wearing their Santa hats.

But, of course, that’s not the point.

The point is to get rid of your hat and not be the last one wearing a Santa hat. But you can’t take your hat off until you’re finished with getting your food at the buffet table and have sat down to eat. Inevitably there will be one person so wrapped up in a conversation or the buffet table, they forget to take off their hat and will be left the game’s “loser.”

A Memory Game
One fun memory game that kids particularly like is to make everyone pay careful attention to all the gifts that are opened on Christmas day. After the gifts are removed from the room (or you remove yourselves from the gift room) have everyone try and remember every single gift that each person received.

For a greater challenge, include stockings and any food gifts.

Tell people they only have to remember the items that were opened that day, not any gifts they received and opened prior to Christmas day. This can be a fun game that’s particularly popular with kids because they love to relive the gift magic. In addition, if they were so immersed with their own gifts they didn’t notice anyone else’s this is a good chance for them to educate themselves about what everyone got that day.

What’s In the Sock?
If you need a game to keep everyone busy before dinner, try the guess me game, “What’s In the Sock?”. Buy some large heavy socks — not low-rise, but the type that are worn outdoors in the winter that are thick and come at least to the calf. You can often find these at a dollar store or other discount store, like Big Lots, for a fairly low price.

Put several items in the socks. Make sure identical items are in each sock. These items should be related to Christmas in some way. You might include a small ornament, scotch tape, a pinecone, a Hershey’s kiss, and the like. Have each person feel the socks (having two socks just makes the game go faster, but you can play with just one sock), and write down their guesses about what’s in the socks. Be sure to tell everyone how many items are in each sock.

The winner gets, you guessed it, one of the socks!

Christmas Idol
Do you have some hams in your group? Then this game is for them!

Set up a small table for the “judges” and have teams of 2 people (or individuals, if they want) sing a Christmas carol. Tell them to have a lot of fun with the song, and even add a Santa hat or other dress-up items if they wish. The winners can take home a CD of Christmas music. This game is particularly fun if just the children want to perform and be judged by the adults, or if, conversely, the adults perform and are judged by the children.

My first Christmas memories from school are from my time in Kenya, when I was in pre-school. I remember Father Christmas coming to visit. He was tall and thin and wore a long, dark red coat.

There seems to be a tradition of Christmas (and other holidays) being celebrated in the classroom. In part, the reason is to educate children about the societal norms, but it is also about sharing wonders of the world, too.

If you’re a teacher looking for some festive Christmas activities, here are a few suggestions.

Letter to Santa

One of the most traditional Christmas activities is writing a letter to Santa Claus. The kids love it and it gets everyone in the spirit of the holidays. But it also helps teach reading, writing and grammar.

Simple Crafts

Another way to keep the younger kids occupied is with crafts. These can be as simple as coloring (which can help with finger dexterity) to cutting out snowflakes by folding paper. There are plenty of holiday crafts that work well in the classroom: decorations (such as the pasta tree), cards, tree toppers and more. Just be sure to include a craft that is age appropriate.

Create a Panoramic Mural for the Classroom

If there s a spare bulletin board in the room, try making a mural out of construction paper. One group of students can do the fireplace, another group does the Santa, another does a table with a glass of milk and cookies, another does the tree, and so on and so on until everything gets stapled up together to make one big mural. It’s a great project because it shows teamwork at its best.

A Multicultural Christmas

Christmas is celebrated in different ways around the world, and there are plenty of stories on the Internet and in books that can show your students the multiple cultures throughout the world we call home. Try going for stories that the kids can relate to without going overboard with descriptions. Foreign customs can be hard to understand, so try for moderation. Again, think age appropriate.

Whatever you decide to do, you can try to incorporate it in only a few subjects. Not all kids are gung-ho about Christmas, and every day school work still needs to be around. But all in all, make sure it’s fun. The best way to end school for the holiday break isn’t just to tie up loose ends, but to make them into pretty bows too.

Sometimes I miss being a child … when the wide-eyed wonders and glorious splendor of the season were always fresh, new and full of wondrous things … when the burdens of adulthood hadn’t tainted the sights, sounds and scents that put the magic and a festive spirit into Christmas.

But sometimes I can get a taste of what that used to be by living vicariously through the children of today. And, I hope, that I’ll be able to live Christmas anew when I have children of my own.

Christmas really is a time for children. The major shopping malls enthrall with their various seasonal window displays and in-store Holiday arrangements. This is the best time of year to go window shopping with the kids. The displays, which can be moving, stationary or interactive, can be so mesmerizing that many a parent has arranged a trip to the mall just for children to view the many displays.

Then, of course, there is the annual picture taken with Santa. My mother has all the ones that were taken of me and my sister and it’s quite amusing. The first one or two I’m too young and just plain oblivious. Then there’s the year I was terrified and balling. There are a couple years missing … we were living in Kenya those years … and then my sister joins the pictures and goest through the same phases I did. I really miss taking those annual photos … but my husband is just not into it and I feel funny doing it alone as an adult.

Another fun family activities that is sure to delight the children is driving through the brightly decorated neighborhoods. Sometimes even a local part or arboretum will offer a fantasy of light display to view. Christmas displays have become so common, almost everyone has some form of lighting arrangement at their house. Many a neighborhood sees an increase in traffic during the Christmas season because of the fanciful, landscaped displays of outdoor Christmas light decorations. These usually include figures of reindeers, Santa, sleighs, angels, shepherds and animals that are a part of the story of Jesus’ birth.

There is also the lighting of the official town tree. Many cities and towns will have a official Christmas tree and offer an organized light ceremony. This event can be quite the treat for the kids, as it often includes treats, caroling and other fun activities — often including a surprise visit from Santa Claus.

Take the time to enjoy the season with your children and maybe you’ll get a taste of that magic you once felt so long ago.