We have been preparing for our Christmas Family Game, and this year we will be enjoying a crowd of friends and family. There will be 18 people at our son's home for the Christmas Eve Sleep-Over (that's a lot of sleeping bags and foamies)! Grandparents will be sleeping at our house ... the quiet retreat! Our son lives three miles from us, and we will join the crowd for Brunch.  

We usually play this game on Christmas Eve, and I thought I would share it with my NOTH friends. There will be 21 playing in our game this year, ages 10 to 78!

Here are the guidelines ... 

Christmas Family Game

1. Any number of people, any age can play this game.

2. Prepare gifts, place in sealed paper bags or wrapped, at least double the number of gifts as players. Place all gifts in a large box or basket, in the middle of the playing area. Gifts can be anything … from the Dollar Store, homemade, candy bags, etc. A variety of gift sizes and weight  adds interest to the game. Be creative … remember, big isn’t always better!!!!

3. A deck of playing cards is to be passed out to all players. Depending on the number of players, more than one deck can be pass out so that each player has at least four cards.

4. Have a small basket or container with one deck of cards. As the game progresses, have a dealer call out one card at a time. The player(s) with the matching card is to select any gift from the box or basket. When all the gifts have been selected, there will still be more cards to call, and a gift can then be selected from any player. Continue until all the cards have been called.

5. At the end of the game, give a 5-minute opportunity to trade any unopened gift with another player, if you wish.

6. RULES: Players are to have all of their gifts in plain view … no hiding of any gift. Gifts are not to be unwrapped until after the 5-minute period of gift trading the end of the game.  

Have fun!

Tags: Christmas Family Game