Entertain Guests at Christmas

Switch off the television and read our guide to entertaining your guests at Christmas.

A Hosts Work is Never Done

You may have just served up the feast of the year and provided wine that a sommelier would be proud of but as host your job is not yet done. Whether you have invited round close friends, neighbours or family members, you need to entertain your guests. The Great Escape might be on TV but get their attention with these fun games and entertainment ideas.

Pass the Parcel

Christmas is all about children and what better game to play than a kid’s classic. Pass the parcel can be adapted for all ages. All you need is to a gift that you, as host, have wrapped up in several layers of paper. Insert small gifts between each layer if you want to or simply save the suspense until the final piece of wrapping paper is removed!

As host you can be the music maestro, turning on and off the music as the parcel is passed around the group. Kids and adults alike love this game! It’s a bit of fun that will get everyone excited.

Grab the Gift

This requires a bit of planning but is a fun way of giving and receiving presents.

Have all of your invited guests bring a small gift with them to your party or gathering. Make sure you set a budget – anything from £5 - £15 will suffice. Once everyone has arrived get all the gifts in a sack and let each person choose a number from a hat. The person with the lowest number goes first and picks a gift from the pile. This is a good way to ensuring that everyone gets a present on the big day and it keeps everyone’s overall budget down.

Picture Charades

Charades is one of those classic festive games. Its fun and everyone knows how to play. Give it a Christmas twist.

As host you can be the director of proceedings. Give each person a card with a name of a Christmas carol written on it. That person has to then draw out the Christmas carol and let the rest of the group guess what it is.

The difference here is that guesses have to be sung. The person to get it correct goes next, drawing their mystery carol, and so on until all the Christmas carols have been completed. Whoever guesses the most is the winner and gets a prize – anything from a glass of champagne to a CD of famous Christmas carols!

Pin the Nose on the Reindeer

This is a fun game that will entertain the little guests at your Christmas party.

We have all heard of pin the tail on the donkey and this game has only a small seasonal twist. Draw out a picture of a reindeer on card. Leave an outline of the nose but don’t colour it in. Separately draw some red noses – one for each child playing – and attach some sticky tape on the back.

Hang the picture on the wall and get the game started. Blindfold each child and spin them around 5 times. Point them in the direction of the reindeer and get them to place the nose on it. The one who gets the nose closest to the actual reindeer nose wins the game!

Photo Fun

If you have a group of friends or work colleagues coming to a party try and get hold of some photos. You need a photo of each guest when they were young. This might require some serious preparation but trust us, its great fun!

Place all the photos in a prominent place at your party venue, giving each picture a number. Alongside the photos have a list with space for each guest to write who they think the photo is of. It might be humiliating for some but its a good talking point, particularly if you have a few guests who are new to the social group.

Recap

These are just a few suggestions. There are countless others.

Have a treasure hunt if the weather is good enough or indulge in a good old game of cards. Whatever you do, make next Christmas the best and the most fun Christmas ever!