After we split them up into 2 – 3 groups, we give each group a piece of paper & pencil.  They are given 1 – 2 minutes to write down as many Christmas Carols as they can think of.  Then, one by one, they have to sing at least 8 words of a song on their list.  If another group has that same song, they all have to cross it off their list.

The team with the most original Christmas Carols on their list at the end is the winner.

Supplies:

• Green Saran Wrap
• Lots of Christmas Tree Ornaments
• Christmas Lights
• Extension Cord
• Surge Protector

Bring 3 kids up front and have them choose 2 friends each. Then, give each team 2 minutes to turn their person into a Christmas Tree. The first step is to have the person hold their hands straight out so they can be wrapped in Saran Wrap. Step 2 is to wrap the person in lights (unplugged). Then, the kids should put the ornaments on. The Saran Wrap is what holds the ornament hangers, because they’ll poke right through it. Finally, when the time is up, plug all the trees into the surge protector at the same time.

Have the crowd vote by applause for the best tree.

We usually make the winning tree stay up front for at least 2 songs. It makes for some great pictures.

What you’ll need:

• A goldfish bowl that’s large enough to dip a clear cup in
• Several goldfish
• Some clear plastic cups
• Swedish Fish candy
• A blindfold
• A small carrot

Send 3 kids out of the room and have them come in one at a time. When they get to the front of the room, tell them that they are going to be blindfolded and have to dip the cup into the fishbowl. Then, they’ll have to drink whatever is in it.

Put the blindfold on. When they dip the cup in, you’ll have to help them because they can’t see. When you’re helping, after they get the water in their cup, slip a Swedish fish in it. Then tell them they have to down whatever is in the cup.

For the third kid, you might want to use a leader because they’ll be in on it. Instead of dropping a Swedish fish in, you’ll drop a live goldfish into the cup. They will actually swallow a live fish, but the catch is that they have the small carrot hidden in their mouth before they come in the room. After they swallow the fish, they need to act like they are gagging and then chew up the carrot. When they spit the carrot back into the cup, the room goes nuts.

What you’ll need:

• A piece of wood (5′ x 3′) with a head sized hole cut about 1.5′ from one end, or we have used 2 card tables and cut a hole in one of them.
• A large sheet that can be cut
• 2 chairs or bar stools (unless you’re using card tables)
• 4 or 5 sports balls
• 4 or 5 boxes – at least one needs to be able to cover a head

Take 3 kids out of the room and set up the wood on the backs of the chairs to create a table or set the card tables side by side. Cover the table with the sheet and cut a hole in the spot where the head will be sticking through. Make sure the sheet goes all the way to the ground on all sides.

Put the balls under boxes in a line on the table and put one box over the hole. Have a kid or leader get under the table and put their head through the hole. It’s important to have the face of the person under the table face away from the crowd because that way the person lifting the boxes will be facing the crowd.

Have the kids come in one at a time. Play it up hard that this is a game to test their knowledge of all different kinds of sports. Have the leader who’s leading it wear a referee shirt and whistle. Do a demonstration by having the leader pull a golf ball out of their pocket, “What sport is it!!??” They’ll say golf. Tell them that’s what they have to do for each of the boxes. Finally give them a fake time to beat, so they are sure to go fast & start the video cameras recording.

When the contestant throws the box off the head, the person who is the head screams real loud.  There are a couple variations to this.  I saw one at camp where the last contestant,  took a baseball bat and hit the balls.  When they came to the head, the person who was the head had a manican head that they put through the hole.  The head got hit into the crowd.  If you do that, have the person under the table wear a hat that they’ll put on the manican.

The other variation is to have the last person hold a pie and smack the unsuspecting person under the table when throw that box off.  That requires the leader to actually do the throwing of the boxes for that one.

It works best if they throw the boxes into the crowd instead of lifting them straight up, because they’ll be leaning forward to get a good look at the balls.  Have fun!

Split the crowd into 2 to 4 groups and yell out a word that you’ve thought about ahead of time.  It needs to be a word that would be in a lot of songs.  Then, starting with one group, they have to sing (as a group) at least 8 words of a song that contains the given word.  And, the given word must be a part of the portion they sing.

Split the crowd into 5 groups and give them 2 minutes to build the tallest, free-standing tower with only the supplies they are given.

Here’s all you need.

• A piece of paper or paper plate – anything small & flat will do.

Send 3 – 4 kids out of the room. Once they’re gone, put the piece of paper on the floor up front. Then (this is the most important part) you tell the crowd that they have to be completely silent. Its always a struggle to keep those one or two kids from making little noises. We put leaders strategically throughout the room near those kids. Then tell the group that whatever the kid says when they are standing on the paper is the first thing they said after their first kiss. Silence is so important. Can’t stress that enough. It creates the awkward tension for the game to work.

Meanwhile, outside have a leader tell the 4 kids that when they come into the room they need to make sure to follow the instructions they are given exactly.

When the kids come in one at a time, only a leader will speak to them. Everyone else needs to stay silent. All the leader is going to say is “Please come up here and stand on this piece of paper.” That’s all there is to it. It will get extremely awkward as the kid stands in front of the silent room wondering what they are supposed to be doing. Whatever comes out of their mouth will be funny to the crowd, because they’ll be picturing the kid’s first kiss. The laughter makes it even more awkward. We make sure we’re mindful of the sensitivity of the individual kids. Some kids we let sit down pretty quickly, but some (the ones we know can take it) we let stand up there quite a while. It’s a hoot.

When the music starts, they race to see which team can finish their jar of mayo first.

Here’s the catch.  One team’s jar of mayo is actually a mayo jar filled with vanilla pudding.  We usually make that our girl team.  We tell them ahead of time.  We ask them to eat as fast as they can, but to periodically pretend to be grossed out.  The competitive spirit of the fellas usually means they’ll try to down their jar of real mayo thinking that the girls are eating theirs.

We’ve also done this with 4 individual jars where we did guys vs. girls and had 2 jars of vanilla pudding.

Caution: make sure you’re really careful when you clean out the jar of mayo you’re filling with pudding.  If you get the wrapper wet, it’ll show.  I spooned all of the mayo out, carefully put in some hot water, capped and it and shook it up.  A couple times of doing that and all the mayo was out.

Here’s how it works.

1. Line the kids up in at least 2 equal lines.
2. Give everyone a toothpick.  We made it more interesting by pretending we didn’t have enough, so we broke them in two.  Don’t worry, there’s still enough room to make sure they don’t kiss, but things got dicey.
3. Have the kids each put their toothpicks in their mouths & put a life saver on the first kids toothpick.
4. When the music starts (gotta have some good passing music), have them pass the lifesavers from one kid in line to the next.
5. If it drops on the floor, they have to pick it up and put it back on the person who was passing it’s toothpick.
6. No hands allowed unless they’re picking it up off the floor.
7. The first team done wins.