A great Christmas party will get your students get into the festive spirit and create joyful memories with their peers. These craft activities will help you to liven up the festive celebration in your classroom.
1. Pin the carrot on the snowman
A twist on the well-known 'Pin the tail on the donkey' game. Using paper or card, cut out a snowman and stick him on a wall or use one of our Display Snowmen linked below. Then, cut out several carrots from orange card and add blue tack onto the backs. Remember to write the children's names on the 'carrots' so you can work out who got the closest at the end!
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2. Poke a tree
This activity lets everyone be a winner. Hide different mini prizes of your choice inside cups (e.g., sweets), cover them with green/red tissue paper and secure them with an elastic band. Afterwards, arrange the cups in a Christmas tree pattern and let the children choose a cup to poke and win their prize!
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3. Rudolph ring toss
A classic party game made festive. Using cardboard, build up a box and cut two slits into the top part at either side. Then, with the other piece of cardboard, draw out antlers, cut them out and stick them into the slits. Draw/paint Rudolph on the box and ask the children to try their luck throwing some rings onto the antlers.
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4. Santa says
Most of us will have played 'Simon says' as children, so why not do the same for your party but replace Simon with Santa? There are so many possibilities for this game and different ways you can make it your own.
5. Snowman slam
The children will love having a go at blasting a pyramid of snowmen down. Stick coloured card onto cups to make the face of a snowman, arrange the cups in a tower and ask children to knock down as many as possible with a ball. You could go one step further and cover the balls in cotton wool or pom poms for an added 'snowball' effect.
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6. How many candy canes?
We're convinced no one has ever guessed one of these games right. Place several candy canes in a jar and ask children to guess how many are there. Count them up at the end, and whoever gets the number right/gets the closest wins.
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7. Feed Santa
Surely Santa doesn't need more treats with all the mince pies he gets from children worldwide! Well, he might just be able to manage some more. First, build up a cardboard box, draw/paint a picture of Santa and cut a hole where his mouth is. Grab some bean bags and ask children to aim them into Santa's mouth to 'feed' him.
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Head over to ypo.co.uk/christmas to find more ways to help you create, make and celebrate the festive season in your school or early years setting this year!