active play

With all the excitement, kids need some active fun Christmas Games to channel their energy. Use these ideas and add your own for outside and inside play.

• Follow Rudolph: This is a dress for the weather and spend time outdoors game. Kids take turns being Rudolph and leading the rest of the reindeer around the yard or playground. Of course, reindeer don’t usually climb the ladders and slide down the slides at the playground but this doesn’t matter to kids. At home, in a yard without any obstacles to go around, kids can spread their arms and fly, shuffle like a penguin, walk like a big polar bear, and use other actions. If there’s snow on the ground, kids can make paths that zig-zag for following Rudolph all around. They will have their own ideas for ways to play this version of Follow the Leader.

• Where is the Candy Cane? Either outside or inside, one person hides a candy cane and one or more elves find it. This can be a simple hide and seek, or kids can give clues. Warmer means getting closer to where it’s hidden. If the hider says “Colder” you are getting farther away.

• Santa Says: Like the game Simon Says, but it’s Santa that gives the instructions. To get everyone in shape for their big night, Santa might have a whole list of exercises, like jump 5 times, fly around, or balance on a very, very, very small roof. Each command needs to start with the words “Santa says…” If Santa doesn’t say them, kids don’t do that action. This is pretty tricky for little ones and they have to listen carefully. They just like to do the actions.

Santa can give other instructions like “Go touch something white.”He can also be helpful, “Go pick up 4 toys on the floor and put them on the shelf.” This makes tasks that kids don’t much like to do into more active fun Christmas games.

• Gingerbread Man: The gingerbread man game needs a long hallway or a clear path across a room. Usually, the gingerbread man runs as fast as he can, but he could also hop, hop as fast as he can, or shuffle, shuffle, or walk on all fours.

• I Spy: A less active game, this can be played anywhere, especially when waiting in line or sitting in a car or bus. One person chooses an object that everyone can see, and the other people playing try and guess what it is. For this game, you can use colors, as in I spy something red, or use shapes, like I spy something round. Giving clues isn’t easy for kids, but they quite like when adults guess silly things.

• Can the Elf Help? There is another one called Can the Elf Help. Any available elf helps vacuum or dust or put away clean laundry.This can be just as much fun as the others, especially if all the elves get to share some Christmas cookies when done.

Can you and your child think of some other active fun Christmas games?