Christmas is already a wonderful time for kids, but you can make it magical for them by hosting a party full of games and festive treats. Whether you're hosting it at home or hiring a venue, these tips and ideas will ensure your little ones have the time of their lives this Xmas!
If you're hosting your party at home, then you'll probably have decorations covered already. If you've chosen to hire a venue instead, tinsel, garlands, paper snowflakes, and balloons make excellent decorative accents to the space and will be easy to put up and take down. If your venue is okay with it, you can even spray some fake snow on the windows to create a natural winter wonderland feel. To jazz up your dining space, try placing a festive table cover on your dining table or trestle table to add an extra Christmassy element that will also help to keep surfaces free from mess.
You can give traditional party games like charades, and Simon Says a festive twist by acting out Christmas songs and films or swapping Simon Says for Santa Says! If you want to create a little variety, Pin the Nose on Rudolph will be a big hit - make or print out a Rudolph face to stick to the wall, and get several red circles to use as Rudolph's nose. If you don't fancy making the game yourself, then Pin the Hat on the Grinch will work well too. Alternatively, you can host a Christmas Movie Quiz for kids to play individually or as teams so they can find out who's the biggest film buff! For something more active, get some candy canes and hide them around your venue or home for kids to find in a race against each other.
But if you're looking for some time for yourself, want to clean up for the next activity, or for the kids to calm down, you can put on a Christmas film. Other sit-down activities include making and decorating paper snowflakes and Christmas cards (kids will love taking their handmade decoration home with them) and decorating gingerbread men. Pre-bake a batch of gingerbread cookies, or buy ready-made ones to save you even more time. Set out some icing pens, sprinkles, sweets, and more so kids can get involved by decorating their own dessert.
And speaking of food, traditional finger and party food you can find in supermarkets around Christmas will be a great idea when it comes to feeding the kids. But if you want to get a little more hands-on, you can browse our Christmas Baking Recipes or make a savoury snack yourself. Why not bake a Christmas tree-shaped festive pie and mini pastries for a show-stopper, or use festive cookie cutters to cut traditional sandwiches? As far as drinks go, kids will love traditional hot chocolates, mocktails, and milkshakes for something more fun, but juice, squash, and water are good options, too - especially after all that gingerbread!
No Christmas party is complete without festive music, so make sure you have a speaker and all your favourite Christmas songs ready to play! You can also ask the kids to come dressed as their favourite Christmas characters or in their best party outfits, so it feels like a special occasion. If you feel like making it extra competitive, you can offer a prize for the best dressed. For a sensory experience, put out scented potpourri or winter air spray, and light your space with twinkling festive lights.
For more festive inspiration, have a look through the articles below or explore our full Christmas collection.
