Games, Activities, and Crafts

Edible Snowman Kits
Purchase enough round, plastic ornaments from your local craft store for each child (ensure they are the kind that can be separated like plastic Easter eggs). Spray paint them white and add eyes and mouth with black marker and a “carrot” nose with orange marker. Fill each ball with black gum drops, raisins or chocolate chips for eyes and buttons, red licorice for a scarf and a small carrot for a nose. Keep refrigerated until serving time. If you happen to have snow on the ground for your party, you may want to let the children make real miniature snowmen with their kits!

If you need a couple more short activities to fill the time, the following can be quickly set up to keep the fun going!

Scavenger Hunt
Divide children into teams and hand each team a stack of holiday issue magazines, scissors, and a list. Items to search for could be things such as a picture of holly, Santa, ornament, tree, present, stocking, etc.

Musical Chairs
Use holiday music and play using standard rules or adapt it by having children crawl through a large box, call it the “North Pole.” When the music stops, the child who is caught in the house is out. For younger children, you can give the child who is caught a sticker or other small prize. The last child caught would get a larger prize.

Candy Cane Relay
Divide children into teams of two or three and give each child a candy cane. Children must stay linked together with their candy canes as they run to the goal line and back. If their candy cane breaks from too much pulling they must start over. First team to complete the task wins. You can add to this game by using larger teams and having children hold 2 canes, one in each hand, add to their chain at each goal until they have all their team members together and cross the finish line.

Holiday Charades
Write a number of holiday songs or items on slips of paper. Pick one child to start the game by choosing a slip of paper and acting out the item on it for the other children. The first one to guess correctly gets to act out the next item. You may also play this by humming a holiday song instead of acting it out and have the children try to guess the song.

Holiday Concentration
Before the party
Cut rectangular “cards” out of red construction paper, then cut slightly smaller rectangles from decorative wrapping paper (two from each pattern of paper) and glue to construction paper.

At the party
Mix the cards up and lay them wrapping-paper side down, approximately five to a row. For large parties you may need two or three games going at once. Have the first player turn two cards over, if the patterns match they keep the cards and go again. If the patterns, do not match, the player should turn them back over in the same spot they were and play moves to the next player. Continue playing until all cards have been matched. The player with the most matched pairs wins.

Snow Covered Art
Have each guest color a scene with crayons. Ask them to press hard while coloring. Once they have finished coloring, paint the whole picture with white paint and sprinkle with clear glitter while the paint is still wet. The paint won’t stick to the crayons and once dry will give the whole picture a snowy effect!

Shaving Cream Snow
If you live to far south for a snowy party, let the children play with shaving cream and pretend it is snow. They can pile it up and make snowmen and all sorts of creations. We suggest placing a plastic tablecover over the area the children will be “playing in the snow.”

Gingerbread Ornaments (which can be eaten later)

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 6 Tbs sugar
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 brown sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1 egg
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Ribbon or gold cord for hanging gingerbread men.
• Straw to make holes
• Edible decorations for buttons, eyes, etc.

Before the party
Cream butter with sugars, molasses and egg yolk. Mix all remaining ingredients, except egg white. Stir into butter mixture to form stiff dough. Chill for 1 hour, then roll out on floured surface to 1/8" thickness.

At the party
Use Christmas cookie cutters or knife to cut out shapes. Preheat oven to 350 F. and butter cookie sheet. Brush shapes lightly with egg white. Decorate with edible items such as red hots and silver BB's. Bake 8 minutes until crisp. While warm, make a hole 1 inch from the top using the straw. Allow cookies to cool. Thread holes with gold cord.

Candy Relay
Divide guests into two teams and have them form a line, one behind the other. Give the first player of each team a pair of mittens. Give every player a piece of wrapped candy. When you say, “Go,” the first player in each team puts on the mittens, unwraps the candy, pops it into his/her mouth and takes the mittens back off and passes them to the second player and so on. The team that finishes first wins.

Snowball Toss
Before the party
Cover the bottom and sides of a rectangular cardboard box, such as a shoe box, with construction paper. On a piece of paper, draw a snowman face with a large, open mouth. Glue it to the box and cut out the large mouth. Cover three large marshmallows with plastic wrap.

At the party
Line the guests up five feet away from the snowman box. Give each player three tries to throw marshmallows into the snowman’s mouth. Award a small piece of candy or a sticker for each successful toss. This game can be played until each player has had a turn or can go on for a number of rounds until you run out of small prizes.

Trim-a-Tree Cookies
Before the party
Using the sugar cookie recipe below (or your own favorite recipe) and a tree-shaped cookie cutter make, at least one tree cookie per guest. Once cooled, ice cookies with green icing.

Sugar Cut Out Cookies

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 cups flour

Preheat oven to 400°. Cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla. Sift together baking powder, salt and flour. Add one cup at a time to butter mixture. The dough will be stiff. Divide dough in half. On a floured surface, roll each half 1/8" thick. Cut cookies using floured cookie cutters. Bake cookies on ungreased cookie sheet for 6-8 minutes, or until cookies are slightly brown.

At the party
Set out several different kinds of sprinkles and candies (red hots, M&Ms, Skittles, crushed candy canes, etc.) for the guests to use in decorating their tree. Give each guest a cookie. You could award prizes for most creative, etc.

Animal Tracks
Allow the children to go outside into the snow and see if they can find the tracks of dogs, cats, birds or other wildlife in the snow. You can check out a book on animal tracks from the local library and see how many different kinds of tracks you can identify. As an alternative, you could copy animal tracks from the book, one for each child and send each child out into the snow to try and duplicate the track. The guests can then examine each set of tracks and try and guess the corresponding animal.

Snow Mural
Give each child a spray bottle containing colored water (use food coloring to color the water). Allow guests to go outside and spray the snow, mix colors, and create snow art!

Finger Puppets
Before the party
Copy and cut out the Santa patterns on the next page for any guests 6 and under.

At the party
Children can color Santas with markers or crayons. They can glue on cotton for beard, felt for a scarf, small beads or sequins for buttons, etc. After puppets dry, you may want to let the children put on plays. To use, children put their index and middle fingers through the holes (forming Santa's legs), and move the Santa up to their knuckles.

Snowman Stuffing
Before the party
Use a hand-pump or a lot of helpers to blow up at least 15-20 small (5”-7”) round balloons per team of 3 to 5 children.

At the party
Divide children into teams of 3 to 5 children. Have each team decide who will be its “snowman.” Divide the balloons equally between the teams and provide enough separation so that they don’t get mixed up. (Big garbage bags are helpful in keeping balloons separated) Have each “snowman” put on a set of adult-sized clothing over his/her clothes. Set a timer for two minutes, say “Go,” and let each team try to stuff as many balloons into their snowman’s clothes as possible. When the timer dings, remove the balloons from each snowman one at a time, counting to see which team had the most balloons. Remember, popped balloons don’t count!

Snowman Button Pins
Before the party
Gather necessary items such as buttons, felt, seed beads, glue and pin backs.

At the party
Give each child two 1/2" buttons and one 3/4" button. Children should glue the buttons to a strip of cardboard 1/2" wide x 1.5" long as shown. The first 1/2" button should be positioned with button holes horizontally so as to form eyes. The second 1/2" button should be placed below the first but the holes should be lined up vertically to form buttons. The third 3/4" button should be placed below the 2nd, again with the holes lined up vertically.

Next
Children should dab glue in each button hole and add a black seed bead to form eyes and buttons of snow man. A strip of red or green felt can be added around the neck to make a scarf. A piece of black felt can be used for the hat. Finally, an adult can glue on a felt backing over the cardboard and add a pin back.

Gift Giving
Give each child five plain index cards and allow them to decorate one side of each card with markers, crayons, stickers etc. Once they have decorated all of their cards, have them write a “gift” they would like to give a friend or family member on the other side. For younger children, you may want to have the “gifts” already listed on the cards for them in advance.

Suggestions
walk the dog, do the dishes, give two kisses and a hug, pick up toys, make the bed, read to little sister or brother, etc. Tell the children to keep their gifts a secret until gift-giving time, when they can give one to all the people they love.

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star Cake Hunt
Before the party
Make copies of the star shaped clues. Using our samples, write the clues on star shaped pieces of paper. Work backwards leaving clues, at each location listed on the clues. Hide the cake and bring it out just before the children arrive at the last clue (which should lead them to the cake table).

At the party
Have someone appear with a clue and tell the children that the cake has been stolen but Santa has left them a clue...Then, read the first clue. Let them follow the clues (younger children will need an adult to read), until they get to the cake.

Sample clues:

The cake is missing! It's hidden from view. If you want your dessert, then here's what you do:

• Follow the clues, they'll lead you to more, to find your next clue, look by the front door.
  
  
• It's a clue that you want, a clue you expect, so look by the steps that lead to the deck.
  
  
• You'll have a clue to keep and to hold, if you go to the place where you keep your food cold.
  
  
• Now quick as a wink, hurry along to the bathroom sink.
  
  
• As fast as you can, there's no time to slouch, you'll find your next clue by the living room couch.
  
  
• In the front yard, you'll find an oak tree, if you look all around, it's a clue that you'll see.
  
  
• It's a clue that you want, a clue that you seek. Go to the Barbeque and take a peek.
  
  
• The next clue is simple - it's not hard at all, look near the closet in the front hall.
  
  
• A clue, a clue - now where can one be? I think there's one hidden near the TV.
  
  
• If it's a clue that you want, then you had better, look where you get a special delivery letter.
  
  
• If you want the cake, there is no time for a nap. Look where you give your food a zap.

Short on time? Birthday in a Box offers more than 100 party themes, thousands of party items, and personalized merchandise, such as banners, invitations, thank you notes, and more... all delivered to your door!