Over the last week, our student ministry has done both of our middle school and high school Christmas parties! For us, that means time to hang out, Christmas cookies, and a lot of group games! We decorate our gym with a lot of Christmas colored lights, Christmas music, and Christmas inflatables (giant Santas – stuff you would put in your front yard – it’s easy to set up and tear down!). It’s a night all about fun! Two things we added this year that we haven’t done in previous years:

• We bought a Christmas photo backdrop! This was GREAT. Everyone wanted to get photos in front of it! I brought a nice camera, which meant everyone was good with me taking the photos! Here’s the backdrop we got.
• We called it an Ugly Sweater Christmas Party … and SO MANY kids wore festive outfits. It was amazing!

Overall, the games were a hit and we had a blast. Here’s what we played, which group played it (they all would work both groups … I have fun changing it up), and the links to find them:

• Santa’s Naughty List; Middle and High School. This one just released! It’s a ‘Wheel of Destiny’ game on Sidekick that comes up with punishments (Christmas themed dares) for kids who end up on Santa’s Naughty List!
• Santa’s Feud; Middle and High School. Using the ‘Survey Says’ app in Sidekick, I put together a ‘Family Feud’ style Christmas game. This has become a tradition at our Christmas party – kids LOVE it! There are a couple great ones already on the DYM store.
• Exchange It! Middle and High School. A new twist on the classic White Elephant game! Using the wheel of destiny, kids are rotated all around the room until you decide to let them open the presents! I modified the different cues to line up with my group more, but this game is a winner.
• Christmas Movie Trivia; Middle School. A fun Christmas movie trivia game I made this year.
• First to Ten Christmas Edition; Middle School. These games are always a winner – I love that it’s one that involves the whole room.
• Elf on the Shelf 3; Middle School. Perfect for that crowd.
• Would You Rather Holly Jolly Edition; Middle School. This was a fun way to get everyone moving and talking.
• Christmas Movie Madness; High School. I love this game! I played it with the whole room; kids threw their hands up if they knew the answer, I called the first one I saw, and if they were right they got candy.
• Jingle Battles volume 2; High School. Stupid fun, which is my kind of fun. I had everyone stand up, move to the side of the room they thought would win, and then sit down if they were wrong. It took about five rounds to get to one winner!