Christmas Games for Preschool

All I Want For Christmas Game

When in comes time for the big Christmas party with your preschoolers it can be hard to find things to keep them occupied.  Games always come in handy and children love to play games.  All I Want For Christmas is a fun but quiet game that you can start weeks ahead of time to help build anticipation and excitement for the party day.

You will need to start by finding a large department store catalog. You want one that has many types of items included in it.  Have the children go through the book and cut out pictures of as many items as possible.  The more they cut out the more they have to pick from for the game.

Lay the pictures out on a table away from the main area of the classroom. The children can go by and look at the pictures and get an idea of what they might want for Christmas.  A couple of weeks before the party have one child at a time go with you to the table.  You’ll also need crayons and envelopes.  Make sure there are enough different colored crayons as you have children.  This way they can mark their picture with their color crayon and no one will forget which picture they chose. 

Have your preschooler look at the pictures and pick one picture out of the items they would tell Santa is all they want for Christmas.  Turn your back so they feel as if they are the only one who knows.  Be sure to also tell them they can’t tell anyone else what they chose.  They might tell someone anyway but that’s ok it’s their secret to tell. 

Once they have picked a picture tell them to pick a crayon and make a mark on their picture with the crayon.  Now have them place their picture in the envelope and seal it tight.  You keep the crayon so you will remember who has what color.  Place the envelope in a large container that the children can draw envelopes from. 

On the day of the party start by having one of the children pull an envelope out of the container.  Have them open the envelope and look at the picture.  If they can figure out who is asking for this present from Santa they win a small prize.  This can be candy or small trinkets you have bought at a hobby or dollar store.  If they don’t guess the person correctly the person whose picture it is wins the prize.  In the end everyone will win a prize and everyone will have a picture to place in front of his or her Christmas tree for Santa to know that’s all they want for Christmas. 

Christmas Printables

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Shake and Guess

This Christmas party game can be lots of fun for everyone.  Everybody loves to shake at least one gift under the tree and try to guess what it is.  That is what this game will allow your preschoolers to do.  They will have lots of fun shaking presents, guessing the gifts and finding out whether they are right or wrong when they open it.  Everyone will end up with a gift and smile on their face when it’s over.

You will need to buy enough small inexpensive gifts at your local dollar store so that each child has a gift.  Keep them simple and things that will be easy for a child to figure out.  You can even give the children hints if you feel it’s necessary to help them along in the game.

Wrap the gifts in boxes that are large enough for the gift to shake around a little.  You don’t want to give them too much leeway in their shaking and guessing, but if they can hear the gift inside it will be easier for them to make a guess.  This will help keep any frustration down that might occur.

To play the game have the children sit in a circle on the floor with the gifts in the middle of the circle.  Have one child pick a gift from the middle.  They can shake it up and down, back and forth for as long as you will allow before making their guess.  Usually a minute or two is enough for the children to make their guess. 

Once they have made their guess they can open the gift.  If they are correct they can keep the gift or pass it to the person on their left.  If the person on their left already has a gift they can choose to keep the one they have or the one they were just passed.  Then they take the other gift and pass it to the person on their left. 

If the guessing child guesses incorrectly they must pass the gift to the person on their right who then chooses whether to keep the gift or give it back to the person on their left.  Play continues until everyone has opened a gift and has a gift for themselves. 

This game is a lot of fun and the children will enjoy the gifts they end up with. It might also help Mom and Dad by getting all that shaking out of their system before they go home and want to shake everything under their Christmas tree.