Fun family games for Christmas

CEBU, Philippines – The presents have been opened, the food devoured, and everyone is getting a little bored with the endless loop of Christmas movies playing on the tube. It's time to shake things up with a little family fun. It doesn't matter if your family is large or small, old or young, active or full of couch potatoes - we've got entertainment ideas that will make everyone jolly.

Here are some great games to keep kids of all ages jolly on a holiday afternoon.

Family Tree. This game will only work if you have someone in your group who is an incredibly good sport. The idea is to decorate a person as a Christmas tree. The willing victim must stand still as all the kids in the group decorate him or her with decorations made from red and green crepe paper, aluminum foil, paper, candy, bows, leftover wrapping paper and whatever else you can find. The end result? Hilariously good family fun!

Jingle Bell Rings. This is a great game for a large group, so it's perfect for the big family gathering at lola's place. Have the group divide up into teams and choose one member of each team to be the family representative. The team representatives should leave the room for a few minutes (good time for a retreat to the kitchen) while the rest of the group rehearses. Each family should come up with a bell sound - think "ding, dinga, ding," or "jingle, jingle." They can use the time while the team representatives are away to rehearse. When they return, the reps must be blindfolded and stand in a line on the opposite side of the room. One by one, each group should make their bell sound - you can even race around the room to mix it up. And the family reps must guess which bell ringing sound belongs to their group. This is a great way for a big family to share some big laughs together on Christmas morning.

Present Scramble. You'll need to do a bit of preparation to pull off this game, but it will pay off 10-fold in family laughs when the time comes to play. Wrap a small gift in a small box. Then wrap that gift in a larger box, and repeat as many times as you can. To play, choose a number and then have everyone in your family take turns rolling the die. The first person to roll the chosen number can begin unwrapping. But there's a catch: they have to wear oven mitts to do it! The remaining players continue rolling while the player wearing the mitts is unwrapping. The next person to roll the chosen number takes the mitts and continues the unwrapping. The person who unwraps the actual prize gets to keep it.

Christmas Trivia. Does your family know everything there is to know about Christmas? Why not challenge the clan to a Christmas trivia showdown? Pull out some Santa trivia, Christmas tree trivia, or trivia about Christmas traditions from around the world - or go for the gold and mix up questions from all three. You can have a dedicated game time where players compete for a prize (extra dessert!) or just ask the questions throughout the day to keep everybody guessing!

Christmas Song Picture Game. Is your family fond of picture games? Head over to the website www.mnn.com and print out the game, then let everyone take a shot. First one to finish is declared the Christmas song guru! This is a great game for families to play at the table after dinner and before dessert.

(mnn.com)