Christmas Day has the potential to be SO much fun, or really underwhelming. It’s hard to figure out what to do on Christmas Day, especially if there are lots of people to coordinate.
When you have a crowd, you do need to make the most of that time together and organise some kind of activity that gets everyone engaging with each other.
Generally, SOMEBODY has to be that person who rounds everyone up for an activity. Otherwise, it just does not happen and the day can get pretty dull. No one likes the bother of being that person, but it is always appreciated when someone takes up the mantle!
Whether it be a craft, a game, a treasure hunt, or simply a walk; YOU could be that person who makes Christmas Day fun for everyone!
Here are some ideas to get you excited for Christmas Day:
In the Morning:
Make steaming hot drinks and:
Sing Carols
A great way to start Christmas day is to sing. Singing is a known mood-elevator, and carols are so jazzy and jolly. Enlist someone who can play a musical instrument, or blast your favourite Christmas Album.
Tell the Christmas Story
It is the reason for the season, right? Kids love stories, and telling the Nativity Story is a fantastic way to help them learn what Christmas is about, and to make the day about more than just presents and food.
Open your Christmas Presents
You could have a Santa Claus dish out all the goodies, or play a present game (White Elephant is a goodie).
Have Breakfast
Gather round the table, perhaps with a flute of Breakfast champagne to put all the adults in jollier spirits. With a few frozen strawberries – talk about a merry Christmas!
Put your favourite Christmas playlist on
Once brekkie is over, there tends to be a few chores to do: throw wrapping paper away, do the dishes, prepare for lunch. Put some boppy Christmas music on, and jive away as you work!
In the afternoon
Prepare as much as you can for your late lunch/early dinner and:
Go for a walk
Get some fresh air, walk off some of your breakfast. If you live in town, most likely you will see other people too. Everyone is so jolly on Christmas day, you will be wished so many “Merry Christmasses”! This is such a mood lifter.
Have a Water fight/snowball fight
These activities really depend on whether you have a Summer or Winter Christmas. If you have Christmas in summer, go get some water balloons (which are cheap as) and have an epic water fight, with two sides, tactics, and a prize for the winning side (because you’ve got to have incentives for those reluctant grown-ups).
I would love to have a snowball fight if I ever get the chance to have a winter Christmas!
Play non-stop Cricket
This one has me all nostalgic. Non-stop Cricket is, well, non-stop. It is great time-buster! Plus, it is really fun!
Go on a Candy Cane Hunt
I saw this idea on Pure Wow, and thought, that is a GREAT thing to do! Like the Christmas version of an Easter egg hunt, with Candy canes. I am definitely doing this for the kids on Christmas day!
Call people who could not be with you in person
Christmas is a time for connection. Do not forget to call your friends or family near and dear to you, who you couldn’t be with. Chances are, these conversations are what will give you that warm fuzzy Christmas feeling, rather than all the presents and fun.
Have Late Lunch/Dinner
Get dressed up (perhaps you have a new outfit to wear!), put some lippy on, do your hair. Enjoy the main event: The Christmas Feast. Don that paper crown, pull your cracker, laugh hysterically at the terrible jokes.
And TUCK IN! Enjoy that Feast – it only comes once a year, remember!
In the Evening
Bring out the leftovers and sweets and:
Watch a Christmas movie
Usually, the telly features a Christmas movie on the Day. Love Actually must have screened for three years in a row in NZ! But it is such a classic, I could watch that movie over and over again!
Some other favourites include:
- Home Alone
- About A Boy
- Elf
- It’s a Wonderful Life
- Miracle on 34th Street.
- Bridget Jones’ Diary (the first one).
Play a Board Game
If you a entertaining a lot of people this Christmas, playing a board game is a good option to get out of their shell. The best board games for a crowd are
These games are highly competitive and hilarious! They will have everyone laughing.
Play THE Game
This is the Game of ALL Games. It has no name that I can recall (comment below if you know it), but we call it THE GAME because it is so epic.
Everyone has their version of it, but here’s ours:
- Split into two teams.
- Everyone has 3 slips of paper, on which they write a thing that can be acted out or explained.
- They all go into a hat and are muddled up.
- Round 1: Taboo
- One person goes at a time, trying to see how many they can get their team members to guess within 1 minute, keeping the bits of paper they guess correctly. Then, a person from the other team has a go.
- Keep alternating like this until all the clues have been used up.
- Each team take a tally of how many clues they scored and record.
- Repeat (using the same clues) for Round 2, except it is time to do Charades! Again, each team tally their scores.
- Repeat for the third and final round. This time, you can only use ONE WORD to describe the clue!
- Tally up the scores and see which is the winning team!
Perform a Christmas Play
This does not necessarily have to depict the Nativity story, nor does it need to involve everyone (there needs to be an Audience, remember!)
If you have a large crowd, you could separate into family groups, each family in charge of their own item. It could be a drama, it could be a song, it could be an instrumental!
Play Christmas Theatre sports
This could be a hilarious thing to do for a confident and dramatic crowd! Here are some ideas for scenes.
Final Thoughts on How to Make the Most of Christmas Day
Christmas Day can be the BEST day of the year, if you are intentional about it. Be present, be creative and be loving. If you focus on how you can make Christmas lovely for everyone else, chances are that you will have the best time, yourself.
Only 24 more sleeps!! Argh!
