Awesome Yet Really Weird Ideas For Christmas Traditions You Can Start This Year

It's never too late to start new traditions.

Elana

• Published in Interesting
• December 21, 2018

Whether the holidays are a deeply religious time of year for you or all about secular, family fun, or even something smack in between... just about everyone has their ways of celebrating the season. As the years go by and your lives transform, a lot of times we begin to look for new ways to enjoy the holidays.

Have we got some fun in store for you today! Sometimes you need to add some games to your family holiday traditions, sometimes it's all about foods. Whatever it is, we've got a lot of ideas that you can try out. It's definitely not too late to begin some new traditions for you and your family this year!

1. The Oven Mitt Game

Wrap a single gift for the game. We suggest using a lot of extra tape to make it as difficult as possible, especially if there's quite a few people who will be playing. Everyone gets to sit in a circle, and don't forget to bring a pair of dice. The first person who will attempt to open the gift is wearing oven mitts.

The game begins and they get to try and open the gift despite the oven mitts, their time and attempt is up as soon as someone rolls doubles on the dice. When their time is up, the person to their right gets to try their mitty-hands at the gift. This continues on until someone successfully opens the gift and whoever manages to open it gets to keep it! Make it a good one.

2. The Christmas Pickle

This tradition originates from Germany! Parents hide the pickle ornament in the fresh Christmas tree, as green as the tree itself the pickle is hard to pick! The children rush to the tree for the first time and search for the pickle. The first child to find the pickle is said to have good luck for the rest of the year and to get an extra present from Saint Nick!

Pickle ornaments are an inexpensive way to add a little fun and cheer to the big moment where the tree goes up in your home, whether there is a tangible prize or the promise of a few days good luck.

3. Snowman Hat Game

This game is sure to produce copious amounts of giggles and good times. Everyone gets a paper plate and a marker. Then, each person places their paper plate on their head (like a hat.) Next, someone will begin reading instructions for how to draw a snowman!

"Draw a large circle for the body. Draw a small circle on top for the head. Draw a carrot for the nose." You get the point, right?

Everyone attempts to draw the snowman on the plate on their head without so much as a single peek and at the end, whoever has the best-looking snowman is the winner!

But don't worry, most of them will look funnier than they will look like good snowmen.

4. Santa Hats: A Cup Stacking Game

The supplies are simple, a sleeve of red solo cups and a small stash of white pom-poms!

The instructions are simple, too! But LOADS of fun! Everyone builds a cup tower, alternating cups and pom-poms. Whoever builds the tallest Santa hat tower before it collapses is the winner! You can then issue holiday-themed prizes like candy-canes.

5. The Rudolph Race

The Rudolph Race is a fun game everyone can enjoy! It's a bit like "Pin the Tail on the Donkey,"but instead of being blind, you're hands free, and instead of aiming for a butt, you're trying to put a red nose on Rudolph. Using your nose and a little dab of Vaseline.

If everyone isn't laughing hysterically by the end, you might have to up he ante and try blindfolds.

6. Reindeer Games

Nab these inflatable reindeer antlers for only $10 on Amazon and use the (included) rings to play reindeer ring toss. When your target is on your oponenant's head and constantly moving, it's sure to be oodles of fun!

7. Saran Wrap Present

You're going to need a lot of saran wrap and a good sense of humor for this game! Nab yourself a nice collection of small gifts, like candy and trinkets from the dollar store. Then, wrap it all up in a massive ball of saran wrap, but make sure to layer the gifts throughout the ball, don't just bunch them up and suffocate them.

When the party begins, grab a pair of dice. Each person gets a turn to frantically unwrap the saran wrap and any gifts they discover on the way they get to keep! But as soon as someone rolls doubles on the dice, their turn is over. You keep going until all of the little gifts are claimed.

8. The White Elephant Gift Exchange

A fun tradition, usually most enjoyed at company Christmas parties (everyone has seen that episode of The Office, right?) But families and groups of friends are known to get in on the fun, too!

The game is simple, everyone brings a wrapped gift, think of Secret Santa. Then, everyone is given a number to determine the order in which people will choose a gift from the pile. However... once the order of opening gifts has been determined and the first player chooses their gift from the pile and unwraps the first gift, that's where the fun begins.

The next person can either choose a new gift from the pile... or they can steal the already opened gift! This repeats until everyone has had a turn.

According to the Official Rules: After three swaps, the turn automatically comes to an end (otherwise things could drag on for a long time).

9. The Left-Right Game

Using poem and story templates online, like this one from playpartyplan.com, everyone sits in a circle and begins to pass a present while someone reads the story (or poem.) Whenever the story says, "right," you pass it to the right, and of course when the story says, "left," you start passing it to the left. When the story is done, whoever is holding the present gets to keep it!

10. Dollar Store Stocking Stuffers

Some people like the stockings to be stuffed with more expensive gifts, just tiny in size. Other people like to have fun with the stockings hung with care.

Here's an idea that helps everyone get involved and you can make it as fun or sincere as you'd like. Stuff the stockings with dollar store finds. Gag gifts, real gifts, it doesn't matter! But everyone can get involved and pick things out to stuff in someone else's stocking and it doesn't have to break the bank.

11. Candy Cane Hunt

It's like an Easter Egg Hunt but for Christmas. Kids will love this just as much as they love hunting for eggs, too.

12. Gag Gift-Gift Exchange

This hysterical version of Secret Santa (or White Elephant) is one everyone is sure to enjoy. Set a budget and find out who can find the most ridiculous gift. People love to visit thrift stores and gag websites for this, and laughter is guaranteed.

13. The Tree Toss

Kids love this game! You simply arrange cups into the shape of a Christmas tree and let the kids attempt to toss candy kisses into the cups. Each kiddo takes turns tossing kisses into the cups and the first kiddo to get 10 is the winner.

14. Christmas Scavenger Hunt

Where's the fun in coming down the stairs and seeing all the presents under the tree? Why not hide them everywhere and have a scavenger hunt with them instead! Make the kids work for their gifts while you whip up some breakfast. It's a bit difficult to make a list so an easy way to make it fun is for each person to have their own wrapping paper and nothing more than the number of gifts they need to find. You'll hear giggles all morning and sounds of delight as each new present is discovered.

Elana