Join in the Reindeer Games

This past Christmas, our family of 23 plus 4 significant others, enjoyed a destination Christmas celebration in the Great Smoky Mountains. We decided to try this so that no one family member had all the work and it worked out beautifully!



A new location called for some new ways to celebrate that everyone from the 3 year old to the 83 year old, with a large group of twenty-somethings in-between, could enjoy. The 3 month old just sat back and enjoyed the show.

Our gift exchange was limited to gifts for all the children under the age of 13 and a modified version of Dirty Santa that everyone could play. We wanted and needed to keep the young ones entertained and engaged in the party! We accomplished that by setting aside a group of gifts just for the children that also could not be taken away once opened.

And I forgot to mention the Ugly Christmas Sweater contest!

I found a great idea on Pinterest and adapted it to fit our needs. We called it Dollywood Game Night (because we were across the road from the Dollywood Amusement Park) after the show, Hollywood Game Night. It became a hybrid of Hollywood Game Night and Minute to Win It.  I think that next year we will call it Reindeer Games.  We divided the family into groups that mixed up the family groups and significant others and included at least one small child on each team. We ended up with 3 teams of 6 and 1 team of 5 so one person got to play twice. We also had an emcee, a timekeeper and a score keeper.

We played 6 games and gave points as follows: First place - 5 points, Second Place - 3 points, and 1 point each for Third and Fourth Place. At the end, the team with the most points each got a Large Hershey Bar and then everyone else got a choice from a variety regular size candy bars. We tried to keep the games to 1 minute each but we were pretty flexible and continued the game until all four contestants had completed their task. We gave each team a bell to ring when their team completed a game.

The games included: Cereal Killer ~ each team had a puzzle made from a different cereal box. I made sure that each puzzle had 9 pieces including three cookie cutter shaped pieces,

Cookie Face ~ The contestants sat in chairs with their heads back. We placed a Gingerbread cookie on their foreheads and they raced to see who could get the cookie into their mouth first without using their hands. If they dropped the cookie, they had to start over.

Snowman Nose (Could also be Reindeer Nose using red pompoms) ~ We put a blob of petroleum jelly on each contestant's nose and they had to see how many cotton balls they could stick to their nose in a minute. They had to be able to keep them on looking straight ahead. I wish we had better pictures to illustrate this one, because it was funny!

Candy Cane Balance ~ A solo cup, a ruler and a pile of candy canes (about 60, wrapped so that the hook is open). The contestant had to balance as many candy canes on the ruler as possible.  We ran out of candy and each team got 12. We gave each team 5 points for that one.

Christmas Tree Stack ~ 9 green Solo cups and 1 red Solo cup for each team. 

Marshmallow Catapults ~ 1 Solo cup and 1 catapult for each team and a bag of large marshmallows. For each catapult, you need 5 large craft sticks and 3 rubber bands. Stack 3 craft sticks together and wrap each end with a rubber band. Place the stack between the other two sticks and wrap another rubber band around them to hold the stack in place. Hopefully, you can see from the photo how they are wrapped but you can also look for craft stick catapults on Pinterest or Google. The goal is to see who can launch the most marshmallows into a Solo Cup. The players were allowed a few practice shots and were allowed to move their Solo cup as necessary.

We had a couple of tie-breaker games on hand, but we didn't need them. One was Timeline ~ baby pictures of 6 family members that had to be put in order from youngest to oldest. The other was Butterfingers where each contestant would have had to unwrap a present wearing ski gloves.

Everyone had a great time! The little kids loved being included and having games that they could play and the big kids enjoyed it, too. I would have to call it a HUGE success. Next year, we will have to designate a photographer to catch the group in action. Merry Christmas!

And to All a Good Night!