Charades

• Though seemingly simple, the game of charades can elicit the stage actor in even the shyest person. Professor Dana Nau at The University of Maryland lists the following equipment necessary for charades: a stopwatch, blank slips of paper, a notepad and two baskets. Write the names of Christmas songs or movies on a folded sheet of paper and place them in the baskets. Nau suggests other rules, like prohibiting foreign names or requiring phrases consisting of proper nouns only. Have teams draw sheets of paper and silently act out their given song or movie title in hopes of their teammates guessing the answer within the allotted time of two minutes.
  
  Some movies, like "Elf", might be deceptively difficult to portray, while "The Nightmare Before Christmas" acted out by an aunt might prove a memorable event. Another option is to allow members from one team to write the charade assignment to the opposing team for added creativity (and often difficulty). Randomly assign teams to avoid fostering already established cliques.
  
  

Gingerbread Building Contest

• Buy graham crackers, frosting or marshmallow cream, and a variety of colorful candies like gum drops and sprinkles. Apportion 4 graham cracker sticks, ½ cup of marshmallow cream and 1 cup of candy per house. Gingerbread-house-heaven.com suggests using M&M's, toffee bits, candy corn and even chewing gum as decoration items. Set up building stations at the kitchen table for teams of two or three, and ask each team to build a gingerbread house. Assign prizes for "most creative" or even "biggest disaster." To increase the interaction with everyone, rotate teams every minute so new people are constantly working together.
  
  

Human Scavenger Hunt

• Before the party (or during, in privacy), ask people for random facts about themselves (examples: "How many times have you been in a car accident?" "How many states have you lived in?") Write each fact on a sheet of paper, but exclude the name. Once you assemble a list, make photocopies and hand the papers to each guest. Challenge guests to match people with their corresponding facts on the sheet of paper. This games encourages interaction with others in hopes of finding the correct answers. An alternative is to read each fact aloud and ask your guests to point or volunteer which guest they may think belongs to the fact.