The special liturgical color for Christmas is white or gold.
Virtue: Wonder
Saint: Holy Family
Bible Verse: “For to you is born this day a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:11
Team Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus
Theme Connection:
At Christmas, we often hear stories about the Holy Family. Who is The Holy Family? Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. What can we learn from the Holy Family? We can learn about kindness, love, and how to help one another. The following two games are a fun way to honor the Holy Family!
You’ll Need:
- A small baby blanket (1/team)
- Tape or traffic cones
Set up:
- Mark a start and finish line using tape or traffic cones.
- Set up small baby blankets on a finish line.
Activity:
- Form teams of three players each, lining up on a start line.
- The players on each team must choose to be Baby Jesus, Mary, or Joseph.
- When the leader calls out the name “Mary”, then “Mary” from each team must run and grab their team “blanket” and bring it back to their team.
- Meanwhile, the other two players on each team will raise their hands to form an arch as the “heavenly gate”.
- The first player to run through their team “gate” with the “blanket” wins the round.
Players return the blankets and the leader will call out another name. A name can be repeated more than once. Play several rounds.
Game Variation for older kids:
Baby Jesus has to crawl, Mary has to skip, and Joseph has to hop on one leg.
FIND YOUR HOLY FAMILY
You’ll need:
- Find Your Holy Family Game Cards (1 card/child)
Set up:
- Print and cut the Holy Family cards of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. For durability, print and laminate the cards on cardstock.
- Print enough matching cards for the number of kids playing the game. Ex. If you have 18 kids playing the game, print 6 sets of the Holy Family (divisible by 3)
Activity:
Mix up the cards and scatter them face down in the center of the games area.
1. Everyone will race to pick up ONE card and then try to find the other players to form the Holy Family. (ie. if you picked up a Mary card, then you have to find someone with a Jesus card and someone with a Joseph card).
2. As a Holy Family (team), link arms and run together to find the games leader. To make it more challenging, the games leader can hide in different locations.
3. The first Holy Family to give their matching cards to the leader wins.
Collect all the cards, mix them up, and play several rounds.
(Opt.) Award three prizes to the top team, two to the runner up team, and one for the remaining teams.
CHRISTMAS SCENE TAG
Theme Connection:
The Christmas story is centered around the Holy Family: Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus. Who is elses is part of the Christmas story? (Angel Gabriel, Wise Men, shepherds, donkey, sheep, etc.) In the game of Christmas Scene Tag, you are going to pretend to be one of the characters in the Christmas story.
Activity:
- I (games leader) will choose someone to be the angel (the person who is “IT”).
- Everyone else can choose to be a character in the Nativity Story: Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, shepherd, the Wise Men, star, donkey, sheep, etc. (or leader can choose a character for you.)
- On the signal “Christmas”, everyone runs around and when you get tagged, by the angel, freeze in place and pose as your Nativity character.
- Any other player can “unfreeze” you by correctly guessing which nativity character you are.
The game ends when everyone is tagged or after a few minutes of play, the leader can choose someone else to be the angel.
When playing with younger kids ages 4-5:
1. Keep it simple and be sure to demonstrate how the game is played.
2. Adapt the game by creating a safe zone (call it the “manger”) where they can rest for a moment.
3. Keep the game short (under 5 minutes) to maintain their attention and energy levels.
THE JESUS NAME GAME
Theme Connection:
In the Bible, Jesus has many beautiful names and titles that reflect how special He is to us. Jesus has names such as Good Shepherd, Teacher, Savior, Light of the World, Mighty God, Emmanuel (which means God is with us), Prince of Peace, Redeemer, and Healer. What are some special names of Jesus for you? (Leader: share some of your own, Jesus is My Friend, Awesome, the Bread of Life, etc.)
You’ll Need:
- The Names of Jesus game sheet (PDF)
- Colored marker (1/child)
Activity:
- Everyone will get a marker and a game sheet.
- Get as many different people as you can to sign their name beside one of the names of Jesus. Players must also say the title of Jesus as they are signing. For example, As Vanessa signs her name beside Jesus is Light of the World, she will say out loud: Jesus is Light of the World!
- The person with the most names wins. Set a time limit.
CHRISTMAS TRIVIA GAME
Theme Connection:
This Christmas Trivia Game is a fun and educational way to learn more about the Christmas story which is a central and important part of our faith. God sent His Only Son Jesus, as a gift to the world because He loves us so much.
Ages: 6 and up
You’ll Need:
- ABC cards (PDF) (one set/team)
- Christmas Trivia Questions (PDF)
Set up:
- Print the ABC letters and Trivia Questions.
- Place each team’s set of cards at one end of the games area directly across from each team.
Activity:
1. Divide into teams of 3 or 4 players.
2.The leader will call out a question and the answer will be either A, B, or C.
3. Teams discuss the correct answer. The first player from each team will run to the other side of the games area, grab the correct letter, and run back to their team.
4. Each team gets a point if the player is holding the correct letter.
5. The next player on each team will be the next to run.
6. The team with the most points after five minutes of play wins!
Snowball Fun
Theme Connection:
The season of Christmas usually involves snow and white is the liturgical color of Christmas
You’ll Need:
- Mini white styrofoam balls (or scrap paper)
- Tape (to form boundary lines)
- Cat.Chat VBS Christmas music
Activity:
1. Separate into two equal teams (Team A & Team B) on opposite sides of a center/boundary line.
2. Each team gets an equal number of styrofoam balls or scrap paper to crumple into “snowballs”.
3. When the music starts, throw your snowballs at the other team.
4. When the music stops, everyone freezes. (Pun: it’s freezing when there’s snow outside).
5. The team to get more “snowballs” in the other team’s designated area wins the round.
6. Play several rounds.
THE GIFT WRAP GAME
Theme Connection:
Birthdays are special days as we celebrate the day we were born. Christmas is the day we celebrate when Jesus was born! What a gift Jesus is to us! It’s a tradition to wrap gifts at Christmas and share them with others! With this Gift Wrap Game, we are going to have fun wrapping an extra special gift!
Ages: 7 and up
You’ll Need:
- Box of various gift wrapping supplies (1/team)
- Red or green streamers, Christmas gift wrap, ribbon, stickers, gift bows, scissors, a couple rolls of tape, etc.
Activity:
1. Divide into teams and grab a box of gift wrapping supplies for your team.
2. Choose the youngest person on your team to be the “Christmas Gift”.
3. Each team will have five minutes to wrap their team member as a “Christmas Gift”.
There will be prizes for the best dressed Christmas Gift.
You can give prizes for best teamwork, most creative, funniest, etc.
Birthday Party Balloon Blast
Theme Connection:
We celebrate Jesus’ birthday at Christmas. It’s fun to celebrate birthdays with party games and birthday balloons. This game is called Birthday Party Balloon Blast.
You’ll Need:
- Large towel (1/team)
- Balloons (1/team)
Activity:
1. Get into groups of four and grab one towel for your team.
2. Each team member holds a corner of the towel. A leader will distribute one balloon to each team.
3. The goal of the game is to toss the balloon in the air with your towel at least 5 times, keeping the balloon from touching the ground. If the balloon touches the ground, pick it up and start over, trying to make it to five bounces.
The team who reaches five bounces first, wins. Play a couple rounds. Add a few extra balloons.
