Throwing a holiday party can be a stressful undertaking. You worry about having the right amount of food and beverages, foods that everyone will enjoy, and things to do to keep your guests entertained to ensure that everyone has a fantastic time. If you’ll be hosting guests who don’t all know one another that well, ice-breaking activities can be just the ticket for putting everyone at ease and pulling off the perfect holiday get-together.

Ornament Guess

One way to get everyone engaged and entertained as they arrive is to have them submit a guess estimating the number of ornaments on your Christmas tree. Of course, if you have a 12-foot tree with hundreds of ornaments, you might not be inclined to count them all as you decorate. Another option is to decorate a small, tabletop tree and have guests guess the number of ornaments it contains. Offer a prize for the guest with the closest guess.

Ugly Sweater Contest

Ugly Christmas sweaters are all the rage right now, and ugly sweater parties are popular year after year. If you’re hosting a party with an ugly sweater theme, it only makes sense to have a contest awarding a prize to the guest sporting the ugliest of ugly Christmas sweaters. There are several ways to configure such a contest, including appointing a panel of judges or having every guest submit nominations for the guest wearing their favorite ugly sweater.

Snowman Wrapping Contest

This fun ice-breaking activity is suitable for guests of all ages. Form teams of guests and have each team turn one person into a snowman by wrapping them in toilet paper and decorating them. The winner can be either the team producing the best-dressed and best-decorated snowman or the first team done. Or, why not award prizes for both?

True or Not? Funny Christmas Presents

This hilarious game can get a bit inappropriate for young, innocent ears at times, so it’s best done with a group of adults. Simply make a list with your guests’ names and blank spaces next to each name. Make copies and pass them out to each guest. Then, work your way around the room and have each guest state their name and the funniest gifts they’ve received. Guests then write whether they think the guest is being truthful or not next to the guest’s name. After everyone has had a turn, it’s time to reveal whether each guest was being truthful or not. As you may have guessed, the guest with the highest number of correct answers wins a prize.

Fill the Christmas Stocking

Another team-oriented game that’s well-suited for guests of all ages, the Fill the Christmas Stocking game is a fun activity that will get everyone in the holiday spirit. Divide guests into teams and give each team a stocking, a bowl full of candy, and plastic spoons. Have guest on each team take turns adding a spoonful of candy to the stocking and award a prize to the team that fills their stocking first.

These ideas are just a few of many fun and enjoyable ways to break the ice and ensure that your holiday bash goes off without a hitch. Offering activities for guests to participate in helps them to feel more comfortable with people they may not know as well, and by planning some entertainment options, you can be sure that no one will get bored – and that means you can devote your full attention to ensuring that the whole event goes off without a hitch.

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