I had may requests for a hit on ideas for our staff Christmas party. I'm
pasting my original e-mail, as well as, the ideas I received. If I didn't thank
you all individually...THANK YOU for so many great ideas. We are probably
going to continue with our usual activity, but maybe add something from the many
ideas. We bring a pot-luck meal and we all bring an ornament/decoration
(supposed to be $5 or less...but end up having some more than $5). All
participating get into a circle and draw a number. #1 starts first and we picks a
present from the tree. The next person either "steals" the gift from someone else
or gets a new gift from under the tree. An ornament can only be "stolen"
twice before it's "dead" and can't be stolen again. It's amazing at how vicious
this can get...ha.. In the past we had groups who sat with each other and
conspired to steal ornaments and to get the ones they wanted. To jazz it up last
year, we had anyone who stole a gift, also had to swap seats with the person
they stole from...this way we broke up in groups...ha... This year, I think we
will had some mini-breaks and have Christmas Music Trivia. We'll either have
it as individuals or maybe as tables/groups before we get started. Play a
few Christmas songs and the team/group/table that identifies the most correctly
(title, artist, and completes the next line of the song) gets some sort of
prize.
MY ORIGINAL POST....
Our principal has suggested we do something different this year for our staff
Christmas party. Usually we get together at an off-campus site (usually a
church dining room) and bring various foods and then get in a circle for an
ornament game. Everyone participating draws a number from 1 through ever how many
are participating. Everyone had to bring some sort of ornament or
decoration. The first person chooses a gift and then opens it. The next person
may
choose someone else's already-opened gift or from under the tree. This can
become time consuming since the person whose gift is stolen can then steal a gift
from someone else or take a new one from under the tree. Anyone done any other
fun games at Christmas get-together's we might like to try?
RESPONSES...
We just pick a number and then select a gift under the tree in the
corresponding order--without the option of taking someone else's already opened
gift. It
works for us.
We have a secret Santa- we draw someone's name and then secretly choose a
gift that we think is appropriate for her and she gets it unmarked and never
knows who sent it! Gifts have to be under a certain value and it is encouraged
that we are quite crafty in our gift choice and even make it ourselves!
One year we did a progressive dinner. Two or three teachers who live in the
area volunteered to host each part in their homes. We signed up that we were
attending and paid so much per person. We were divided into groups and
traveled from home to home, ending up with everyone at the church fellowship hall
for dessert. It was a lot of fun, but also a lot of work for those teachers.
At my last school, the principal read "The Night Before Christmas" and
everytime he said "And" (and he would stress it horribly! You wouldn't believe how
many times it's repeated!) we would switch the presents to the right.
For our holiday party, staff members draw names and purchase a hardback
children’s book for the person they drew. We choose a book that “fits’ the
person. At the party, the person opens his or her book and the giver reveals
himself/herself and tells why they purchased that book for that person. Then we
donate all of the books to be given to a charity to be given for needy children
for Christmas presents. We have lots of fun, it does not take too long (even
with a staff of 200) we don’t end up with trinkets we don’t need, we share our
love of reading and books, and help needy children at Christmas. Of course,
participation is totally voluntary.
A few years ago, we were divided into teams at a table. Each table was given
a santa hat, and a pair of work gloves. A gift was placed on the table and we
were told we would play "musical chairs" with the gift and whomever was the
person who revealed the present could keep it. The gift was passed from person
to person at the table until the when the music stopped the person with the
box had to put on the Santa hat and gloves- grabbing it from the person who had
it before and start unwrapping the box. The box was wrapped in several layers
of gift-wrapped boxes; inside the final box was a piece of peppermint. It was
a lot of fun. The Secret Santas would then exchange their final gifts.
The Wright family/facutly is a gift exchange, but it can be pretty quick. You
can change the story to meet your school's needs. As guests arrive, everyone
puts gifts in one area. At the start of the game, everyone just goes up and
chooses a gift (not necessarily their own). Participants stand in a circle and
as you read the story, they have to pass that gift in the direction you say.
Making the story personal to your school is always a hoot. We never mentioned
student names, but everyone always knew who we were referring to. Also, funny
things that happen to your faculty....this is a great way to roast them!!!
Essential Question Game/Staff Winter Party: I used Max Thompson's Learning
Focused Schools Strategies to play a faculty game. Used the strategies we use
with students. Faculty shared their group projects. It was a HOOOOOT! Naturally,
this is NOT a serious game. They came up with all kinds of funny
stuff....even unmentionable things! ARGHH!
'Twas the Day Before School: I made up a poem about our own faculty stuff in
rhythm to 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. It won't be that funny to you, you
will have to re-write it to include your own funny stories and events. This
can be used like an ice breaker or intro. to the night before dinner.
Name that tune: Get a CD of TV show theme songs. Play a tune and before
anyone shouts out the title, they had to stand up, pretend to be Santa Claus by
saying "Ho, Ho, Ho! That tune I know!". They had to sound like him and put their
arms out like they were fat! It was hilarious. Even the quieter teachers got a
kick out of this.
Candy Bar Game: Quite obvious. Teachers guess the candy bars. As prizes, they
get a candy bar. One ppt is the original I received, the other one is my
adaptation to the original (I'm a candy scholar, and I want to HOLLER").
We are a large school and battle with people staying within their own
departments and not getting involved with other members of the staff. (This
happens
at smaller schools as well). We had a party at the school last year and it
was a huge success. We gave each person a number as they entered and they had
to sit at the appropriate table. We then gave each table a sack of misc. items
such as yarn, paper plate, cup, etc… The object was to decorate one person in
the group as a Christmas character or ornament. We then had a parade. It
was hilarious! The people amazed us with what they came up with. It was very
competitive and made people work together that normally do not even speak. We
also had every faculty member email us a fact about themselves that no one
else in the school would probably know. We then printed these on a sheet of
paper and had everyone sit and try to figure out who all they were. It was very
interesting learning about people.
Try a staff outting instead--possibly to a tree farm for everyone to get
threir fresh greenery and lunch or Santa afterwards.
Our Christmas party is at a restaurant. Our teachers like to drink alcohol. I
can just see suggesting a pot luck in a church basement! Actually, some of
us that don't participate might change our minds if it
was a pot luck in a church basement!! Maybe I'll bring that up.....
I used to work at a hospital and we always would have a decorating contest.
We select an item like a miniature tree, a foam ornament, a wreath, a
stocking, door, or gift box--then give that to each department. The department
together as a team has to decorate that item with things that represent what they
do or with items from their departments. For schools--you could represent
things that age group may like or items from the classroom, etc. Outside judges
pick the winners. Another fun party game activity is to play charades. Give
each team a box and pieces of paper. Tell them to write as many words about
the holidays as they can think and place into the box. Then the boxes are
switched and the teams have to compete drawing a name out and describing it as
their teammates guess. The team to get the most done in the allotted time wins.
This year, we are doing the Christmas ornament, CD, or decoration. We will
be sitting in a circle. Everyone will have their item in their hand. We are
going to read a story written by a 2nd grade teacher that has a lot of "right"
and "left" words. The items are passed according to the directional word.
When the story is over, each person takes home the item they have. About middle
of the story, we may have a "swap" seat to liven things up. We are also
doing a picture of each staff member as a child at Christmas and are going to be
running it on Powerpoint while the meal is going on with an "answer" sheet at
each table so people can guess who is in the picture. We do this off
campus....we just take the equipment with us.
We also have a fun gift exchange. Everyone who brings a gift appropriate to
their gender, wrapped of course, stand in a circle, all the women, then the
men have a turn, a story is read which has left and right repeated several time
when the word is spoken the gifts are then passed in that direction. At the
end of the story the gift in your hands is yours.
Try this one out, it is sort of a scavener hunt without ever leaving your
seat... Everyone
stands up, if you have a dollar bill you can remain standing, if not sit, if
you have a picture of a child or pet, if you have a comb, if you have a safety
pin, if you have a mirror, etc. etc, etc....... Make your own list. This
works for a couple or three years until everyone fills
their pockets or purses with everything but the kitchen sink. Gum, asprin,
toothbrush, but you have to be pretty general to start with or everyone sits
immediately.... Another is instead of ornaments, bring a wrapped gift and do the
same thing you did with the ornaments for variety.
We always did some games such as Pictionary, etc. It's a fun way to blow off
steam. Like your group, we got tired of doing the "Dirty Santa" thing after
a few years.
At our school our Christmas dinner is done in courses at several people's
homes- appetizers at one house, salads and breads at one house, main dish at
another (the meat is usually paid for by the Social committee), and finally at one
house for desserts. You travel from one house to the next per a schedule and
the hosts follow with the guests to the next house as well. Everyone ends at
the final house for desserts and carols.
Dancing?
Pass the apple without using your hands?
Pass life savers via toothpicks held in mouth?
Does it have to be Christmas? You might also throw in some Hanukkah games
and Kwanzaa games.
We did this at the middle school where I worked, haven't tried it at the high
school...yet!
Everyone brings a wrapped ornament and we made a big circle (standing). The
principal read T'was the Night Before Christmas and every time he said the word
the, we passed to the right. Takes about 15 minutes, everyone has a gift and
then we mingled and thanked the person we got the gift from. It was fun. I
still think about the person I got my gift from every year as I put the ornament
on my tree at home.
Just had to share about how we did the party you talked about with some
national filipinos and they were totally insulted. Seems that they had a problem
with not only the taking of something from someone else, but insinuating that
something that you had been given was worth fighting to keep or you insulted the
person who gave it. It really lead to some problems so we have come up with
the following. Everyone has their presents sitting in their lap and then we
read one of those stories with repetative words. Don't remember where they got
it but it is something like "the family left the house right away turned right
at the first corner then figured out they had left something at the house..."
so that every time the word left is used, everyone passes the present to the
left or right depending on the word. There were other words also --like for
Christmas you had to just scramble the presents anywhere...I'm sure I'm not
explaining it well, but you have probably done things like this before and get the
idea. The people who had the story have since left the country so I can't ask
them where they found it, but I will see if someone else knows if you really
need it.
We also split up into groups and did Christmas carols. Each group had to sing
a part of a carol and then the next group had to sing a different carol and
you kept going around the room until a group couldn't think of something within
30 seconds or something and then they were out. No carols were allowed to be
sung more than once and since we have quite an international group, it went
on forever, but it was fun.
Something like Name that Tune might fun. You can also find those Holiday
puzzles that give clues to familiar songs/events and give a door prize for the
person who is able to get the most correct answers in a set period of time. The
gift idea is always fun, but, time consuming as you stated…how about asking
folks to bring in a new children’s book to place in a basket for donating to a
women’s shelter, children’s hospital or something like that. I know that I
have enough stuff in my house and I need another Christmas ornament like a hole
in the head!
We went to Goodwill and the local dollar store and found all kinds of gifts
from silly to really silly. Some of the things we bought were: bag of sugar,
kool aid, dish towel, soap, candy, kids games, puzzles, car oil. We actually had
just as much fun shopping for the gifts. There were also some nicer gifts
such as candles and gift certificates for gas or the grocery store. We put each
gift in a brown paper bag and stapled it shut. We divided into four teams. Each
team was asked a holiday trivia question. If they got it correct they could
trade bags with anyone else. If they got it wrong they could not trade. After 2
rounds everyone opened their gifts. It really was a lot of fun and by
everyone waiting to open no one knew what the gifts were.
We had a "winter" trivia quiz and the top winners received gifts. We also
exchanged White Elephant gifts. Another game you could try is X-mas bingo. The
library students can make up the boards, you can
laminate them and use them every year with adults or kids.
We simply auction off ornaments that staff members have brought. It doesn’t
take a long time and it’s always interesting to see what types of ornaments
are the most popular. This year the proceeds from the auction will go to one of
our staff members (her husband has leukemia).
Guessing game involving song titles translated into complicated English -
mediocre ex.: Heavenly Creatures All of Us Have Heard in the Sky Above Us
(Angels We Have Heard on High). There's bound to be a list online somewhere.
Tony Pope
Library Media Specialist
McHenry Primary School
100 McHenry Dr.
Rome, GA 30161
Pope1966@aol.com
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