Children and Christmas - what a joyful combination. They and their friends will be able to celebrate the season when we remember the birth of Jesus with these five super Christmas games for kids.

Balloon Relay is a great team Christmas game for active kids. Each team needs a balloon (red and green are the traditional Christmas colours), as well as a chair and a ruler. The front player in each team uses the ruler to bat the balloon down the room, around their chair and back to the starting line before passing the ruler to the next player in their team. The first team to have all their players complete the balloon relay wins the game.

Christmas Card Hunt is a fun indoor game for children of all ages. You will need to collect at least three old Christmas cards (or purchase new ones) for each player. The cards should be cut in half and the top sections placed in a box. The lower parts are scattered around the room. Each child chooses one card top from the box and then searches the room in an attempt to find the matching half. Once found, they can choose another card top from the box until they are all gone. The winner at the end of the game is the child with the most complete cards.

Happy Christmas is a quieter Christmas game. Players are seated in a circle. One player starts by counting "One". The player immediately on their left counts "Two", and so on around the circle. However, when a player should say any multiple of five (5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, etc.) they cannot say their number but should say, "Happy Christmas!" in its place. If a player counts the wrong number, says a multiple of five, says "Happy Christmas!" at the wrong time or says "Merry Christmas!" instead sits out for the rest of the game until only one player (the winner) is left.

Jingle Bells is a noisy, active Christmas game. Each child is given a blindfold, except one who holds a small bell. She should move around a given area ringing the bell and saying "Merry Christmas" while trying to avoid the other players. If another player catches her, they swap places. If you room is too small for everyone to participate at once, have four or five chasers and other children change places when someone is caught.

Ho Ho Ho is a lot of fun for a simple game. The first player lays on the floor with the second player laying at right angles with his head on the first player's stomach. Player Three lies down in the same direction as Player One but with her head on Player Two's stomach, and so on. When everyone is in position, Player One says "Ho!" followed by Player Two who says "Ho-Ho" and so on. If any player makes a mistake by saying the wrong number of "Ho's" or giggles or laughs, the whole team starts again from the beginning. Ho Ho Ho can also be played as a race between two teams.

Further information on these and many other Christmas party games can be found on our website.