Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Christmas in the Park 6: Reindeer Games

One of my favorite Christmas stories of all time is Move Over, Santa - Ruby's Doin' Christmas! by Ruby Ann Boxcar. Sorry Rudolph, Scrooge, Ralphie, and George Bailey...Ruby and her pals at the trailer park are far more entertaining. Since I haven't had an original thought in months, and since I lovelovelove this book and re-read it every December, I thought I'd just go ahead and plagiarize some excerpts to share with you for the holiday season. Ruby, don't sue me; just consider this free advertising. Seriously, you guys need to run right over (and by "run", I mean "click") to Amazon and buy this book. Funniest. Book. Ever.

This selection comes from various sections in various chapters, Trailer Park Christmas Games.

Everybody enjoys a fun party game, especially at Christmas. I know that at my Christmas parties, after we've eatin', game time is one of the highlights of the night. We all enjoy playin' "White Elephant / Dirty Santa," but the fun doesn't stop there. We also play "Hey, What's in My Sock," "Donna Sue's Boyfriend," "The Christmas Pea," "Pass the Aqua Net," "The Check Is in the Mail," "The Christmas Goose," "I've Never on Christmas," "Blow It Out for Santa," "Decorate the Christmas Tree Game," and "Kiss and Tell." Not only are these games fun, but they also help your guests get more acquainted.
Blow It Out for Santa
You light a candle and put it on a chair away from where everyone is seated. The story is that it's Christmas Eve, and Santa is up on the roof waitin' to come down the chimney. The only thing is, he won't budge until he sees that all the lights are out. So you have to blow out the candle for Santa. Then each player, in turn, is blind-folded and positioned two feet away with their backs to the candle and chair. The hostess then asks them to take three steps forward, turn around four times, and step three steps forward toward the candle. They then simply have to blow the candle out. Since most people will get disoriented, they'll end up in some other part of the room, blowin' on somethin' else. Just make sure you got somebody standin' behind or beside the chair just to make sure that nobody walks into the candle. The last thing you need while havin' a party is a trailer fire.
The Check Is in the Mail
I love this game. First every player puts in a dollar bill. Then the hostess takes all the money that has been collected and puts it in an open envelope that has the word BILLS written on it. Then all the players get in a big circle. When the hostess starts up a song on the CD player, everyone starts passin' the envelope. When the music stops, the person holdin' the envelope is either out or has to put two more dollar bills in the envelope in order to continue playin'. If that same player gets stuck with the envelope a second time, he don't put any more money in the envelope 'cause he's out for good this time. The last person to not get stuck with the envelope is the winner and gets to keep the cash.
The Christmas Pea
This game is real fun and simple to play. You take a handful of peas and set 'em on a chair. You scatter 'em out a bit. You hand a player an empty bowl and tell them to gently set down on the peas. The object of the game is to move the peas, with your behind only, into the bowl. You have fifteen seconds to complete this task. When the time runs out the hostess counts up the number of peas in the bowl and writes it down. The person to get the most peas in the bowl wins. Have a towel ready, 'cause somebody is gonna end up with peas stuck on their behind. If peas are too small, you can use white grapes or, with my large-bottomed family members playin', cantaloupes.
Hey, What's in My Sock
The hostess takes a thermal sock and fills it with twenty-five different objects that pertain to Christmas (mistletoe, a bow, a figure from a nativity scene, pinecone, tinsel, unbreakable ornament, etc.). The hostess then takes a second thermal sock and puts the exact same things in it. When it's time for the party, the hostess passes out a blank sheet of paper and pen to each guest, and then explains that the socks contain twenty-five Christmas objects. Each guest must take a sock, stick their hand inside, and, without lookin', try to figure out what all the items are in one minute's time. Each guest must write down as many items as he can. When his time is up, he passes the sock on to the next person. The reason you pack up two identical sockfuls is simply to speed up the game. This way you can have two people rather than just one trying to guess the items in the sock in that same one-minute time period. Make sure to tell your guests not to call out an object. The winner is the person or persons who has the most correct items on their paper after everyone has had a chance with a sock. This can be a hoot as well.
Kiss and Tell
This game is real fun for couples. You pair up into teams of two players, and yes, married or engaged couples must make up a team. Then one team member sets down in a chair with a Santa hat on. The other team member has to put on a thick coatin' of lipstick. When the hostess says "Go," the player with the lipstick has to kiss their teammate on the face as many times as possible in thirty seconds. They can reapply the lipstick as often as they wish. If they knock their teammate's Santa hat off while kissin', they have to put the hat on and change places with their teammate. That teammate now has to apply lipstick to their lips and kiss the seated player. At the end of thirty seconds, the hostess will go around and count all the kisses on each of the seated players. The seated player with the most kisses wins for their team. This can get real good when you got older couples playin'.
Pass the Aqua Net
Line up in two teams. The first person in each team is given a can of Aqua Net to place under his or her chin. The team member must pass the can to the next in line, but neither may use his or her hands. The first team to get the can of hairspray all the way to the last person in line is the winner. If the can drops between two players, they have to pick it up, give each other's hair a quick spray, and continue from there.

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