Past experience has demonstrated that the magnetic lure of social media can serve as a major distraction to any day, holidays included. This past week, with the thought of the coming holidays in mind, I found myself scouring the internet for activities that would serve to sustain the excitement of being together throughout the day with little to no media interference. Last year I organized a scavenger hunt for May and Eloise and, although they had fun, it ended quickly and was limited to the two girls. This year, I searched for all-inclusive activities, activities that will appeal to the ages from 13 to … (I’ll never tell).

My first order of business was to scan the many sites that are currently bombarding the internet with games geared towards communal enjoyment; games that appeal to a competitive spirit, but allow equal chances for winning regardless of age. I found five that met the goals I had in mind:

1. Candy Cane Competition: For each player, place two cups next to each other on a table; one empty and one with five to six upright candy canes. Players put an inverted candy cane in their mouths and try to grab candy canes from one cup and move them into the empty cup. The first player to move all the candy canes into the empty cup wins the game.
2. Marshmallow Suck-up: Empty a bag of miniature marshmallows onto the center of a table. Each player is given an empty plastic cup and a straw. The object of the game is to use the straw to suck in and place as many of the miniature marshmallows into the player’s cup within a span of one minute. The player with the most marshmallows is the winner.
3. Drawing While Blindfolded: Place a blindfold over each player’s eyes. Give each player a blank piece of paper and a pencil. Instruct players to draw a snowman or any object that would appeal to the ages of the participants while blindfolded.
4. Toss Across: In an empty egg carton, place stickers denoting numbers from one to twelve. Players are given counting chips (bottle caps, tinfoil balls, or ping pong balls, will also work). Each player stands at the end of a table and tosses the chip into the egg carton. Player with the highest score wins the game. *The beauty of this game is that it can be made more challenging by employing the use of multiplication or subtraction. 
5. M&M’s Peanut Hungry Hungry Hippos: Spread a large bag of M&M’ s Peanuts in the center of a table. Players stand around the table with their hands in large plastic cups. Each player scoops up M&M’s until the center of the table is clear. Player with the most M&M’s wins the game. *Instead of cups covering each player’s hands, I am going to use toilet paper rolls that I have been collecting. Why was I collecting them? Because I’m a grandmother who is always looking to invent some sort of memorable activity for my granddaughters. You should see the stuff I collect. That’s another story.

For the most part, the activities that I found on the internet offered monetary prizes for each game, often in large denominations. Since I wanted to get away from monetary rewards, for a number of reasons, I decided to search amazon.com, my trusty resource, for items that would hopefully appeal to all participants. I found: light-up chopsticks, Wikki Stix, learn-to-draw books, brush pens, a fidget pen, and a variety of games geared towards higher level thinking skills (always the teacher).

With prizes wrapped and game pieces packed, I am looking forward to sharing the results of my days of planning. Like the lesson plans from my past, I will not know its effectiveness until its execution. However, I have every confidence that my “Holiday Olympics” will be successful. Who wouldn’t want to regress to those childhood years that were filled with carefree laughter and craziness? Even the Grinch saw the light!

Happy Holidays!