Santa's Reindeer Games for Girls

Provide girls with reindeer antlers to wear at the party.

While some may debate whether Santa’s reindeer are males, females or a mix of the two, few would deny that they are a magical part of the holiday season. Harness some of that magic at your children’s party with games that feature these flying creatures. For a girls-only gathering, incorporate elements that may appeal to female children, such as princesses and glitter.

Princess Reindeer Relay

Rudolph is sick, so it’s up to the reindeer princesses to deliver the presents in this holiday game. Divide the girls into two teams and line them up on one side of the room. Place one wrapped gift box per player on a table on the opposite side of the room. Cover the sides of two large open cardboard boxes in pink paper, inside and out. Attach ribbon to the boxes to transform them into sleighs for the girls to pull. Dress up two pairs of headband antlers with pink fur and bows. When you call the starting signal, the first girl in line for each team must put on the antlers, pull that team's sleigh to the gift table, place a gift box inside the sleigh, and return it to her team. When she reaches her teammates, the second player in line must take the antlers and do the same. Play continues this way until all the gifts are retrieved. The first team whose members all complete the relay wins.

For an additional activity, have the girls decorate the sleighs and the antlers prior to the game.

My Reindeer Name Is

In this holiday version of the traditional party game, “My Name Is,” the girls choose reindeer names in place of their own. Place the names of all nine reindeers in a hat. If you have more than nine players, break them up into two groups. Have the girls form a circle on the floor. The first player pulls a name out of the hat, reads it aloud, and adds a statement about something she likes that begins with the same first letter. For instance, player one may say, “My reindeer name is Dasher and I like dolls.” Player one passes the hat to the girl seated next to her, who must choose a name, make her own statement and also repeat what was said by player one: “My reindeer name is Cupid and I like cookies and she is Dasher who likes dolls." As the hat is passed, each girl must make her own statement and repeat all of those that went before her. Game is over when the circle has been completed with all statements remembered correctly.

To add a level of difficulty and spark some creativity, play this game without the use of traditional reindeer names. Instead of passing a hat filled with names, have each girl make up her own reindeer name when it's her turn.

Reindeer Food Scavenger Hunt

Engage girls in a game that results in the creation of their own party favors. “Magic reindeer-food” is a combination of ingredients such as dry oatmeal or different types of cereal and sugar crystals or glitter. Gather the ingredients you need to make reindeer food, along with one empty, baby-food jar per guest. Hide them around the room, and provide the girls with a list of the items they must find. Once all the items are collected, have the girls use the ingredients to prepare a large batch of magic reindeer-food. From this batch, each girl may fill a baby-food jar with her own portion to take home and sprinkle on her lawn on Christmas Eve.

Silly Sing-along

Print out sheets with the lyrics to the song, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” When you create the song pages, delete certain words and replace them with a blank line. Before handing out the papers, have the girls call out random words when you ask for a noun, verb, color or adjective to replace the word you deleted. Make a list of the words and instruct the girls to write the words in the blank spaces as you call them aloud. For instance, if you took away the words “red” and “shiny,” and asked for a color and an adjective, the result might sound something like, “Rudolph the purple-nosed reindeer, had a very pretty nose.” Once everyone has filled in all of the blanks, it's time for the silly sing-along.

References

• Kaboose: Reindeer Food