Fun and Exciting Ways to Decorate Your Christmas Tree: Turn It Into a Game!

Decorating the Christmas tree is a beloved holiday tradition that brings families together and fills the home with festive cheer. While the classic approach of stringing lights, hanging ornaments, and topping the tree with a star is always a joy, why not add a twist this year? By turning tree decorating into a game, you can make the process even more fun, engaging, and memorable for everyone involved. Here are some new and exciting ideas to make decorating your Christmas tree a festive adventure!

1. Ornament Hunt: A Holiday Treasure Hunt

Add a playful twist to your tree decorating by starting with an Ornament Hunt. This game is like a holiday-themed scavenger hunt, perfect for kids and adults alike.

How to Play:

1. Hide the Ornaments: Before decorating, hide the ornaments around the house. You can place them in easy-to-find spots for younger children or make it more challenging for older kids and adults.
2. Create Clues: Write down clues or make a simple map leading to the hidden ornaments. For a fun twist, create rhyming clues or riddles related to Christmas.
3. Start the Hunt: Give each participant a clue or map and set them off on their hunt. As they find each ornament, they can bring it back to the tree for decorating.
4. Decorate Together: Once all the ornaments are found, gather around the tree and start decorating. Enjoy sharing the stories behind favourite ornaments as you hang them up.

Tip: Hide a special ornament with a prize inside, like a small gift or a certificate for a holiday treat, to make the hunt even more exciting!

2. Colour Code Challenge: Decorating with a Theme

The Colour Code Challenge adds a layer of creativity and strategy to tree decorating. This game involves selecting a colour theme and sticking to it while decorating the tree.

How to Play:

1. Choose Your Colours: As a group, decide on one or two main colours for the tree. Classic choices include red and gold, blue and silver, or green and white, but feel free to get creative with colours like pink, purple, or even rainbow!
2. Divide and Decorate: Assign each person a coluor. If you have enough participants, each person can have their own coluor, or you can form teams.
3. Stick to Your Colour: Each person or team decorates the tree using only their assigned colour. This includes ornaments, tinsel, ribbons, and other decorations.
4. Add a Pop of Surprise: Once the main colours are done, allow each person to add one unique ornament of a different colour as a surprise twist.

Tip: For an extra challenge, include coloured lights that match the theme, and see how well everyone sticks to the colour code while still creating a beautiful, cohesive tree!

3. Memory Lane: Ornaments with Stories

Turn your tree into a storytelling session with the Memory Lane game. This game focuses on using ornaments that have personal stories or memories attached to them.

How to Play:

1. Collect Story-Ornaments: Gather ornaments that have special meanings—ones that were gifts, homemade, or bought during travels. If you don’t have many story-ornaments, you can make some by writing down favourite holiday memories on paper and hanging them on the tree.
2. Take Turns Sharing: Each person picks an ornament and shares the story behind it or why it’s special. This could be anything from the year it was bought, who gave it, or a funny incident that happened during that Christmas.
3. Hang and Remember: After sharing the story, hang the ornament on the tree. Enjoy reminiscing about past Christmases and sharing laughs and warm memories.

Tip: Use this game as an opportunity to start a new tradition—create a new ornament each year with the family, marking the date and a special memory from that year.

4. Blindfold Decorating: A Silly Twist

For a hilarious and challenging way to decorate, try Blindfold Decorating. This game is sure to bring laughter and create a tree that’s uniquely decorated!

How to Play:

1. Prepare the Tree: Have the tree set up and the lights already strung before starting the game.
2. Blindfolds Ready: Each person takes a turn being blindfolded while another player hands them an ornament. If children are playing, make sure an adult is close by to help.
3. Decorate Blindfolded: The blindfolded person has to hang the ornament on the tree without seeing. After a minute, switch to the next person.
4. Unveil the Masterpiece: Once everyone has had a few turns, remove the blindfolds and admire (or laugh at) the creative placements of the ornaments. Feel free to rearrange if needed!

Tip: Use this game as a warm-up to the main decorating session. It’s a great way to break the ice and get everyone in a fun, festive mood!

5. Ornament Countdown: The 12 Days of Christmas

Extend the fun of decorating by turning it into a countdown game that lasts for days. The Ornament Countdown game is inspired by the 12 Days of Christmas, making each day leading up to Christmas an event.

How to Play:

1. Divide Ornaments: Count the number of days you want to use for the countdown (traditionally 12, but you can do more or fewer). Divide your ornaments accordingly.
2. Decorate Each Day: Each day, have everyone pick an ornament to hang on the tree. Make it a special moment, perhaps after dinner, and turn on some Christmas music.
3. Add a Daily Challenge: To make it more interesting, add a daily challenge like “Find an ornament that is blue” or “Pick an ornament that reminds you of snow.”
4. Build Anticipation: As the days go on, the tree will gradually fill up, building excitement for Christmas Day. On the final day, top it all off with the tree topper, officially completing the tree.

Tip: If you want to go all out, pair this game with an Advent calendar, so each day includes both decorating the tree and opening a small treat or gift!

6. Christmas Ornament Bingo: A Fun Twist

Turn the tree decorating into a game of Bingo! This is a great way to engage kids and adults alike, combining the fun of bingo with the tradition of decorating.

How to Play:

1. Create Bingo Cards: Make bingo cards with different ornament types or themes. For example, include squares like “red ornament,” “star,” “homemade ornament,” “reindeer,” “angel,” etc. Each card should have a mix of these items.
2. Decorate and Mark: As you decorate the tree, players mark off the items they hang that match their bingo card. You can use small stickers or simply cross off the squares.
3. First to Bingo: The first person to get a line, either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, shouts “Bingo!” and wins a small prize. Continue playing until everyone gets a bingo, or reset the cards for more rounds.

Tip: Make the game more challenging by adding extra categories like “biggest ornament” or “most glittery.” You can even create a Christmas Ornament Bingo using an online generator for a quick setup.

Conclusion

Decorating the Christmas tree is more than just a festive chore—it’s an opportunity to have fun, create memories, and bond with loved ones. By turning tree decorating into a game, you can make the experience even more enjoyable and exciting. Whether you’re on an ornament hunt, reminiscing about special memories, or laughing while decorating blindfolded, these games will add a unique twist to your holiday traditions. So gather your family, get creative, and let the games begin! Happy decorating, and Merry Christmas!