Happy Holiday Hostess!

I LOVE having friends over during the holidays. The next couple of days, I’ll be writing about the different kinds of company you might have, and give some hints that have worked for helping your children to enjoy this time as well.

If your company has children set aside a room where all the kids can play, and where it won’t dominate the adult visit.

Make sure the room is free of things that the kids might harm themselves on, and free of valuables that might accidentally be damaged.

The easiest room for this is a bedroom. Have handy extra pillows and sheets or towels for imaginary playing. (Plan on this room being very messy! It’s a small price to pay for an evening of fellowship.) Allow no food or drink in this room.

If there is a span between the ages, consider bartering for your oldest child’s babysitting services at your own home! (You don’t have to pay cash, they might be glad to get out of a chore for a week or to gain a privilege.) If their child is much older than yours, try the opposite, but I suggest providing real cash. (after all, you do want these friends to remain your friends.)

Great Games to occupy your kids while you enjoy adult conversation.

Hide and Seek! The kids have X amount of time to hide (5 minutes) then one adult (each taking turns) goes in to “find” them. So you’re checking on them while they play.

Coloring Contest! All kids like to be told how good they are at coloring. Provide crayons, colored pencils, or washable markers and coloring papers… They’ll have a ball and then give a snack for a prize… winner eats first!

Fake Sleepers! – This is great when the visit starts to get a little late and the kids are tired, but none of them wants to stop playing. Lay a blanket or sheet on the floor, or give each child their own bath towel. They have to lay so that they convince you that they are sleeping. The Best Fake Sleeper Wins!
In between adult conversation, you comment…”Oh, I see Jane’s wiggling; she’s not sleeping!”  until they all fall asleep – This works almost every time!! If they don’t all fall asleep all but one will… and that last one will sleep out of boredom.

Money, Money! Find the Money?! This is probably my all-time favorite! As kids we would wait in the play room (playing quietly), while the adults were hiding change in their room. (This always took a long time when we were kids… the adults would get into their conversations, and forget to hide the change.) And then when we could be contained no longer, they would call us out to find the change! – Great rule if you have variety of ages… bigger kids couldn’t find change that was below their knees… this left money for the smaller kids to find.

I think my Uncle Rich must have loaded my Aunt Cathy’s purse with change before they came for a visit… this would go on for quite some time, until the adults were out of change!

Have any games or activities that have worked great for you?? Share them in the comments!

Tomorrow’s Topic: Older company with No children!