The 12 Days of Christmas Party Game

Summary: Isn't it hard to remember all of the items associated with the 12 Days of Christmas in the famous song?  Seems like the only ones that most people can consistently remember are the five golden rings and the partridge in the pear tree.  All the other lads and maids and geese just run together.  Turn that mystery into a fun Christmas party game (no smart phones allowed!!) by following the instructions below.

Ages: All Ages

Equipment:

Bulletin board of clipboard

How to Play:

1. Decide who will be the game's leader.  It's not a difficult position so even elementary-school-aged children can do it.  The leader is simply responsible for calling out the cue, "On the x day of Christmas, my true love gave to me..."  The leader can even participate in the game if he or she wants!

2. Choose a Moderator.  This person should be an adult with the printout of the original lyrics to the song in hand.  The moderator is responsible for establishing order, breaking up fistfights, and assigning points.  He or she will also keep score on a big bulletin board if possible (if not, a small clipboard will do.)  Keep in mind that the Moderator cannot actually participate in the game, since he or she already has access to all the answers.

3. Each player in the game secretly writes down their guess.  Then all the players read their guess aloud.  Only after each competitor has read his or her guess aloud does the Moderator read the correct response aloud.  For a more competitive version, only the people who guess 100% correctly move forward to the next round ("On the second day of Christmas...") But, if you are playing with kids, it's best to avoid that version and use a points system.  Whoever guessed 100% right in Round 1 gets a point.  If you didn't, 0 points.  Follow that format for each round.

Winner:
The person with the most points after Round 12 wins.

For an even more fun version, after all of the players have read aloud his or her guess for that round, but before the Moderator reveals the correct response, everyone votes for the response they believe to be correct.  So, for example, if Timmy guessed "Eight maids a-milking" in round 8, but then he hears Frankie say, "Eight swans a'swimming," Timmy writes down Frankie's name under his original guess.  If Frankie was right, Timmy gets a point, even though his original guess was wrong.  If Frankie was wrong, Timmy loses a point.  If Timmy's original guess was right he gets two points.  If Timmy did not choose another player's guess, he neither loses nor gains points.  But, if Timmy was right and he wrote down his OWN name under his initial guess, he gets FOUR points for his confidence.  This version is best for 12 and up.