Every year my kids shake their gifts, check to see who has the most presents under the tree, and inevitably someone wrapping paper “falls off” their gift before Christmas. This year, I decided to start the Christmas Code Names Game tradition, passed down to me by my friend Lori a few years ago.
If your kids are like mine and can’t seem to keep their hands off the gifts, you may decide to do this too. Or maybe you want to have a little fun and mix things up a bit; either way, let me tell you how it works.
How To Play The Christmas Code Names Game:
Choose A Theme: This year, I chose to go with Frozen because it’s been the most talked-about movie of the year, actually making that of all time.
Choose Your Characters: The goal is to keep it tricky. You want to give each child a character that makes sense without making it obvious.
Here’s what I chose for our Frozen Theme:
Anna & Kristoff (Mom & Dad)
Marshmellow (the snow monster)
Olaf
Sven
Oaken (The shopkeeper with the “Big Summer Blowout”)
Wrap Your Gifts & Tag w/the Christmas Code Name: I had some girl and boy-themed paper this year, so I wrapped them in both. My goal is to keep them guessing. The boys don’t care that they are unwrapping gifts in Frozen paper because this is FUN! That and they don’t care. I could wrap them in toilet paper, and they would still be excited.
Let The Fun Begin: As soon as the kids see the gifts and realize that they have no idea which gifts belong to them, their brains will start working, and they will be guessing up a storm!
Winner’s Choice: You can do this any way you choose, but we are going to allow the kiddo that breaks the code and figures out who each character is selected when we open gifts (Christmas Eve or Christmas Day…is that even a question) and they will get to choose the theme for next year. If there is a tie, we will put the winning children’s pieces in a hat and let fate decide!
So there you go, that’s what we are doing. If you choose to play along, let me know what your theme is. I would love to hear it! My kids are having so much fun with this, so I just had to share it.