5 Ways to Liven Up Your Holiday Gatherings

Well, folks, another New Year has come upon us, once again! And with this festive day of celebration and dark circles under our eyes comes the thrill of new hopes, dreams, goals, and - let's face it - a lot of short-lived "resolutions" that would be more appropriately deemed "unlikely potentials".

I know that since the holidays are officially over now, I shouldn't be thinking about them anymore. But to be honest, I can't stop! I had such a wonderful holiday season in 2013 that I'm having a hard time letting it go. I absolutely love everything about the holidays, and this season, I feel like I made more memories than I have in years simply through making more of the time I spent with my family and friends.

Now, truth be told, it's not natural for me to do anything other than sit on the couch and be lazy. Seriously. I could do it all day everyday if someone would let me. So, even though I love my family, I needed a little push to participate in the activities of our togetherness. Then, after I was completely sucked in, it took a bit of pushing to get other people to participate, too; but everyone was glad they'd been coerced when all was said and done, which got me thinking....

The same laziness that gets me by the throat so easily is much more common than we'd like to admit. Spending quality time with family should be more prioritized when we're actually with our families. What I mean by that is, we are pretty good at getting together and all being under the same roof. However, once we've accomplished that, we kind of disperse and go off into separate corners and don't really socialize. We pull out our phones or laptops or whatever, and we get on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, you name it! But we don't put much effort into engaging with the people around us.

SO! In the spirit of giving, a little inspiration to get you off your rumps and into party mode is exactly my gift to you now! Here are 5 cheap and easy ways to liven up your holiday gatherings so that you, too, may maximize your time spent with your own loved ones when the next holiday season rolls around.

1.) Minute-to-Win-It Games
It just doesn't get more creative than this. If you don't know what Minute-to-Win-It games are, it's a series of bizarre actions that must be completed successfully within only one minute. It's usually played in teams, and each player who is able to achieve the required goal within the allotted time scores their team a point. It's been awhile since I've participated in this forgotten favorite myself, but I heard tell of several families in my circle that do this and have a total blast! I can imagine that playing it with your family is bound to get some serious laughs. Here is an excellent resource for LOTS of different options.

2.) Family Feud
This was one of the big hits that I played with my own family this year. And let me tell you, it was beyond entertaining! This game works well for larger crowds because it's designed exactly like the TV show, which was made to accommodate entire families. It involves splitting into two teams, and designating one neutral "host" to ask both teams the questions, and the two teams have to compete for the most amount of points gained from answering the questions effeciently. It gets very competitive, and once the rules are explained, players generally can pick up on the game very quickly. We played a Christmas version, which can be found here, or you could play a generic all-year-around type game, like these here.

3.) Cards
This year was the first time in AGES that someone was able to get me to play cards. I always thought it was "sooooo boring". In fact, I have spent roughly the last five to ten years absolutely loathing cards because my family enjoys playing entirely too much. But New Year's Eve, my parents convinced my fiance and I to play at a party and we got hooked. So. Completely. Hooked. We played for about six hours on New Year's Day, I kid you not. Here is a list of party-friendly card games that are fast-moving and easy to learn, and here's another list that has just about every card game known to man (use the column of how many players the game requires to find games for the amount of players you have). My personal favorites are Nerts (also known as "Pounce" or "Racing Demon"), and Spades.

4.) The Measles Name Game
I played this at my 21st birthday party, and it was wonderful fun! Players even had a hard time using everyone's real names after the game ended! All it requires is a package of pink or red garage sale stickers, and name tags for all of the (willing) participants at your party or gathering. Give each of your guests or family members a name tag with a new name on it, and every time that a player calls another player by their real name rather than the one on their name tag, they are forced to wear a pink/red "spot" on their body. It gets to be extremely amusing if everyone knows each other already, such as with family or very close friends, because players wind up with a ton of bright spots from accidentally using other players' real names! Here is an official instruction page for this hilarious game.

5.) Karaoke
This is potentially the most expensive choice, but it's certainly worth it if people are willing to participate! Since I have an old karaoke machine from my days as a seventh grader, I just bought a couple of new microphones and brought out my Mac as a supplier of tunes and lyrics for my guests. Several people weren't interested in doing any singing themselves, but everyone got a good kick out of the performances of others, and there wasn't even any alcohol involved! Some people are just natural cut-ups and can't help themselves when they have a crowd. If you don't have a mic or karaoke machine of your own, just freestyle it! No one really cares if you're in a small space anyway. There is an abundance of online karaoke sites that you can access from a smart device or a computer that have lots of songs to choose from, and some of them even allow you to change the key of the songs, and/or supply you with live-moving lyrics as the song progresses. This and this are my favorite sites for online karaoke at home.

I hope that these ideas get you and your loved ones into a more social groove during the next holiday season, because everyone knows that our time on this earth is limited, and we don't want to waste it scrolling through our newsfeed!

Wishing you and yours a happy New Year! ;)


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