Collins - Christmas Games (Collins Little Books)

Christmas is a time when people get together, and given the kind of weather likely to prevail in the Northern hemisphere, theyre mostly going to get together indoors. Therell be plenty of eating and drinking, of course, Christmas being the one big annual blowout that everyone feels entitled to indulge in. But if youve got a house full of people, how are you going to entertain them after the festive meal is over and the dishes are cleared away?

You could always put the telly on but people can watch the box any old time, and presumably they didnt leave the comfort of their own homes just to slump in front of the screen at your house. Christmas should be special! It should be fun!

Games are about being active and getting everyone involved. Your guests may all be family members who know each other well, but maybe the older and younger generations arent all that used to spending time together. Games will soon have everyone competing or co-operating. You may have more of a mix of people, perhaps with friends and neighbours who dont know one another. Games will break the ice! Many people complain that nowadays kids spend too much time staring at computer screens or gluing their noses to the latest hand-held electronic toy, exercising nothing but their thumbs, in the relentless pursuit of beeps and explosions. Get them playing physical games like Musical Chairs and youll be giving them an outlet for their boundless energy as well as physical exercise. Young minds will gain from the mental workout offered by word or number games too. Being painlessly required to think, they might even learn a thing or two without it being a chore!

So get everyone in the same room, one which is warm and comfortable. Make sure they all have somewhere to sit, or, if physical games are on the agenda, clear enough floor space to allow plenty of room for exuberance. Have plenty of drinks and snacks on hand to keep the players from flagging. Now let the games begin!

Something to do with strong drink? Alas no, despite the boozy name! This is a game, for two players, in which you have to put together sets and sequences of cards.

An ordinary pack of cards, a pen and some paper for keeping track of the scores.

The dealer deals each player ten cards, leaving the rest of the pack in the middle of the table, then turns the top card of this pile face up, putting it beside the main pile. Meanwhile the players are looking at the cards theyve been dealt and sorting them into sets. What makes a set? Any three or four cards that have the same value (like three eights) or belong to a sequence in the same suit (like the eight, nine, ten and jack of hearts).

If its your turn to play first, look at the card that is lying face up. If you can use it to help make up a set, pick it up. If you dont want it, take the first card from the top of the pile. You dont have to keep this card if its of no use, but if you do you have to get rid of one of yours and add it to the face-up pile. Every player should always have ten cards in their hand.

The cards youre holding may change as the game goes on and you spot possibilities of better sets, but keep a close eye on your hand. As soon as you realise that any unmatched cards you have will add up to ten or less, when its your turn to play you lay your cards down, and then youve won that round!

If youre very very lucky, you might find that the cards you are dealt to begin with can be sorted immediately into a winning hand (spot the players feverishly assessing their cards right after the deal!) but this doesnt happen very often.

Face cards are worth 10 points; aces 1 point, and all other cards at their face value. If all of your cards are in sets when you lay them down, this is called a Gin Hand, and you win 25 points, plus the values of the other players unmatched cards.

Losing players can reduce the number of points that the winner gains from them by adding, whenever possible, their unmatched cards to the winners sequences.

This is a simple game, as long as you can count up to 21! In America they call it Blackjack, and its often used for gambling, but you can play it just for fun!