Reindeer Games - Rudolph's Wreath Toss

Tis the season for colored lights, pine trees, candy canes, and so good fun Christmas-themed ice breakers! That's right, youth worker friends, Christmas is here, and that means we have a chance to bring out some of our favorite Christmas-themed games!

This week I had the time to run out to our local dollar stores and wander through the holiday aisles looking for game ideas. Fortunately I hit gold! I found everything I needed for three of my favorite Christmas Ice Breakers! So over the next couple of weeks, I want to share the ice breakers we are doing as part of our weekly student gatherings!

We're calling them Reindeer Games, with the spin that these are the games Rudolph and his buddies might play way up north! Each week we will unveil another game that we have played, complete with material lists and instructions so you can grab the gear and play it with your students!

So let's kick off our Reindeer Games with our first game, Rudolph's Wreath Toss! We played this game just this week, and it was a huge success! Based on the tradition Ring Toss game we all played as kids at our birthday parties, this is a super easy, super low cost game to play.

Here's what you will need.

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At least 6 - 6" Christmas wreath's with wire frame to hold it's shape.

A set of of headband reindeer antlers.
And a marked distance where the actual game will be played. (No more than 10' between tosser and receiver. I set up 2 chairs, 1 the tosser had to stand behind, and 1 the receiver sat in. You can see that in the pictures.)

I was able to all of these items at our local Dollar Tree. Cost: $7.00 plus tax.

So the game itself is pretty simple. Like the party game, the object is to toss the ring wreaths and land them on the antler or antlers atop the receivers head. Here's what I did.

With the tosser standing behind a chair and a receiver sitting in a chair about 10' away, the team was given 2 minutes to toss the rings. The receive was allowed to move but they could not leave or move the chair. If the wreaths hit the floor instead of their mark, the tosser could run up and grab the rings, return to their hair position and toss again. After the 2 minutes, 1 point was given for each ring that found it's spot around the antler.

Since we have an on-going Girl vs. Guy challenge, I brought up 2 teams of 2; 2 guys and 2 girls. The girls went first and landed 5 out of the 6 wreaths. The Guys followed and also landed five rings. It was totally crazy!

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Since both teams landed 5 rings we had an "all or nothing" tie-breaker. Each team was given 3, and only 3, rings which they were to toss one at a time. After they tossed their rings, it was over. No re-do's or second chances. If a ring hit it's mark, a point was given. If all three missed, that meant the end of their game.

Once again the girls went first, and unfortunately missed with all three rings. The guys followed. The first toss was a miss. The second almost landed, but fell off. The third...A RINGER!!!! The guys went nuts!!

​Simple. Easy. Low cost. Yet Rudolph's Wreath Toss was a huge hit!

Be sure to check in next week for our second in the Reindeer Games series.

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​Merry Christmas, friends!

​- jay

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Jay Higham is a 24 year veteran of student ministry; having worked with students in the local church and Christian camping settings. Jay is currently the Youth Director at Hickory Church, located in Western PA. Jay has been married to Amy for 19 years. Together, they are raising 5 kids, 4 boys and 1 little girl. Jay is passionate about student ministry, family ministry, and caring for the hearts of husbands. You can learn more about their ministry to the family and husband by visiting their family blog at, www.TheHighamFamily.com and www.TheGoodHusbandBlog.com!