5 Holiday Party Themes & Activities for Every Age Group

Planning a holiday party can be a lot of fun – but it’s also a lot of work. If you’re not someone who’s content with throwing a generic party, one of the most difficult parts of planning is coming up with holiday party themes year after year.

The job is even more complex if you’ve got kids, teens and adults in attendance. Holiday party activities that work for one age group might not work for another.

At Addition Financial, we’ve got you covered. Here are five holiday party themes and activities that will suit everybody on your guest list.

#1: Cookie Party

Everyone loves holiday cookies, and a holiday cookie party offers plenty of delicious fun for people of all ages. You can ask your adult guests to bring a batch of their favorite cookies along with recipe cards. Then, engage in some of the following activities:

• For the adults, designate a neutral party to be the “judge” of all the cookies. Award prizes to the best cookie makers.
• For teens, provide basic cookie dough or a simple recipe and have them create a new holiday cookie on the spot.
• For kids, lay out some undecorated sugar cookies or gingerbread people and have a cookie decorating contest.

At the end of the night, everybody can take home their creations and a sample of their favorite cookies from the party. An alternative is to pre-bake gingerbread house pieces and have a party where everybody makes a gingerbread house!

#2: Holiday Character Party

If you’re someone who loves dressing up, why not bring the Halloween tradition into the holidays? We like this theme because it works for all age groups. Have people dress up as their favorite holiday characters. Examples include:

• The Grinch
• Jack Skellington (from The Nightmare Before Christmas)
• The Sugar Plum Fairy
• Ralphie (from A Christmas Story)

You can divide people up by age for a costume contest. Other fun ideas for different age groups might include:

• Have kids do impressions of characters and give prizes for the best performances
• Do a holiday movie trivia contest for teens or adults
• Give a prize for the most obscure character costume

There are plenty of ways to have fun with holiday costumes.You could also make food from some favorite holiday movies (roast beast from the Grinch is an example.)

#3: Holiday Karaoke

Holiday music starts playing on Thanksgiving Day and continues through Christmas. Since we all love to sing along, why not plan a party that’s all about holiday music?

Here are some suggestions:

• Ask everybody to tell you their favorite Christmas songs so you can be sure to have them on your karaoke machine.
• Have age-specific challenges. For kids, have them sing songs from childhood holiday favorites such as How the Grinch Stole Christmas or Polar Express. Adults can tackle holiday classics while teens take on holiday songs from their favorite popular singers.
• For fun, have a “bad singing” contest where everybody votes on the least melodic performance.
• Make some music-themed foods, such as music-note sugar cookies or your version of figgy pudding.

An alternative is to organize a caroling party where you go door to door – or visit a local senior center or VA hospital – to spread some holiday cheer.

#4: Season of Giving Party

Are you stressed out at the thought of buying gifts for everybody? One way to remember the true reason for the season is to organize your holiday party to make donations to people whose holiday might not be a happy one.

Here are some suggestions:

• Have kids donate toys and clothes in good condition and write notes to the kids who’ll receive them.
• Ask your adult guests to bring donations of canned goods and donate them to a local food bank.
• Gather books and magazines to donate to your local senior center.

You may want to specify the charities you’ll give to. For kids, Toys for Tots is one of the best-known holiday charities.

#5: Holiday Craft Party

There’s something about the holidays that brings out the Martha Stewart in all of us. Why not embrace your creative energy and use it for a holiday party?

Here are some ideas:

• Buy a supply of festive craft paper, cut it into strips, and have kids make holiday paper chains.
• Set up a photo printer and have kids and teens make ornaments using pictures of themselves to give to their parents and grandparents.
• Visit your local craft store and get plain wooden decorations (think sleighs and reindeer, for example) and put out acrylic paints for the adults to decorate them.
• Set up a wrapping station where people can get creative and get some gifts wrapped at the same time.

If you choose this option, make sure to invest in some drop cloths, so you’re not cleaning glitter and paint off your carpet after the party!

Your holiday party this year doesn’t need to be complicated, but it can be fun, surprising and entertaining for people of all ages. The five themes we’ve listed here will help you host your best holiday party yet!

Need help saving for your holiday party? Click here to learn about Addition Financial’s holiday savings accounts!