Christmas Games & Toys

Have holiday fun with Christmas games and toys

Christmas Bingo, Snowball Fight, Bellz, Nativity Lacing Cards, what a great time of year to be able to use holiday games and toys in therapy. Here are some of my favorites with ideas for using them in therapy. Just click on the title to go to that item and get more information.

Christmas Vacation Twinkling Lights Game - A simple card game based on National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation movie. Bake a Christmas treat based on lights (check out Pinterest), watch the movie, then play the card game. Make a real evening of it.

Christmas Rush - A fast moving game that plays like musical chairs, or spoons. Players are eliminated one at a time until the winner grabs the last token. Requires 3 or more players.

A Charlie Brown Christmas Family Bingo - A 4 x 4 grid with actual scenes from A Charlie Brown Christmas TV show. Small red ornaments for markers.

Barrel of Monkeys - Candy Cane Edition - Pick up 10 dangling red and green monkeys. Harder than you think.

Ed Emberley's Christmas Drawing Book - Simple drawings, step-by-step. Work on spatial skills, encouraging precision while drawing and writing.

Holiday UNO Card Game - There are no special instruction cards but the cards have holiday graphics in the background.

Santa Claus Go Fish - Four cards games in one box - Go Fish, Slap Jack, Memory Match and Old Maid. Colorful and whimsical graphics.

UNO Frozen and Holiday Card Games - The same UNO game we know and love, different themes.

Clue - North Pole Holiday Edition - Somebody made off with Santa's gifts on Christmas Eve. Be the first to figure out who, with what and where.

Christmas Sticker By Number - Complete Christmas pictures with mosaic shaped stickers. Not your typical simple sticker book. 28 projects per book, a good value. 

Christmas Lights Card Game - 12 games in one box! Festive, colorful graphics. I can't wait til December.

Bellz - Use a magnetic wand to separate your colored jingle bells from the pack. Takes some skill! A unique game.

Happy Holidays! The Christmas Carols and Songs Game - A trivia game that's all about the classics.

Ned's Head - I know I put this one on almost every list but just think of all the Christmas themed items you could put into it this time of year: a bell, a ribbon or bow, a candy cane, a small wrapped box, a Christmas ornament (perhaps with a nativity design), an old-fashioned Christmas light bulb, a snowball in a Ziplock bag, a small stocking, a star (check out your local dollar store for ideas). Or put in several plastic cookie cutters and try to guess each shape.

Merry Merry Christmas Bingo - A charming Christmas bingo game to put you in the spirit. Note: There are only 6 bingo cards in this game. More bingo games are listed below.

Lap Harp - Take it out of the box and play, without learning to read notes. Christmas tunes available.

Snowman Jokes - 24 free snowman jokes. Print them out, pass them around, spread the cheer. 

I SPY Holiday Wishes - A non-traditional I SPY card game.

Inflatable Snow Shield - An indoor snowball fight.

Snowball Fight Card Game - A snowball fight without the cold and snow.

I SPY Holiday Wishes - A non-traditional I SPY memory card game for Christmas.

All-Family Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - A portable Rudolph-themed trivia game.

A Charlie Brown Christmas Tic-Tac-Toe and Checkers - Teach tic-tac-toe with a children's favorite.

Peanuts Christmas BINGO - Some of our favorite cartoon characters (Charlie Brown, Lucy, Snoopy) are featured in this game. A 33 card set.

Nativity Lacing Cards - A set of 12 sturdy lacing cards with nativity pictures. Comes with laces.

Operation Rudolph - Operation now has a Christmas theme. Rudolph is the theme, but not the patient. Whew!

LEGO Build Up - Christmas and winter models are small, just right for a beginner in therapy. Pieces per model range from around 15 pieces to 30+ pieces.

Memory Challenge Holiday Edition - One of the first I pull out each year. Sets include many Christmas, a few Hanukkah (dreidle, candles) and a variety that could just be considered winter (snowman, hot chocolate, etc.). This game also includes extra challenge cards for a fun holiday twist (optional, don't have to use them). Inexpensive, family fun. 

Reindeer, Santa, Elf, Snowman Poppers - Hog Wild sells poppers in lots of different seasonal shapes, including Santa Claus, snowman, and elf. Kids love these.

Indoor Snowballs - A kid pleaser. Lightweight, but not flimsy, these plush snowballs are for indoor play. I get a lot of mileage out of this one from December through February. Would probably be longer if I lived in the Midwest.

Scrabble Holiday Edition (Christmas) - Time for a party! Bring together your Scrabble friends for holiday treats and a Christmas themed Scrabble game. This one is for me!

Holiday Fluxx Card Game - Covers holidays from Halloween to New Year's. If you are working on following directions and adapting to change, you may like this one. 

Spot it Holiday - My favorite card game goes Christmas.

Jesus is Born Nativity Wooden Puzzle - 30 piece wooden puzzle depicting Jesus' birth.

Holiday Charades - Another of my favorites for motor planning fun. Can just turn into role playing also if it is just another person and me in a therapy session.

LEGO Decorating the Tree - LEGO offers small holiday and seasonal sets. They sell out fast and kids love them.

Christmas Bingo - Most kids like Bingo and you can work on numerous skills with this one too. Grab a few inexpensive prizes and bring on the fun.

It's a Charlie Brown Christmas Android app - My favorite cartoon kids explain the true meaning of Christmas. Lots of interactive fun.

It's a Charlie Brown Christmas Look and Find - Find the pictures hidden in the backgrounds from this Christmas classic. Figure ground fun.

Charlie Brown Christmas Board Game - Spend time with the Peanuts gang while they get ready for Christmas.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Game - Recover the Christmas presents from the Grinch to help save Christmas for the Whos in Who-ville.

Angry Bird Christmas Dice Game - A holiday-decorated, card/dice game based on the popular app.

Find It - Elf on the Shelf - Twist and turn the tube to find the 40 Christmas/winter related items hidden inside. Search-and-find cards add extra fun.

Scaventure Kids - Sort through the cards and pick out a few Christmas themed activities such as:

• Locate three different types of Christmas tree ornaments.
• Find a cone from a coniferous tree.
• Recite the items that someone's true love gave for every day of Christmas.
• Draw a holiday symbol.
• Track down a candy cane.
• Make up your own!

Candy Memory by eeBoo - This memory game is all about candy and has several holiday matches I associate with Christmas including candy canes and ribbon candy. 

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer Dominoes - Traditional domino game with Rudolph themed characters. Each tile has a picture to match as well as a number for keeping score. Does not show the usual dots.

Let's Match! Merry and Bright Memory Game - Round cards, 24 sets, 12 could be used as winter without Christmas.

Christmas Sticker Scenes - I have used sticker scenes from Oriental Trading for years. They come in everyday scenes as well as holiday and seasonal. Inexpensive fine motor and visual perceptual fun.

Logic Games

Here are some of my favorite one-person logic games. I like these types of games because many of them they include multiple challenges which increase in difficulty as you go. Great for multiple visual perceptual skills as well as reasoning and problem solving skills. Just click on any game name to go to my post about that game for more information.

 

Cat Stax -  Arrange cats to solve puzzles. 48 challenges increase in difficulty as you go.

Get Packing - This was a fun game for either a challenge or for just packing the suitcase according to the challenge card.

 Brain Train - Challenges look at pieces from side and top view. 48 challenges get harder as you go.

 Subtrax - Similar to Cracker Barrel's peg game.

 Rush Hour Traffic Jam - All 4 games on one post - Railroad, Safari, Original, and Jr.

 Logic City - Great for moderate cognitive disability. I've used this game a lot.

 Logic Farm - With a farm theme, simple pictures and only three rules, it is perfect for younger children. I've used this game quite a bit.

Smart Farmer - One of my favorites for beginners. The kids love this one.

Invasion of the Cow Snatchers - You play the role of alien who beam up unsuspecting cows for study. 60 challenges in 4 levels from easy to genius.

Smart Cookies - Part of the Brain Builder Series by Foxmind. Place cookies in 3 X 3 grid by setting up challenge card and adding the other pieces according to rules. 64 puzzles total increase in difficulty as you go, new rules added to each new section. This one gets quite difficult by the end. Similar to Chocolate Fix. I like these 2 games. They can be completed without having to make 50 moves, like Rush Hour games or Asteroid Escape.

Trucky 3 - Load the cargo into the truck(s) so that it is flat against the top. Four levels, starter to master. As levels increase in difficulty more pieces and/or trucks are added. This can take up a lot of time figuring out the harder ones.

Dog Crimes - A canine whodunit with 40 challenges. Deductive reasoning required.  

Roller Coaster Challenge - Build actual working roller coasters in this 40 challenge logic game for one.
 
Top That! - A beginners logic stacking game.

Oops! - Help the magician "get himself together" in these 50 challenges.

Rush Hour Traffic Jam, Safari, Railroad and Jr. Versions - Check them all  out in one place.

Color Catch - 60 challenges featuring colorful salamanders, frogs and dragonflies.

River Crossing Jr. Lagoon Adventure - Cross the river, walking on stumps and planks, without getting wet. Or, rescue a cat from an island without getting wet. A junior level logic game with 40 challenges.

Laser Maze Jr. - Start here to prepare for the original Laser Maze game. This logic puzzle includes 40 challenges and a real laser beam.

HotSpot - Jump over BOTS to land in the HOT seat. 40 challenges that increase in difficulty.

Houdini Brainteasers - 40 challenge escape puzzle that increase in difficulty. Features lock, rings, ropes, trap cage and Houdini himself.

Gravity Maze - Build marble mazes from towers. 60 challenges that increase in difficulty as you go.

Asteroid Escape - A galactic sliding puzzle with 60 challenges. Navigate your spaceship through the asteroid to safety. 8 puzzle pieces.

Cat Crimes  - These felines are up to no good. Using the clues on each card, identify the criminals. 40 challenges that increase in difficulty as you go.

Rush Hour Trains - Move the red engine across the grid and through the traffic jam of train cars. 50 challenges from Beginner to Expert. One train engine, 19 assorted train cars, challenge cards, bag to carry everything in.

Color Code - Stack transparent tiles to recreate geometric patterns. Puzzles range from two pieces to six pieces. 100 challenges in all. One of my favorites.

Day and Night - A children's theme, bright colors, and sturdy wooden pieces have made this game popular with kids. Build models from colored pictures (day), then build the same patterns from silhouette pictures (night). Ten wooden pieces, 48 challenges.

Smart Car 5 X 5 - All the fun of Smart Car with five pieces. Two puzzles books are included with 48 challenges each. One booklet is for 4 piece puzzles and one booklet is for 5 piece puzzles.

Three Little Piggies - To play, place the pigs (and wolf) on the plastic grid per the puzzle diagram. Then place the plastic pieces with the houses on the board with no overlapping or hanging off the edge. 48 challenges.

Castle Logix - Look at the picture in the book and create castles with the blocks and flags. Another favorite that I have used a lot and kids like. 48 challenges from Junior to Master.

Bunny Peek-A-Boo - An awesome game for beginners to work on visual form constancy, spatial orientation, visual closure, and building a 3D model from a 2D pattern card. 60 challenges from Starter to Master.

Prince and Dragon Go Getter - Create mazes with nine puzzle pieces and 12 challenges.

Chocolate Fix - There are 9 candy pieces, and 40 challenges from Beginner to Expert. Each flavor (chocolate, caramel, strawberry) has 3 shapes - 1 triangle, 1 circle, 1 square.

Sink or Swim - An updated take on the old fashioned slide puzzle. Pieces are different shapes and include 3D fun characters in a swimming pool. A great way to pass summer afternoons. 50 puzzles that increase in difficulty as you go.

North Pole Camouflage - Put the animals in their natural habitats - polar bears on the snow and fish and whale in the water. 6 transparent pieces fit over 48 different challenge cards that increase in difficulty as you go. This has been a favorite of the kids. You can also buy an expansion pack.

Rush Hour Safari - All the fun of the original Rush Hour with a couple of twists. The green jeep that you drive off the grid swivels, so it can travel north and south or east and west. There is also a square animal piece that moves in all four directions also. Features 3D wild animal pieces and 50 challenges.

Rush Hour Jr. - Drive the ice cream truck through the traffic and off the grid. A beginners version of the popular game Rush Hour. 15 vehicles and 40 challenges that get more difficult as you go.

IQ Twist - A portable brainteaser with 15 playing pieces and 120 challenges over 5 levels. A challenge for most.

Shell Game - A one-person puzzle to help develop memory and logic skills. 6 hermit crabs, 6 sea shells, 3 stones, 60 challenges that increase in difficulty as you go.

On the Dot - Flip and turn 4 cards to match the dots exactly on the pattern card. 64 challenges that get more difficult as you go.

Cover Your Tracks - Cover your tracks as you walk through the woods so that you don't attract unwanted attention. 4 pieces, 20 challenges that get more difficult as you go.

Angry Birds Playground Under Construction - Use the 4 puzzle pieces of wood and stone to cover characters on the board. 48 challenges that get more difficult as you go.

Stenzzles - Layer 8 plastic cards to come up with the same color combination as shown on the puzzle. 8 challenges.

Archelino - A beginners logic puzzle. Load the animals onto the ark while pleasing each animal's seating request. 60 beginner challenges.

Laser Maze - Set up beam splitters, double-mirror, targets, mirrors, etc. on the game grid in such a way as to manipulate the laser beam so that it ends up hitting the end target. 60 challenges

Logic Dots - Nine cubes and 36 challenges. Use the clues for each challenge to arrange the nine cubes in the box.

Troy - A puzzle built on the legend of Troy. Build walls around your blue knights to keep them safe inside, and the invading red knights outside.

Hoppers - Set the frogs up on the pond according to one of the challenge cards. Then start jumping over frogs and removing them as you do, until only the red frog is left in the pond. 40 challenges.

Bill & Betty Bricks - Build rectangle and square building while always keeping either Bill or Betty on the top to supervise. 7 playing pieces and 60 puzzles that increase in difficulty as you go.

Zoologic - You are a zookeeper trying to avoid chaos among the animals. As you solve puzzles, no animal can be placed next to a rival or next to his favorite food. 60 puzzles.

Smart Games - Why I Love Them, Why You Should Try Them - A compilation of one-person logic games by Smart Games and why I like the one-person logic games.

Little Red Riding Hood - Set up paths so that Little Red Ridinghood can visit grandma and avoid the wolf. 48 challenges.

Penguins on Ice - Five penguins on five shape-shifting floes with 60 challenges.

Land & Water Go Getter - Connect people, places, and things through maze-like roadways and waterways. 12 challenges.

Mummy Mystery - Nine pieces maze game with 48 challenges.

Jungle Hide & Seek - A day and night jungle animal puzzle. Four pieces and 80 challenges.

IQ Steps - A pocket sized game with 8 pieces and 120 challenges.

Animal Logic - Help the animals cross to safety before the river rises. 60 challenges, wooden animals and game board.

Dr. Microbe - Use the tweezers to move the bugs to your petri dish and solve the challenges (54 in all).