Four Corners Christmas Game

Ceclilly has a new game that you can play at a holiday group lesson. This might be a good way to choose who plays  at the group lesson. Sometimes I unimaginatively choose names out of a basket. This sounds like more fun. Thanks, Cecilly.

FOUR CORNERS CHRISTMAS GAME (sit down version)

Materials: a basket or bag with four different seasonal icon pictures (tree,
star, bell, candy-cane) each equal to the number of players, Christmas
music to either play yourself or on the CD player, and a chair.

Set up: Place the chair in the center of the playing area. Mix up
and place the seasonal icon pictures in scattered fashion face up on
the floor around the chair. Players sit around the periphery of the
playing area.

Objective: to avoid elimination.

To play: Choose someone to be “It”. “It” takes a seat in the chair and
hides her eyes during play. When the music starts, players all at
once get up and quickly but quietly pick an icon picture from the
floor and return to a spot around the periphery of the area. When
the music stops, It keeps head down and eyes closed and covered and
calls out one of the icons. Whoever has that icon is “out”, but
first must perform a Christmas selection at the piano. As they come up to
perform, they return their icon face up on the floor and then return
to their spot. After those players have performed, all icons are
placed back on the floor face up. A new “It” is selected from the
group of performers, and another round begins.

For the second round, when the music starts, all except those
performers, get up to select another icon picture. It could be a new
one or the same one, doesn’t matter. And again, when the music
stops, It calls out one of the icons revealing the next group of
performers.

Now, if It calls out an icon and NO one has chosen that picture, then
no one is out, no one performs that round, and ALL previously
eliminated players are back in (this means they better have a 2nd
piece ready to perform)! A new It is selected from someone who was
previously out.

Continue. playing until either everyone has eventually had an opportunity
to perform, or there’s only 1 player left. If that happens, let the
final player perform.

Urge players to select their icon and return to their spots quickly
as they won’t want to be caught in between when the music stops. If
that happens, they’ll be considered out too and will have to
perform.

VARIATIONS: if you don’t want to incorporate the performing of
prepared pieces into the game, simply assign a silly group perfomance
activity for the eliminated group to do on the spot together. For
example, have the group “Laugh heartily like Santa (HO HO HO),”
or “Sing the first verse of Jingle Bells while standing on 1 leg,”
or “Hold hands and walk in a circle as you sing Jolly Old St. Nick.,”
or “March and sing Deck the Halls,” etc. etc. letting your
imagination go.

Just remember that there needs to be 4 different icons and 4 icons for each  player.