While this game is normally played at children’s birthday parties, it is also ideal for family Christmas parties. It is a great icebreaker for guests who don’t know each other.
You will need
- A group of participants (the larger the group the better)
- Portable chairs (you’ll need to start with one for every player, except one)
- A hifi or other means to play Christmas music (note: there must be an easy way of stopping the music abruptly)
- Christmas music and a non-player to be in charge of it
How to play
- Arrange the chairs in a large circle or in a line. If you put the chairs in a circle, have the chairs facing outwards. If you put them in a line, you can have a single line of chairs with them alternately facing opposite directions. Or you could make a double line of chairs, with them arranged back-to-back. Another option would be to have the chairs arranged facing outwards around the dinner table! This is good is you have limited space. Remember that there should be one less chair than there are players.
- Have everyone stand around the chairs. If the chairs are in a circle, people should be on the outside of the ring.
- The person in charge of music now needs to set the Christmas music going.
- While the music is on, everyone playing needs to walk or skip around the ring of chairs.
- After several seconds, the person in charge of the music needs to abruptly stop it.
- When the music stops, the players need to sit themselves down on the chairs as fast as possible. Some players may have to run quite a way around the circle.
- The person left without a chair is out of the game. If two people are perched on one chair, the one who is occupying the most of the seat stays in the game.
- Once someone is eliminated, everyone should stand so that a chair can be removed. This keeps the number of chairs one below the number of people playing.
- Repeat the cycle of steps 3 to 8 until there is only one person, the winner, left in the game. The person in charge of the music should play the music for random amounts of time each round, so that the players are caught unprepared!
Variations
Instead of using a hifi, the music in the game could be performed live with a musical instrument or by singing. Most people can sing Christmas carols, so the latter option may be easier to arrange. Just print out the lyrics of some popular Christmas carols and your music is sorted!
A non-competitive version of musical chairs involves removing a chair but no player each time the music stops. All players must sit or perch on the remaining chairs without their feet touching the floor. This version will promote teamwork amongst the players. This version sounds quite dangerous to me, as people might fall and hurt themselves. Therefore, you might want to put a soft mat and cushions under and around the chairs.
