We are drawn to extravagantly wrapped gifts with red bows and colored paper. But it is not the packaging that we treasure, but the gift. Sometimes the packaging can give clues as to what’s inside, but sometimes the gift inside is a complete surprise and totally unexpected. The first Christmas gift was not wrapped as the world expected either. The Jews wanted a mighty warrior with a sword in one hand and a king’s crown in the other. But instead, God sent his greatest gift: an innocent, defenseless and vulnerable baby, wrapped in swaddling clothes, not wrapping paper.
gift wrap games
- all wrapped up – Tear several types of Christmas wrapping paper and place it inside a large sheet. More is better. There are two rounds in this game. In the first round, each group wraps duct tape around one of their members (STICKY SIDE OUT) from the ankles to just below the arms. Arms must NOT be wrapped. Be sure to emphasize STICKY SIDE OUT. The first team to fully wrap their teammate to make tape with no cracks at all wins. In the second round, first, you dump all the torn wrapping paper on the floor of the playing area and then the teams work to wrap the player wrapped in as much wrapping paper as possible. After a couple of minutes, tell the teams to stop. Award the team with the most surround player glued to their partner. Be sure to take group photos!
- Christmas dice gift exchange – Have everyone sit in a circle and start with a gift. Play a Christmas carol while rolling from 1 to 3 dice (spread them apart). Each person rolls and passes the dice. If they roll a six, they can exchange gift-wrapped packages with whoever they want. At the end of the song, they all hold the package in front of them.
- christmas unwrapping– Wrap a gift with several layers of paper and strong tape so that it is difficult to unwrap. Youth lines up and then must roll double sixes on a pair of dice, run to a baseball bat, spin around the bat 5 times, then go to the gift and put on a beanie, snow/ski gloves and then begin to unwrap the gift. – The first to do so wins the prize. As soon as they get to the present, the next person can start rolling the dice to start the process all over again. When someone new comes to the present, they must first stop, remove their clothing, and then run back to the end of the line. The young man who successfully unwraps the gift gets to keep it.
- Christmas closure– You will need a lot of wrapping paper, some masking tape and a bow for each team. The goal is to be the first team to completely wrap someone up and place a bow on their head like a giant Christmas present. Make sure your students don’t forget to make a gift tag written out who the gift is for and from. You can have a prize for the most complete wrapper, as well as the most creative and best wrapper. Be sure to take some photos along the way.
- Christmas wrapping paper party – Cut out squares of several different patterns from Christmas wrapping paper. You want to have a square for each person in your group. Put them all in a box with a small hole cut in the top. You’ll also want two of the squares to be identical in design and pattern, but all the others to be different. Fold each square and place it inside the box. Let each youth choose a square. Once everyone has a square, announce that the first two people to find matching squares will win a prize.
- gift ball – Save used wrapping paper, bubble wrap, cardboard, plastic, and packing pieces to create a ball. To create the gift ball, start by wrapping a small prize or even money in a piece of used wrapping paper. Layer an additional layer of wrap and packing bits to create a ball, securing it firmly. If you’re short on wrapping paper, you can also use magazines, plastic bags, newspapers, and other things you have around the house. Add a few layers of these in between the layers of wrapping paper. You can secure the layers with any kind of ribbon, yarn, string, and leftover bits of tape, etc. You can add sweets and small gifts to the ball in additional layers as you go. The more the merrier so that everyone has a chance to get something. The bigger the ball, the better, especially if you have a large group. To play, have youth group members sit in a circle with the gift ball and a pair of dice. A young man begins to unwrap the ball as fast as he can while the player to his left repeatedly rolls the dice until he rolls a 7. When he does, the ball is passed to him to unwrap and the dice are passed to the next player. The peeling off of layers and the rolling of the dice continue until someone finally reaches for the prize and claims it as the winner. You can make it more challenging by having the player wear winter gloves.
- guess the gift – Gift wrap a variety of common objects and label them with numbers (socks, ornaments, a candy cane, holly, pine cones, bells, an angel, Jesus in a manger, a can of eggnog, a Santa hat , a reindeer), a cookie, and any other common Christmas items you can find. Pass out the gifts and give each person a little time to feel the gifts and guess what is inside each one. Give them a piece of paper to number on and write down their guesses. The youth who make the most correct guesses are the winners.
- gift wrap relay – Cut out the front images of several old Christmas cards and hide each piece in a separate box. Wrap the boxes for gifts. Divide the youth into two or more teams and place the stack of wrapped boxes on a table at the other end of the room. You will need to have a set of boxes and an image for each team. The first player on each team runs to the table, unwraps a present, takes a picture of it, and runs to their next teammate. The rest of the team has a turn until all the square pieces have been unwrapped. The teams must then compete to correctly assemble and identify their image. The first team to do this wins!
- Wrapping Paper Snowball Fight – Take a bunch of used wrapping paper and throw it into balls. Divide the room in half or into quarters so that you have one team in each section. He throws the crumpled up wrapping paper in the middle of the room. As they march, the young people throw the balls of wrapping paper at each other and in other sections as fast as they can. When time is up, the team with the least amount of wrapping paper in their section wins.
- penguin gift race – Divide the young people into two teams. Have the players at the front of the line place a gift-wrapped box between their knees and walk to a designated spot and back. The next in line does the same until all the youth have had their turn. If the gift falls, they must start over and start walking again. The team that finishes first wins.
- siamese twin breed for gift wrapping – For this Christmas game you will need a box, wrapping paper, scissors and ribbon for each team. Divide your youth group into pairs who will stand side by side with one hand free and the other around their team member’s waist (as if they were one person with two hands, one left and one right hand). . The object of the game is to see which team of conjoined twins can wrap their present (correctly) in the shortest time possible.
TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL
MAKE IT SPIRITUAL
Unfortunately, because God came to us wrapped in a human body and not in his majesty and glory, many people on the first Christmas missed him. The gift was not wrapped as expected. There was no special welcome, no special preparations, no grand entrance, and in fact, there wasn’t even room for him in the inn or a real bed to sleep on. The son of God was wrapped in rags and lying in a manger, a trough.
Imagine focusing on Christmas wrapping paper and treasuring the wrapping and losing and throwing away the gift.
Unfortunately, today, too many people in the world are so focused on all the Christmas wrapping: the gifts, the joy, the celebrations, the wishes for peace, that they forget the true gift: that God sent his Son to save the world. .
What matters is not the outer packaging, but the gift inside and what we do with it.
We don’t have to earn a gift, work for it, or do anything other than receive it. Read Romans 2:8: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-”
Read Luke 2:1-20
The people to whom God first spoke about birth were shepherds. In general, the herders were the poor, the unemployed, the powerless, the less educated, the uneducated, perhaps even the marginalized. Often when we buy gifts for others, we reserve the best gifts for the special people, the ones who will surely give us something in return, the ones who are our favorites. But the gift of Jesus was first announced to the shepherds, to those without titles, to those who could give little back.
God had given the world a gift that he didn’t think it wanted or needed, and certainly not as expected, and he gave it to a group of people who weren’t the powerful, the rulers, or the most admired. It was a seemingly ordinary gift, in ordinary packaging, given to ordinary people.
MAKE IT PRACTICAL
the pastors
Read Luke 2:1-20
* Why do you think the angels appeared to the shepherds and not to someone else?
* Could the shepherds have chosen to accept or reject the angels’ invitation? What did they choose to do?
* How long do you think it took them to decide?
* Why do you think it was important for them to see Baby Jesus first hand?
* Why did the shepherds leave everything to go find out about a baby? Why were they so excited?
* What does this baby mean to them?
* What does this baby mean to us?
* Why was the birth of Christ a Good News?
* What are some lessons, truths, attitudes, and responses we can learn from pastors?
MAKE IT PERSONAL
* Do you still feel awe when you consider God’s gift to the world, or has it lost its shine? Are you more focused on Christmas wrapping or the gift God sent?
* What are you waiting for this Christmas?
* How can you have a deeper first-hand experience with Christ this Christmas?
* What can you do to help others see through all the holiday wrapping and clearly see the real Christmas gift?
* The gift is not actually taken until we choose to receive it. It is of no use to us unless we take it for ourselves, unwrap it and make it our own. Have you received the gift of Christ in your life?
SCRIPTURES
Luke 2:11-12 (NIV) – “Today a Savior, the Messiah, the Lord, has been born for you in the city of David. This will serve as a sign for you: You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.”