Opening Christmas gifts is inherently a fun activity.
But my sister and I learned how to make Christmas extra-fun from the master. Every year when we were growing up, my normally practical mom bought a Christmas gift for someone (usually my dad) that was not functional — and slightly wacky — and it entertained us all.
Those gifts ranged from a tin of chocolate-covered ants to a remote-controlled car.
Trying to follow her lead as adults, we came up with the following fun Christmas gifts and activities that added a little extra pizzazz to the holiday.
Fun Activities
1) Karaoke. Bought a karaoke machine at a yard sale and we all took turns belting out songs the night before Christmas.
2) Photo props. Created some props — including an empty frame that people held around their faces — and ended up with photos that were cute, and fun to take.
3) Pedicures. Got a wild shade of nail polish and convinced all the women in my family to let me paint their toenails. 
Fun Gifts
1) “The Clapper” (as seen on TV). Bought this device unopened and in the original box at a yard sale as a gift to my parents. Lights were turned on and off the entire holiday at the clap of a hand. (It didn’t actually work very well, though, so I should say they were turned on and off by many claps of the hand.)
2) 
Chicken Limbo — a wacky game that makes you laugh because the thing won’t stop squawking and clucking when you try to shimmy under it.
3) Zip line — that connects between two trees. (The kids in the neighborhood ended up liking this ride a lot more than my son did, unfortunately!)
4) A weird pinkish penis-shaped plastic toy with slimy liquid inside. Don’t know what the original purpose was (or if there was any at all), but when my son (who was 8 or 10 at the time) rubbed his hand intently and repeatedly up and down the device trying to make the 
fluid inside move, we all had to burst out laughing.
5) A large, stuffed dog that looked just like Peaches, our old family pet. Peaches II was in every photo, every lap and in every conceivable location that holiday. He still sits on the floor in my parents’ living room.
6) Bright red wax lips — the kind we enjoyed wearing when we were kids.
7) 
Hunk of the Month calendar — simply insert your favorite guy’s photo above the bodies with six-pack abs for each month.
What special Christmas gifts and activities have you and your family enjoyed?
Holiday blog posts:
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Money-Saving Christmas Gift #1 – Extend-your-Beauty Cosmetic Tool
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Christmas Jumbo Wiggle Eyes: Cute Holiday Decoration Adds Pizzazz
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Favorite Childhood Christmas Memories
Inexpensive Christmas Gift for Women who Have Everything
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The Joy of Blinging Out with Christmas Jewelry
Awsome Ugly Christmas Sweater Party Clothes and Accessories
Yikes! When Did Ugly Sweater Christmas Parties Start?
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Savvy Southern Style: Wow Us Wednesdays Linky Party
Some of these ideas sound like a ton of fun!
Vanessa D. recently posted…If The Liberals Controlled Christmas Tree Sales In Ontario
These sound like a blast! I especially liked the karaoke, pedicures, and chicken limbo. It’s so much fun to get people together :). I don’t think I have anything that compares, but we did a Yankee Swap with some gag gifts a few times. Merry Christmas!
Marcy recently posted…I accidentally angered a psychic (MultiMEDIA Splice #4)
Merry Christmas to you, too!
What’s a Yankee Swap? (I’m from up north and don’t know that one.)
I almost caught up to you on the FitBit steps a week ago when I went on my cruise and did all the Zumba, line dancing, stair climbing and deck walking — but you still beat me!
In a Yankee Swap, everyone brings a gift and draws a number. The first person chooses any gift, and then the second person can either take that first gift or choose a new one. And so on until the end when the first person can trade with anyone’s gift. There are a lot of variations, but that’s how we used to do it. Congrats on your active week–I tried Zumba once and was completely hopeless at it.
Marcy recently posted…I accidentally angered a psychic (MultiMEDIA Splice #4)
Photo props do create a fun atmosphere!
We are so glad you shared with us at the Home Matters Linky party! Please be sure to come back to our next party on Jan. 9th. Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Shirley Wood recently posted…Home Matters Linky Party #18
Hi I am popping over from How To Get Organized At Home, I just wanted to say thank you for sharing this article, there are lots of fun activities to do, I love the stuffed toy in every holiday picture this sounds like an awesome idea.
Thank you for posting to Motivation Monday!
Love all these fun idea! Especially the squawking chicken 🙂 Such a great idea to include in everyone’s holiday traditions for sure. We too try to do something wacky each year – this year a couple people received gifts that were wrapped in duck tape, then wrapping paper, then a box, then duck tape, then wrapping paper…continue until you feel it is big enough. My son bought a gift card for his dad and we ended up with 4 boxes, a ton of duck tape and quite a bit of Happy New Year!!
Kristina and Millie recently posted…Retro Re-Pin Party #23
The super-wrapping sounds like fun!
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