One of my fondest memories of Christmases gone by is playing games with my family. It is something we did in our immediate family as well as when close family visited our house. As we got older we started introducing some festive drinks and finger food. It was so uplifting to enjoy each other’s company and needless to say someone was always incapable of sticking to the rules. The laughs were priceless and it was a really special experience.

Here are some of the best games to play with the whole family

It’s a classic and one that older and younger generations will enjoy. There is so much opportunity for laughs as well as a nice sprinkling of competitiveness. Of course, it gets a bit tricky when your grandparents have never even heard of the movie you are alluding to, but sure that’s part of the fun.

Having a couple of family board games in the house is a great idea. It encourages you to curl up together without technology and do something a little bit different. These games are often great for helping you to exercise parts of your brain that you wouldn’t ordinarily use. These days there are so many different versions of Monopoly and many are designed to work for younger children too. It’s a great idea for a family gift.

Or should we call it the “consult Google to see if that is an actual word” game? This game is so simple in nature and yet it tends to be completely addictive. People become surprisingly competitive with this one.

The premise of this game is so simple. The person who is on picks an object and the other people can ask up to twenty questions about what it might be. The person will only answer yes or no. If after twenty questions nobody guesses right the person has won and chooses another object for the next round. If someone does guess correctly they choose the next object. You can do a Christmas version where all objects must be Christmas-related.

This one would be so much fun with the kids. Set up a Limbo stick at a starting height and play traditional Limbo but with a Christmas twist. Every person must do the Limbo with a pillow under their top. It’s their “Santa Belly” and will make things much trickier.

Fill a Christmas stocking with an object or several objects and tie the top of it closed with a ribbon. Sit in a circle, pass it around, and give each person one guess as to what might be in the stocking based on it’s shape and size etc. A great one for the kids.

Draw a simple reindeer on a piece of paper and fix to the wall. Using a blindfold and some blue-tack give each person the opportunity to blindly attempt to put Rudolph nose in the correct place. It is a simple DIY game that is very low maintenance.

You can print Christmas themed Bingo cards from the internet for free. You can use sweet treats like M&Ms to mark when you’ve had a winner. A full house might just win a selection box.

Tracey is a happy mammy to four-year-old Billy. She is a breastfeeder, gentle parent and has recently lost five stone so healthy family eating is her passion! You can find her at www.loveofliving.ie.