GET PACKING
A gift-wrapping competition is a great opportunity for children to learn and practise wrapping skills while having fun - you may be surprised to find how many of your children have never wrapped a parcel at all. The club's mock gifts will make great decorations when placed under a tree, and you can also use them as props for other activities.
You will need:
* Junk items to wrap
* Sticky tape
* Newspaper
* Plain paper
* Decorative items (sequins, glitter, bows, ribbon, tissue paper etc)
* Felt tip pens/coloured pencils/crayons/ paint
* Items for printing
Children can work alone or in pairs, starting by choosing some junk items to use as the 'gifts' (empty boxes and so on, ideally in a range of shapes). The children wrap their item however they like, letting their imaginations run free. Some children might like to wrap their gift in plain paper and then decorate it with sequins, ribbon and other attractive bits and pieces, while others may prefer to transform a piece of plain paper into unique wrapping paper prior to the actual wrapping. Provide plenty of felt tips, crayons and pencils for this, and don't forget the paint as printed paper can look particularly effective. Perhaps the children would like to make some extra sheets to take home too.
GUESS WHAT
Children can also take part in a gift guessing game while wrapping. Choose items with obviously identifiable shapes from around the club, such as a football or a tennis racket. Split the children into small groups and challenge them to disguise an item by packing the shape out with screwed up newspaper and then wrapping it up creatively, giving them a time limit of just ten minutes. Perhaps they will make an item look like an airplane or an animal - the possibilities are endless. Each team should work in secret, and when the time is up they can try to guess what's inside each other's parcels, by sight alone at first, and then through touch if necessary.
CRACKERJACK QUIZ
You can use the ready wrapped 'gifts' from the previous activities for this quiz with a twist. Split the children into teams. Each team appoints a 'holder', and the elected children stand in the centre of the room. The playworkers ask each team quiz questions in a round-robin style.
Every time a team gets one right, their holder is given a gift to hold - balancing one on top of the other is allowed. Eventually one of the holders will drop a gift - their team then withdraws from the game and they score one point for each gift accumulated. The remaining teams continue until they too drop a gift. The team with the most points at the end wins.
DELIVERY CHALLENGE
Split children into teams and have them stand in line at one end of the playground, with a gap between each team. At the other end of the playground, draw a chalk spot opposite each team, to represent their 'gift station'. Each team requires a tray and a big pile of gifts of different shapes and sizes (use the mock ones made earlier and make the numbers up with plain boxes if necessary). Carrying them on the tray, the children must transport the gifts relay style from their starting point to their station, until a playworker calls time or they are out of gifts. They can attempt to take as many presents as they like in one go, but any dropped are declared out-of-play and removed from the game (children must stand still until dropped gifts are removed to prevent them tripping over).
Consequently, the children will have to go for either the speed of carrying one or two gifts, or the slow precision of balancing several gifts. Team members must work together to load their trays efficiently, making sure that each child can see over the top of their pile of gifts. The team that has the most gifts delivered at the end of the allotted time is the winner.
GIFT VOUCHERS
Children can make their own gift vouchers to give to family members, each containing a promise to do something that the receiver would appreciate.
Children might promise to wash the car or do the dishes for example. They simply write their promise on a piece of card that they decorate themselves, and place it in a home-made envelope - the receiver of the gift voucher presents it to the child whenever they wish to claim their 'gift'.
Clubs with access to a computer can help children to design and produce vouchers with the use of technology.
