5 Kids Games To Play By The Fireplace

When you’ve got the whole family over at Christmas and you don’t want to simply put the TV on, here are some great party games you and the kids can play by the fireside…

1. The Winking Assassin

Great if you’ve got a good crowd of people and they don’t mind playing dead.

All players close their eyes, and via an adjudicator, an assassin is selected with a simple tap on their shoulder.

Once everyone opens their eyes, the ‘assassin’ is free to ‘kill’ at will, by winking at other players.

As soon as a player is winked at, they are to play dead (bonus points for dramatic deaths, such as slumping over or falling straight off their chair), while the remaining players guess who the assassin is before they are all out.

It must be done in secret, as the game ends when the assassin is identified.

But, don’t let the heat of a log fire get to you. Any wrong guesses will also send that player out of the game.

2. Consequences

Give each player a sheet of paper and a pen, before coming up with a sequence of things for them to write down. After they have written something down, they are to fold the paper over it and pass it to the next player.

There is a no set sequence, but a typical one is:

• Man's name
• Woman's name
• Where they met
• What he was wearing
• What she was wearing
• What he said to her
• What she said to him
• What happened after
• What the world said about it all

Great fun can be had with imaginative minds when they’re let loose and especially at the end when you can all get a good laugh at the finished stories.

They can even get more hilarious after a few rounds, as the creative ideas are just warming up, by the roaring heat logs.

3. The Whispering Game

This game is best played when the players are in a line or sitting in a circle.

One person thinks of a phrase or short sentence, before whispering it into the ear of the person sitting next to them, who then passes it on, who then passes it on and so on, until it reaches the last person, who calls out what they heard and then, everyone can compare it to what they heard along the way, including the person who initially made up the phrase.

4. Two Truths and a Lie

Players take it in turns to stand by the fireside and say three things about themselves.

‘I own a Blue Peter badge; I only ever buy Lekto Night Briquettes and I never ever drink coffee.’ The remaining players must guess which one of the three statements are made up.

Add a bit of competition to the game by allocating points to the players who correctly guess the fibs or those who say three things about themselves and no one manages to guess the lie. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins.

5. I Went to Market

This is another game that’s a case of 'the more players, the better'.

Whoever is going first starts by saying “I went to market and I bought _____” before the second player says “I went to market and I bought (first player’s item) and _____” and this continues for each player, with the list getting longer and there being more items for players to remember. Anyone who gets something wrong (forgets something or says the list in the incorrect order) has to sit down and when there's only one person standing, they are the winner!

If you’ve got young children playing, encourage them to think of things that fit an alphabetical order (apple, balloon, cat, etc.) to add a learning element to the fun.

Games by the log burner or chiminea are a great way to increase family fun and reduce screen time over winter. Whether you are taking part or adjudicating, wonderful memories can be made with the help of a roaring fire and the right wood fuel.

If you’re looking for long-lasting warmth, buy your Lekto Hardwood Heat Logs here.

If you require consistent heat in your living room from evening until morning, buy your Lekto Night Briquettes here.