Christmas Wheel

The Christmas wheel picks a festive activity or a quick party challenge at random, for the long stretch of the holidays when everyone is in one room and nobody can agree what to do next.

Ten slices, half of them things to do and half of them quick challenges, so the same wheel works on a slow afternoon at home and in the middle of a party.

The holidays have a particular problem: lots of free time, lots of people, and a dozen half-suggested plans that never get decided. Somebody wants a film, somebody wants to go out, and the afternoon goes on the discussion. Spinning ends that in one go, and because the wheel picked it, nobody has to defend the choice.

At a party, keep the challenge slices and drop the rest. "Name the Twelve Days in order" sounds easy until someone tries it with the whole room listening, and the worst-present story always produces one person with something unbeatable. In a classroom in the last week before the break, the activity slices work as a reward wheel: spin at the end of a lesson that went well.

Edit any slice to fit your family. Put your own traditions on it, the board game that only comes out in December, the walk you always mean to do, and the wheel becomes a list of the things you meant to get round to. For a game with cards and a caller, there is Christmas bingo, and for presents, the Secret Santa generator.