LDS Activity: Ward Christmas Party

Every year our ward holds a Christmas Party and Dinner so here are some tips and resources to help you prepare a ward or branch activity whether it's a Christmas Party or a Dinner.

Christmas Party and Dinner: Here are some of the foods we have with our Christmas Dinner

• Turkey (of course)
• Gravy
• Mashed Potatoes
• Stuffing
• Vegetables
• Cranberry Sauce
• Rolls (with butter on the side)
• Drinks (ice on the side)
• Dessert (of course)
• Salt and Pepper on the side

Non-Food Items: (Note, for those who don't wish to use paper/plastic items they are invited to bring their own dishes which they will have to clean.)

• Paper Plates (large for food, small for dessert)
• Plastic Cups
• Plastic Utensils
• Napkins
• Table Clothes (borrowed from multiple ward Relief Societies)
• Serving Utensils
• Trays for serving the food (we have a large ward 180-250 people for the dinner, so we place enough food on a tray for each table instead of serving individual plates)
• Baskets for rolls
• Bowls for Cranberry sauce
• Small dishes of butter
• Pitchers for juice
• Extra garbage cans and bags

Auxiliary Assignments: Each auxiliary is given one of the following tasks.

• Cooking the food
• Serving the food and kitchen cleanup
• Table and chair setup/take down
• Decorations (Balloons are easy/cheap decorations, we also setup a tree, have Christmas lights around the gym, garlands, etc.)

Additional Assignments:

• Table Sign-up Coordinator (everyone sees this person to sign-up the number of people that will be attending and to be assigned a table)
• Entertainment Program with musical numbers and Christmas stories
• Nursery Area for young children (here are some Christmas Craft Ideas or a Christmas Word Search)
• Santa Clause who visits and passes out small bags of treats (Each year our ward's children get packed up in their cars while they wait for Santa, when they are ready they put on the lights of their car and Santa comes to visit them before they go home)

Table Decorating Contest: Each group of people decorate their assigned table in fun and festive ways. (This helps lighten the decorating load of the Activity Committee.) Usually the local missionaries are assigned as judges and a prize is given for several categories such as best overall, most original, most festive, etc. Make sure to give a prize that can be shared if a table has more than one family. A gift basket with Christmas music, fruit, treats, and other goodies works great.

Organizing a Christmas Activity can be a lot of work (I know, I'm our Ward's Activity Committee Chairperson) but it's worth it as you bring your ward/branch together through the spirit of Christmas.