Alternatives for Christmas Crackers at Christmas Dinner
Christmas crackers are a Christmas tradition stemming from a 19th century marketing technique to stimulate the sale of bon-bon sweets! They are still standard holiday novelties around the dinner table, having evolved now to bestow small gifts (often plastic items) upon the recipient, along with a joke, a party hat and the cracker snap that sometimes doesn't go "pop" on cheaper varieties. Thankfully, there are alternatives that will help amuse young and old alike around the Christmas table.
1. Novelty boxes. The standard contents of the Christmas cracker can be boxed into an attractive Christmas boxes with lids, hand made if you are crafty, tied with ribbons and left for each person to open as a miniature Christmas present at their dinner place. If you want to depart from standard cracker fare try something a little different like an origami kit inside to keep everyone amused with making a little paper creation as they relax after dinner.
2. Pass the Christmas parcel. Introduce a new tradition of pass the Christmas parcel after dinner, where a parcel wrapped in many layers is passed around the table and when the music stops the person holding the parcel gets to open a layer. Include little novelties along the way before making sure that the cook ends up with the main gift and a big thank you card!
3. Indoor fireworks. If it is the "big bang" that you like in the cracker snap consider getting some indoor fireworks that can be enjoyed after dinner watching the little indoor displays pop and fizz or sparkle. Put one at each place in a decorative bowl, filled with sand and clearly labeled "Caution firework". After dinner get out the recommended fire proof tray and let each person set off their firework, or pass them along for the responsible adult to ignite.
4. Tug-of-war giant crackers. Spice up the normal Christmas cracker a little by turning it into a tug of war game between two sides of the table pulling a giant cracker. Make a giant cardboard cracker, suitably sized for your room, decorated with Christmas cheer. Put a rope through the middle and invite the teams to try and pull each other over the line. If the cracker tube is large enough children can climb inside to retrieve goody bags for everyone, or else break open the middle box to retrieve the little surprises for everyone after a few rounds.
