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One of our family traditions is to play Santa Bingo.  Everyone looks forward to it and it is one of the highlights of the extended family Christmas traditions.  Typically Santa Bingo is played on a night between Christmas and New Year's Eve.  My mom makes an effort to pick the night that is most likely to maximize attendance.

The rules of Santa Bingo are simple.  Everyone gets a bingo card.  When you get a "BINGO" you get a prize.  The prizes are usually from the Dollar Store and can range from $20 bills to hair accessories to scarves to hats to cans of soup.  You can either pick a new bag (prizes are kept in brown paper bags) or steal a prize that someone else has already opened.

This round is just getting underway...

Once a prize has been stolen twice (i.e. it gets to its third "owner") the prize is retired and can't be stolen again.  Each round goes until pretty much everyone gets a bingo and then the cards are cleared and the next round starts.

If there is any criticism of Santa Bingo, it is that the games can seemingly go on and on and on.  I don't know when my mom starts shopping for prizes, but it must be months in advance because there are literally dozens and dozens (if not hundreds) of brown paper bags containing the soon-to-be "spoils."

Also, people get excited to bring additional prizes for the game, which only adds to the booty (and the fun!).

This may have been a Santa Bingo game that went horribly wrong...

Santa Bingo lasts so long that it reminds me of some of the scenes from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland--lots of loot and lots of sitting at the table!  Santa Bingo games have been known to extend late into the night and to even be stretched over two or three days!

"Yo-Ho, Yo-Ho, Santa Bingo's the game for me..."

This year, we divided Santa Bingo in half.  The adults played last night and the grandkids played tonight.  Everyone had a great time, even the guests that showed up to play.

Mom, thanks for making this just one of the fun family traditions that make me love coming home for the holidays!

Does anyone else get into the Santa Bingo madness for the Christmas holidays?  What fun holiday traditions do your families have each year?