Gaming the Gospels: Christmas task masters

If you’re not familiar with Taskmaster, here’s all you need to know: the activity involves contestants completing tasks in a way that most impresses the person in charge (the Taskmaster). The goals of the activities vary – sometimes they’re about completing the task the fastest, sometimes it’s about creating something impressive, and sometimes it’s by being clever.

The points system also varies and is completely up to the Taskmaster. Generally, those who do the best will get the maximum number of points, those who are second get the second biggest number of points, and so on. But it’s completely up to the Taskmaster to allocate points (making for some extra possible gambits as people focus on making the Taskmaster happy rather than achieving the set goals), and their decision is final.

On the TV show there are five contestants, and the points system is generally 5-4-3-2-1 (with occasional variations). The activities will generally work best if there are around five or six contestants in total, so if you’re doing this with a larger group (eg, a class of 20) you might want to break the class into teams.

THE PRIZE POOL
On the TV show, the first task for the contestants is to bring something in for the ‘prize pool’. There’s a theme the contestants have to follow, and the first lot of points are allocated according to how impressed the Taskmaster is by their contributions. Here are some ideas for prize pool tasks if you want to start the activity in a similar way:

1. Bring in something that makes a Christmassy sound. The best Christmassy sound gets points.
2. Bring in a biblically-inspired Christmas gift. The most creative biblically-inspired Christmas gift gets points.
3. Bring in an edible Christmas KK present that costs less than $5. The best edible Christmas KK present gets points.
4. Bring in something unexpectedly Christmassy. The most unexpectedly Christmassy thing gets points.

THE MAIN TASKS
On the show, the tasks are done at a house which has plenty of props the contestants can use. Think about where you’ll host your version of the activity. Ideally there should be some access to things contestants can use to complete their tasks, although if you’re working with students and young people you’ll need to supervise and make sure anything unsafe is off-limits (eg, no use of boiling water, sharp or breakable objects).

Here are a few ideas for your tasks. You’ll probably want to include a time limit with each, depending on how much time you have available. Around five minutes per activity should work, but some might need more time. For some of the tasks you’ll need to do some preparation beforehand – we’ve noted what you’ll need to prepare. You could have all the contestants doing the activities at the same time, or you could have them doing them separately. If they’re doing them separately, it would be best if they can’t see each other so they can’t copy more innovative approaches.

1. Create some Christmas decorations using only recyclable materials. The best decorations get points. (You might get students to bring in some clean materials from their recycling bin to prepare for this activity.)
2. The Three Wise Men brought Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Come up with three gift ideas for Jesus that would be more appropriate for modern-day Australia. The best gift ideas get points.
3. Write and perform a new Christmas carol – the words have to be original, but the tune can be from another song. The best carol gets points.
4. Create an advent wreath without using candles. The most creative and effective Advent wreath gets points. (You might want to offer some crafting materials for them to use, eg, paper, string, bottle tops.)
5. Create a nativity scene using only items in the room/classroom. The best and most creative nativity scene gets points.
6. Build a tower out of Christmas cards. Highest stable tower at the end of the set time gets points. (You’ll need to have a stack of Christmas cards to use for this one.)
7. Dress someone up as a Christmas angel. Best angel gets points. (You might need some dress-up options for this one.)
8. Without looking at a timer, sing Jingle Bells for 20 seconds then stop. The closest to 20 seconds gets points.
9. Make a design for a Christmas card out of grains of rice. Best card design gets points. (You’ll need rice, glue and some coloured background paper for this.)
10. Guess the flavour in these Christmas sauces. Closest guesses get points. (You’ll need to bring in some Christmas sauces, or even mix some ingredients together to make it extra yucky and difficult.)
11. RSVP to this Christmas party celebration. Best and most creative RSVP gets points. (Give them an invitation to a fake Christmas party to respond to – for extra fun make it a bit creative, such as a party with Santa at the North Pole.)
12. Create a Christmas card using only your feet to manipulate your drawing materials. You have two minutes to collect the materials and two minutes to draw your picture. Best picture gets points. (Textas and paper will be needed.)
13. Wrap up a present. You can’t wrap your present in anything else to disguise its shape. If the Taskmaster guesses your present, you lose. If the Taskmaster can’t guess your present, you win points. Points also for the most Christmassy present. (You might need some present options, or make this a take-home task.)
14. Make the best Christmas noise using items found in the room/classroom. Points for the best Christmas noise.
15. Come up with the best Christmas dance. You have five minutes. The best dance wins. (You’ll need a music player and access to some Christmas music choices for this one.)
16. Draw a nativity scene using the textas in front of you. You get 10 seconds to look at the paper and textas, then you need to put on a blindfold. You can’t remove the blindfold until your picture is finished. The best picture gets points. (Blindfold, paper and textas needed.)
17. Make a piece of fruit look Christmassy. Most creative Christmassy piece of fruit gets points. (Pieces of fruit needed, and maybe some paper, utensils, stickers or pens for decorating them.)
18. Throw a Christmas chocolate into a Christmas stocking. As an extra wrinkle, make it so contestants can’t use hands to hold the stocking open or to throw the chocolate. The longest successful throw gets points. (Chocolates and stockings needed.)
19. Blow out the candles on an Advent wreath from as far away as possible. The furthest distance gets points. (Some props might be needed – eg, a garden hose, straws.)
20. Part 1: Produce an awkwardly-shaped gift and some wrapping paper, then challenge participants to wrap the present without using sticky tape or scissors. Best wrapped present gets points. (Gift, ribbon and wrapping paper needed.)
    Part 2 (Don’t let them know about this until they’ve finished the first task): Unwrap the present and return the paper to the roll as neatly as possible. Most neatly returned paper gets points.

Bonus idea: There are 24 dates on an Advent calendar and 24 activities (including the prize pool ideas) outlined above, so you could potentially do a season-long activity where one task is completed every day through Advent.

Michael McVeigh is Jesuit Communications head of publishing and digital content.

Acknowledgement: Thanks to various online Taskmaster forums for many of the ideas we’ve adapted here.