16 Christmas Games for the Whole Family
It just isn’t the holidays without some cheer—like a fun Christmas activity for the whole group? That’s why I’m sharing some of our favorite family games that we’ve played throughout the years. Whether you need an activity for your Christmas party, a simple game to keep your kids occupied, or something that your guests can enjoy at Christmas dinner, here are 16 games that will suit family and friends of all ages.
1. Christmas Charades
Organize a game of Christmas charades for your guests and act out some of your favorite holiday activities without saying a word. Some items that you can put on your list include decorating a tree, having a snowball fight, ice skating, and more. You can find different Christmas charade printables on the internet to use as references for different holiday scenarios.
2. Stocking Guessing Game
Fill Christmas stockings with odd objects and have the players guess what is in the stocking. players can feel the stocking but can’t look inside. When the game is over, let the winner with the most correct guesses keep the stocking.
3. Christmas Movie Trivia
Test your guests’ Christmas movie knowledge with this fun holiday game. You can ask questions like “What was the name of Rudolph’s dad” or “Why did the Grinch hate Christmas” to refresh everyone’s memory.
4. Candy Cane Relay
Place an equal amount of candy canes in bowls for each player. Players are given one minute to use a candy cane to pick up as many candy canes from their bowl as possible. However, the catch is that they must use their mouth to hold the main candy cane. The player who collects the most candy canes before time is up wins.
5. Christmas Carol Pictionary
Write down titles of 20 Christmas carols on separate sheets of paper. Divide players into teams. One player takes a sheet and has one minute to illustrate the Christmas carol. If their team guesses correctly, they get one point. Make sure to alternate the team artist. The teams take turns until one of them reaches 20 points.
6. Christmas Memory Game
Pick eight Christmas images (ex. Santa, gift, snow, etc.), print two of each so that you’ll have a total of sixteen images. Place the images on a table in a 4x4 layout. Each player gets a chance to pick an image, then try to find the match. When a player finds the match, they keep it, get a point and get to try for another match. Play until someone reaches the predetermined amount of points to win.
7. Blindfold Christmas Drawing
Get some paper plates and markers. Players are blindfolded and hold their paper plate on top of their head. One person gives drawing instructions while everyone else tries to draw the Christmas scene they described onto the plate. The most accurate drawing wins.
8. Stocking Fill-Up
Divide the players into two teams. Place a Christmas stocking for each team on the other side of the room. The players have to race to their team’s stocking with a spoonful of candy, place the candy in the stoking and return to their team. This relay continues until one team fills up their stoking to win the game.
9. Holiday Storytelling
Have everyone sit in a circle as one person begins a made up holiday story with one sentence. Each person after them must recite what the previous player(s) said and then add their own sentence. If someone forgets a detail while recalling the whole story, they’re out. The story keeps building until only one person can recall all the details and wins the game.
10. Gift Wrap-Up
Have players pair off. Tie one person’s right hand to their teammates let hand. the teams will then attempt to wrap a gift with their free hands. Have an example gift for everyone to attempt to duplicate—the harder it is to create, the funnier. Give a time limit of 1 to 3 minutes and have a judge pick the most accurate gift.
11. Name That Carol
Print out a list of Christmas song titles and lyrics. Distribute a list of the lyrics to each team member or individuals if there aren’t enough people for teams. Then have each team (or person) guess he song title.
12. Ornament on a Spoon Relay
Split into teams, set up a relay course with or without obstacles. With an ornament on their spoon, the first person will go through the course and return to pass it on. You can only use your spoons when passing the ornament. If someone ever drops the ornament, that person needs to go through the course again. Once the ornament is successfully passed off, it’s the next person’s turn until everyone has completed the course.
13. Who Am I?
Write down a famous Christmas character on a post-it note, then stick them on each player’s forehead. Once everyone has a post-it note on their forehead, they try to guess what character they are by asking other people yes or no questions. The goal is to not be the last person to correctly guess who they are.
14. Christmas A-Z
Distribute papers with the alphabet written vertically on each paper. Teams then compete to fill in the entire alphabet list with a holiday word for each letter. The first team to complete their list wins. Have a judge check the winning team’s list and make sure that the words qualify as holiday words. If their list isn’t accurate, check the list from the second fastest team.
15. Gift Relay
This game requires at least two teams with an equal number of players. Set up two tables per team about 20 feet apart and place five gifts on each table. One team member grabs a gift and carries it across the room to the other table. The next team member will stack a second gift onto the first gift and head back across the room to hand their stack to the third team member. This continues until a team has successfully stacked and carried all 10 gifts across the room, without dropping any.
16. Penguin Waddle Game
Separate into teams of three or more. Set up cones 15 to 25 feet apart for each team. The first player places a balloon between their knees and waddles like a penguin down to the cone and back. Then they pas the balloon to the next team member so that they can go. If any team member drops the ball, they have to start again. The first team to complete the relay wins.
What's your favorite family Christmas game?
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