Christmas party games for the whole family

The best Christmas party games are the ones you can explain in one sentence and start in a minute, so guests of every age can join in. Below are 15 that work at home with family, at a class party or with friends. The first five use free printables and pages from our site; the other ten need only things you already have, like paper plates, a spoon or a hat.

Games with free printables

1. Christmas bingo

All ages

Bingo works for a crowd because everyone plays at once and nobody has to perform. Hand out one card per player and a pen or a few candies to mark squares. Call a Christmas word, players mark it, and the first full row wins. Our five free Christmas bingo cards come with a caller list. For a bigger group, the Christmas Party Games pack has 50 cards, all different.

2. Christmas trivia

Ages 8 and up

Read questions aloud and let teams of two or three write their answers, then swap sheets to mark. Mix easy questions for children with a few harder ones for adults so every team scores. Our 15 Christmas trivia questions have the answers hidden until you open them.

3. Christmas word scramble

Ages 7 and up

Give everyone the same list of scrambled Christmas words and five minutes on a timer. The player with the most words unscrambled wins; read the answers together at the end. It is a quiet game for the table while dinner cooks. There is a 15 word Christmas scramble with answers next to the trivia.

4. Christmas scavenger hunt

Ages 3 to 12

Each clue tells the children where the next one is hidden, and the last one leads to a small prize. It keeps children busy for half an hour while the grown-ups talk. We have 20 free rhyming scavenger hunt clues with where to hide each one, picture clues for little ones and harder riddles for older kids.

5. Christmas would you rather

All ages

Read a question, everyone moves to one side of the room for their answer, and one person from each side says why. Try these five: Would you rather build a snowman or have a snowball fight? Ride in a sleigh or fly with reindeer? Eat only cookies or only candy canes all December? Wrap every present or bake every cookie? Have snow every day or never see snow again?

Games with nothing to print

6. Christmas this or that

All ages

It is faster than would you rather. Call two choices and everyone points to one. Cookies or candy canes? Elf or reindeer? Hot cocoa or eggnog? Opening presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? Count the hands and move on; it makes a good warm-up while guests arrive.

7. Christmas charades

Ages 5 and up

Write Christmas words on scraps of paper and put them in a hat: snowman, reindeer, wrapping a present, ice skating, building a gingerbread house. One player acts out a word without talking while their team guesses before a one-minute timer runs out. Young children can act out animals and toys.

8. Draw it on your head

Ages 6 and up

Give each player a paper plate and a marker. Everyone holds the plate on top of their head and draws a Christmas scene you call out, one part at a time: a tree, a star on top, presents underneath, a snowman beside it. Nobody can see their plate until the end, and the results are always funny.

9. Hum that carol

All ages

One player hums a well-known carol and the others race to name it. The first right answer gets a point and hums the next one. No lyrics sheet and no music needed, and older relatives often win this one.

10. Candy cane hunt

Ages 3 to 8

Hide wrapped candy canes around one room before the children come in, some easy to find and some harder. Give each child a small bag and two minutes. Count the candy canes at the end, then share them out so everyone goes home with the same number.

11. Snowball toss

Ages 3 and up

Crumple white paper or use cotton balls as snowballs and set out a bucket or a laundry basket. Players take five throws from a line on the floor and step back after each round. Little ones throw from closer.

12. Ornament spoon relay

Ages 5 and up

Split into two teams. Each player carries a shatterproof ornament on a spoon across the room and back, then hands the spoon to the next teammate. Drop the ornament and you start again. The first team to finish wins.

13. Pass the present

All ages

Wrap a small prize in many layers of paper. Players sit in a circle and pass the parcel while music plays; when the music stops, whoever holds it takes off one layer. The player who opens the last layer keeps the prize. Put a sweet in some layers so more children win something.

14. Yankee swap

Ages 10 and up

Everyone brings one wrapped gift under a set price. Draw numbers. Player one opens a gift; each next player either steals an opened gift or opens a new one. A gift can only be stolen twice per round. It works best with 8 to 20 people.

15. Two truths and a lie, Christmas edition

Ages 10 and up

Each player tells three short Christmas memories, two true and one made up. The others vote on the lie. It is a good game for families who see each other once a year, because everyone learns something new.

Planning the games

Three or four games fill an evening. Start with something everyone can do at the table, like bingo or this or that, move to an active game such as the ornament relay or charades, and finish with a calm one like trivia or the gift swap. For a class party of 45 minutes, two games and a scavenger hunt are plenty. Keep small prizes ready: candy canes, stickers or a choice of the next game.

All the printables in one pack

Our Christmas Party Games pack has bingo with 50 different cards and a caller list, the word scramble, a word search, 15 trivia questions, 30 charades cards, this or that and would you rather, with a how to play page and answer keys. 62 pages in US Letter and A4.

Little ones who cannot read yet can play our free Christmas I spy pages, find and count with pictures only.

For the children, the Christmas scavenger hunt printable has 20 clue cards in words and pictures, $3.