Christmas games for family, parties and grown-ups

Christmas games for the family

Quick to explain, fine for toddlers and grandparents in the same room, and mostly made from things already in the house.

• Pass the parcel

  • Ages 4 and up
  • 5 to 20 in a circle

  You need: One small prize wrapped in many layers of paper, with a sweet or a forfeit slip between layers, music.

  Pass the parcel round the circle while the music plays. When it stops, whoever holds it tears off one layer and keeps what is inside. The last layer holds the main prize.

  Tip: Whoever controls the music can quietly make sure every child unwraps one layer.

• Candy cane hunt

  • Ages 4 and up
  • Any

  You need: Wrapped candy canes (or paper ones), a timer.

  Hide the candy canes around one or two rooms, hooks over shelves, tucked in the tree, poking out of boots. Kids hunt for five minutes. For mixed ages, give little ones a head start or their own easy room.

  Tip: Count how many you hide and write it down. You will find the last one in March otherwise. For children under 4, hide paper candy canes, not real ones.

• Snowman dress-up relay

  • Ages 4 and up
  • Two teams of 3 or more

  You need: Two piles: a hat, scarf, mittens, earmuffs and sunglasses each.

  One player on each team is the snowman. Teammates run one at a time to the pile, grab one item and put it on their snowman. First team with a fully dressed snowman wins; then the snowman runs the clothes back for the next round.

• Reindeer ring toss

  • Ages 4 and up
  • 2 or more, taking turns

  You need: A reindeer antler headband, rings (pool rings, or rings made from pipe cleaners or paper plates).

  One player wears the antlers and stands still (or sits for small kids). Others stand behind a line and toss rings onto the antlers. One point per ringer, then swap who is the reindeer.

• Indoor snowball toss

  • Ages 4 and up
  • Any, taking turns

  You need: Cotton balls, rolled white socks or crumpled white paper, a bucket or three bowls.

  Players stand behind a line and throw five "snowballs" at the bucket. Use three bowls at different distances worth 1, 2 and 3 points for older kids.

• Cookie face

  • Ages 6 and up
  • Any, two or three at a time

  You need: A cookie per player.

  Put a cookie on your forehead, tilt your head back, and use only your face to walk it down to your mouth. Hands behind your back. First to eat it wins; dropped cookies start again from the forehead.

• Christmas bingo

  • All ages
  • 2 to 40

  You need: The printable cards on this page.

  Print a card per player and call the words from your phone. Five in a row wins. Little ones can play "four corners" for a quicker win.

  Make the cards

• Christmas charades

  • Ages 5 and up
  • 4 or more, in two teams

  You need: The deck on this page and a phone.

  One actor draws a Christmas prompt, starts the timer and acts it out with no words. Their team guesses. Kids mode keeps to the easy prompts.

  Open the deck

Christmas party games

Games for a room full of people who may not all know each other: a little competition, a lot of noise, and prizes that do not matter.

• Left-right gift pass

  • All ages
  • 6 to 30 in a circle

  You need: A small wrapped gift per person, our story.

  Everyone sits in a circle holding a gift. The reader reads the story out loud; every time they say LEFT, pass the gift you hold to the left, and every RIGHT to the right. When the story ends, you keep what you hold.

  Read or print the story

• Plastic wrap ball

  • Ages 8 and up
  • 5 to 15 in a circle

  You need: A big ball made by wrapping small prizes and candy in layers of plastic wrap, oven mitts, two dice.

  One player wears oven mitts and unwraps the ball, keeping anything that falls out. The player to their left rolls two dice; on doubles, the ball and mitts pass to them. Keep going until the ball is gone.

  Tip: Put the best prize in the middle and a few silly ones near the outside.

• Hum that carol

  • Ages 7 and up
  • 6 or more, in teams

  You need: Slips with carol titles (write your own favorites), a timer.

  One player draws a title and hums it, no words, no mouthing. Their team has 30 seconds to name it. Swap after each song. It is harder than it sounds once the slow carols come up.

• Oven mitt wrapping race

  • Ages 10 and up
  • Pairs

  You need: A box, wrapping paper, tape, a bow and a pair of oven mitts for each pair.

  Partners stand side by side; each may use only their outside hand, in an oven mitt. First pair to wrap the box neatly, bow on top, wins. A guest judge can add points for style.

• Ugly sweater contest with categories

  • All ages
  • Any

  You need: Paper ballots, a box.

  Give several categories so more people can win: ugliest, most homemade, most lights, best pet sweater (photo allowed), best couple or family set. No voting for yourself.

• Christmas draw-and-guess

  • Ages 6 and up
  • 4 or more, in two teams

  You need: Paper or a whiteboard, the charades deck or our words to draw.

  Same as charades, but the player draws the prompt instead of acting it. No letters or numbers in the picture. One minute per drawing.

  Words to draw

• Christmas trivia

  • Ages 8 and up
  • 2 or more, solo or in teams

  You need: Our trivia questions, paper for answers.

  Read ten questions per round, teams write their answers, then swap sheets and mark them. Every answer on our trivia page shows the source it was checked against, so there are no arguments.

  Christmas trivia questions

Christmas games for adults (clean, no drinking)

Games built for grown-ups to enjoy: bluffing, guessing and a bit of gift-stealing. Nothing explicit and no drinking games, so they work with family in the room.

• Secret elf missions

  • Teens and grown-ups
  • 6 to 40

  You need: Mission slips (print ours).

  Each guest draws a secret mission on arrival, like "get someone to say fruitcake". Complete it before dessert without anyone noticing. If someone guesses your mission out loud, it fails. Missions completed are read out at the end, and the room votes for the sneakiest.

  Print the mission slips

• White Elephant gift swap

  • Teens and grown-ups
  • 6 to 30

  You need: One wrapped gift per person at an agreed price.

  Players take turns opening a wrapped gift or stealing an opened one. Gifts freeze after three steals. Our tracker draws the order and counts the steals.

  White Elephant rules and tracker

• Guess the price

  • Teens and grown-ups
  • 4 to 20

  You need: Ten everyday items with receipts (a can of cranberry sauce, a roll of tape, a candle), answer sheets.

  Hold up each item; everyone writes their guess. Closest without going over scores a point. The host reads the real prices at the end.

• Blind cookie decorating contest

  • Grown-ups
  • 4 to 16

  You need: Plain sugar cookies, icing in piping bags, sprinkles, numbered plates.

  Everyone decorates two cookies in 15 minutes on a numbered plate. A judge who did not see who made what picks best overall, funniest and most ambitious failure.

• Shake and guess

  • Teens and grown-ups
  • 4 to 20

  You need: A few wrapped boxes with surprising things inside (a pine cone, a whisk, a roll of socks).

  Pass each box round; everyone may shake, weigh and squeeze it once, then write a guess. Closest guesses score points. The odder the object, the better.

• Christmas Bunco

  • Grown-ups
  • 8 to 12

  You need: Bunco dice and score sheets.

  A dice night with a holiday twist: ugly sweaters, cookie plates, and a gift swap where each bunco lets you steal an opened gift.

  Christmas Bunco ideas

Left-right Christmas game story

Everyone sits in a circle holding one wrapped gift. Read the story out loud, slowly. Every time you read LEFT, everyone passes the gift they hold to the left; every RIGHT, to the right. When the story ends, you keep what you are holding. This one is our own, with 10 lefts and 12 rights.

This is what prints: the story, sized for US Letter. Use your browser's Print (Ctrl+P, Cmd+P on a Mac, or Share then Print on a phone).Another sheet on this page is set to print. Print the story instead

Reading tip: pause a beat after each LEFT and RIGHT so the gifts can move. With little kids, have a grown-up call "pass!" after the word.

Secret elf mission slips (printable)

For grown-ups and teens. Print, cut and fold the slips; guests draw one as they arrive and try to complete it before dessert without being caught. If anyone guesses your mission out loud, it fails. 20 missions, two pages of slips.

This is what prints: the mission slips, sized for US Letter. Use your browser's Print (Ctrl+P, Cmd+P on a Mac, or Share then Print on a phone).Another sheet on this page is set to print. Print the mission slips instead

Christmas charades deck

Christmas characters, things to do, decorations and funny scenes, at three levels. Kids mode keeps to the easy prompts. Pass the phone to the actor, start the timer and keep score for two teams.

Three ways to run a Christmas games night

Christmas Eve with the family (about 2 hours)

1. Candy cane hunt for the kids while dinner finishes.
2. Christmas bingo at the table over dessert.
3. Charades in two teams, kids mode on (split them with the team generator).
4. The left-right story with small gifts to end the night.

Office party (45 minutes)

1. Ugly sweater voting as people arrive.
2. Christmas trivia in tables of four, two rounds of ten.
3. A White Elephant swap with office-safe gifts (office-safe ideas).

Grown-up dinner party (an evening)

1. Secret elf missions handed out at the door.
2. Guess the price before dinner.
3. Blind cookie decorating with dessert.
4. Mission reveal and the sneakiest-elf vote.

Doing Secret Santa instead of a swap? Draw names without emails using our Secret Santa generator.

Running a big family gathering or a company party? Games for large groups sorts games by head count and space, with printable people bingo. The team name generator has a winter holidays theme for trivia tables.

Christmas game questions

What are good Christmas games for the whole family?

Pass the parcel, a candy cane hunt, Christmas bingo, the left-right gift pass and Christmas charades all work for mixed ages. None of them need anyone to sit out for long.

What Christmas games can adults play that are not drinking games?

Secret elf missions, a White Elephant gift swap, guess the price, a blind cookie decorating contest and Christmas trivia. Nothing on this site involves drinking; that is a rule for the whole site.

How does the left-right Christmas game work?

Everyone sits in a circle holding a wrapped gift. Someone reads a story, and every time the word left or right comes up, the gifts pass that way. When the story ends, you keep the gift you are holding. Our story is printable and free.

What games work for an office Christmas party?

Christmas trivia in teams, an ugly sweater contest, the left-right gift pass, secret elf missions and a White Elephant swap with an office-safe gift rule.

More seasonal games: Halloween party games, Thanksgiving games, game night ideas.