Christmas party games for families

Choose a game by who can play it, how much room it needs and whether guests want to move or sit. These ten ideas include rules and materials, plus a sample schedule for a two-hour gathering.

Where would you like to start? Find a game for this group See all ten games Use the two-hour example

Which games fit your group and room?

Start with the youngest guests. Pre-readers can join the stocking game with a buddy, follow Santa Says, play picture bingo or search an I Spy page. Readers can try charades, category sheets or carol guessing. For a seated round, use a stocking, bingo or picture sheet; the ornament relay and Snowball Sweep need open space. The suggested ages are a starting point; check reading ability, movement and the help each player needs before choosing.

For an easy first round, try What’s in the Stocking. For movement, consider Santa Says or the Ornament Spoon Relay. Picture bingo and I Spy keep everyone at the table. The Christmas acting cards offer separate easy and harder prompts, while Christmas picture bingo uses picture boards. If your group enjoys drawing clues, the Christmas carol drawing relay is another timed team game.

Ten Christmas games with rules

What’s in the Stocking

Suggested ages: 4+. Space: seated circle. Have ready: a large stocking, 10 small household items, a 60-second timer, paper slips and pencils.

Put 10 small household items in the stocking and clip it shut. Before starting, divide 60 seconds by the number of players and announce that turn limit: six players get ten seconds each, ten get six, and twenty get three. Start the 60-second timer as the first player takes it: the minute covers the whole pass, not each turn. The host calls each handoff so everyone gets a turn; use the optional plan below if that feels too rushed. Players feel without looking and write their guesses, or whisper them to a buddy who writes them down. Stop feeling and guessing when the timer sounds. Empty the stocking and give one point for each correctly named item, counting each item only once per player. Refill with 10 different items and repeat. Add both rounds; the highest total wins, with tied players sharing the win.

Optional turn plan for 6–20 guests: For more time to feel and record guesses, give each player a separate 60-second turn instead of timing the whole pass. Start the timer when that player takes the stocking, stop their guesses at the buzzer, then reset it for the next player. With 6–10 guests, use one circle; with 11–20, split into two circles of roughly equal size, each with a stocking, timer and scorekeeper. Use matching item sets in both stockings if comparing scores across circles. Two rounds take 10–20 minutes of timed turns per circle, plus passing, refilling and scoring. Optional difficulty changes: use five items for ages 4–6 or 15 for adults; compare scores only among players guessing the same set.

Santa Says

Suggested ages: 3+. Space: any room. Have ready: nothing.

Play Simon Says using holiday instructions: stand like a snowman, gallop like a reindeer or shake like a bowl full of jelly. A player who moves before hearing “Santa says” sits out for one instruction, then rejoins. Give younger players time to follow each instruction; older children can try a chain of three. For a short round, one caller gives ten instructions, then another guest can take over.

Ornament Spoon Relay

Suggested ages: 5+. Space: a hallway or outdoor lane. Have ready: plastic ornaments, wooden spoons and one small tree per team.

Split guests into two teams and give each team the same number of ornaments. Plan one leg per player; if teams differ by one person, a player on the smaller team takes a second leg. Line up each team behind a starting line. The first player balances an ornament on a spoon, walks to the tree and hangs it, then runs back to pass the spoon to the next player. If an ornament falls, that player returns to the line and starts again. The first team to hang all its ornaments wins. Optional variations include using jingle bells instead of ornaments or having adults walk heel-to-toe for a harder race. Keep the suggested age of 5+ as a starting point when choosing the objects and walking task.

Snowball Sweep

Suggested ages: 4+. Space: open floor. Have ready: cotton balls, paper plates, painter’s tape and a timer.

Mark a center line with painter’s tape and put an equal, counted pile of cotton balls on each side. Split guests into two teams, one on each side. Start the timer on “go” and give both teams 60 seconds to use paper plates to sweep cotton balls to the other side. When time is up, the team with fewer cotton balls on its side wins. A tie is a shared win. Return equal numbers of cotton balls to each side before a rematch.

Christmas Charades with Two Piles

Suggested ages: 4+. Space: seated circle. Have ready: acting cards and a timer.

Sort the prompts into an easy pile of one-step actions and a harder pile of two-part actions and song titles. Split guests into two teams and alternate teams, choosing a new actor each turn. A player draws a card, then acts without words or sounds. Start the 60-second timer when acting begins; stop guessing when it sounds. Give one point for a correctly guessed card. Pre-readers use the easy pile. Have a reader quietly tell a pre-reader what the card says; the buddy can act alongside them for the first 10 seconds. Finish after everyone has acted once; the higher team score wins, with a shared win for a tie. The Christmas acting card deck has easy and harder prompts; its full rules award extra points for song cards.

Candy Cane Hunt

Suggested ages: 3+. Space: one room, the house or a yard. Have ready: 12 candy canes with one of them marked, and a picture chart showing 12 canes.

Hide the 12 candy canes while the children wait outside the room. Players search, and younger children can match each find to the picture chart. The hunt ends when all 12 are found; whoever finds the marked cane picks the next game. For a clue-based version, use the indoor Christmas hunt as a separate idea.

Picture Bingo

Suggested ages: 3+. Space: table. Have ready: picture boards, caller squares and buttons or cereal pieces as covers.

Give each player a picture board and put out the covers. The caller draws a square, names it and holds up the picture so pre-readers can match it. Players cover matching pictures on their boards until someone covers a full line across, down or diagonally and calls bingo. Check the line against the drawn squares; simultaneous valid bingos share the win. Let winners choose the next caller, swap boards and play again. The printable Christmas picture bingo set has boards and caller squares.

I Spy the Sheet

Suggested ages: 3+. Space: table. Have ready: I Spy sheets, pencils and an eight-minute timer.

Give each pair a busy winter scene with easy and harder search lists. Choose a list for each pair before starting the eight-minute timer. Easy searches count large pictures such as trees, snowmen and stockings; harder searches look for smaller details. A reader can explain the prompts to a pre-reader. Pairs circle finds and write counts, stopping when the timer sounds. Check counts and finds against the host answer card. Compare finds within each difficulty level; the pair with the most correct finds wins that level, with shared wins for ties. The Christmas I Spy activity guide explains how to draw a scene, add both search lists and make a host answer card; its full team rounds use different timers.

Guess the Carol

Suggested ages: 6+. Space: seated. Have ready: nothing, or a written list of carol titles for readers.

One player hums a carol for three seconds without words or lip movements. The hummer calls on the first person to raise a hand; a correct title earns that player a point. A wrong guess means sitting out the next hum, and another raised hand can answer the current clue. If nobody gets it, reveal the title. Rotate humming duty clockwise after each clue; the hummer cannot score on their own clue. The first player to five points wins and hums the final round. To give readers another table activity, try the Christmas word-game pack.

Toilet-Paper Snowman Contest

Suggested ages: 5+. Space: open floor. Have ready: two rolls of toilet paper per team, paper hats, fabric carrots and a three-minute timer.

Give each team two rolls, a paper hat and a fabric carrot. Start a three-minute timer on “go.” Teams wrap one volunteer from the shoulders to the knees, leaving the face clear, then add the hat and fabric carrot. Stop wrapping at the buzzer. Have an adult on each team keep the wrapping below the head. Present each snowman in turn for applause; the loudest applause wins, with a shared win if the host cannot distinguish them. For an optional untimed craft version, let every team finish before the applause.

A two-hour Christmas party example

Here is one way to arrange a 2:00–4:00 gathering. The times mark a sample afternoon, not fixed game lengths.

2:00–2:20 · Guests arrive. Put Christmas activity placemats on the table alongside scenes prepared with the I Spy sheet-making instructions.
2:20–2:35 · Play Santa Says. You need no supplies for this game.
2:35–3:00 · Play What’s in the Stocking. Set out the stocking and household items before guests arrive. The optional per-player turns fit this slot only if passing, refilling and scoring also finish before 3:00; otherwise use the whole-pass version.
3:00–3:30 · Serve food. Picture bingo or category sheets can give seated guests something to do.
3:30–3:50 · Try the Ornament Spoon Relay. This slot assumes you have room for a lane; swap in a seated game if you do not.
3:50–4:00 · Wind down with word sheets and cocoa. Gather bags and belongings before pickup.

The six slots add up to two hours. Change the games or leave more time for food to fit your gathering. For another activity to use while guests are seated, print Christmas category game sheets.

Get the room and supplies ready

Before guests arrive, check the room and gather what each game needs.

Choose one main game, one movement game and one seated game for the two-hour example.
Put each game’s supplies together: for example, the stocking and items, or spoons and ornaments.
Mark out any lane or open floor space a movement game needs.
Set out a seated activity such as picture bingo or I Spy for guests who want a quieter round.
Put the printable pages and their pencils, markers or game pieces on the table.

Printables for the table and quiet rounds

Choose a printable to go with the activity: Christmas acting cards for charades, picture bingo boards for a seated game, or Christmas matching cards for pairs. The Christmas paper puppet kit and paper chain templates offer craft activities; allow time for making them rather than treating them as quick games. For another build activity, see the roll-and-build Christmas tree game. Browse seasonal party ideas, easy party games or quiet party games for more options.

Questions about family game night

Which Christmas games work for mixed ages?

The stocking round lets players feel and guess, with a buddy available for anyone who would rather say a guess than write it. Santa Says needs no supplies, and picture bingo uses picture boards. Use the suggested ages as a starting point and consider the help each guest needs.

How long should each game take?

The stocking game times the whole pass at 60 seconds, with an optional 60-second turn per player. Snowball Sweep uses a 60-second round, charades gives each actor 60 seconds, I Spy uses eight minutes and the snowman contest uses three minutes. Allow extra time for instructions, scoring and resetting supplies. The sample schedule shows one possible way to fit several activities and food into two hours.

How many games should I plan for a two-hour gathering?

The sample uses an arrival activity, Santa Says, the stocking game, seated activities during food, a relay and a short wind-down. Treat it as an example and leave room for serving food and gathering belongings.

What can we play in a small room?

Choose a seated circle or table game, such as What’s in the Stocking, picture bingo, I Spy or Guess the Carol. The relay and Snowball Sweep are labelled for a hallway or open floor, so they need more space.

How can pre-readers join in?

Let pre-readers whisper stocking guesses to a buddy who writes them down. For charades, use the easy pile and have a reader quietly explain the card; the buddy can act alongside them for the first 10 seconds. Picture bingo lets them match the caller’s picture, and a reader can explain I Spy prompts. Picture bingo and I Spy have suggested ages of 3+; choose the help each child needs.

Pick the first game

Use the games and schedule above to choose what to play first. You can send the party notes to your inbox below.