Christmas Party Games Everyone Can Play

Games for the whole family

1. Christmas charades. Write Christmas movies, songs and characters on slips of paper. Players draw one and act it out without speaking while their team guesses. Use a one-minute timer per turn.
2. Pass the parcel. Wrap a small prize in many layers with a sweet or joke between each. Pass it while music plays, and whoever holds it when the music stops unwraps one layer.
3. Christmas Pictionary. Like charades, but players draw the word on a large pad. No letters or numbers allowed.
4. Who am I? Stick a sticky note with a Christmas character on each person's forehead. They ask yes or no questions to work out who they are.
5. Christmas trivia. Split into teams and read out questions about holiday history, movies and traditions. Try our Christmas trivia quiz for ready-made questions.

Office party games

6. Two truths and a holiday lie. Each person shares three holiday facts about themselves, such as a tradition, a gift or a memory. Everyone guesses which one is false. A great way for coworkers to learn something new about each other.
7. Holiday desk decorating contest. Give teams a set time, or a whole week, to decorate a desk or door. Everyone votes for the winner.
8. Gift exchange. Run a Secret Santa or White Elephant swap with a clear theme. Our free Secret Santa generator handles the name draw. See Secret Santa rules for how each type works.
9. Christmas song emoji quiz. Show song titles written only in emoji on a screen or printout. Teams race to name them.

Games for kids

10. Pin the nose on Rudolph. Draw a large reindeer on poster paper. Blindfolded kids try to stick a red paper nose in the right spot. Closest wins.
11. Snowball toss. Use white socks rolled into balls or cotton balls and set up buckets at different distances, each worth different points.
12. Candy cane hunt. Hide candy canes around the house or yard and send kids searching. Give each child a color to find so younger ones get a fair share.
13. Freeze dance. Play Christmas music. When it stops, everyone freezes. Anyone who moves sits out until one dancer is left.
14. Reindeer games relay. Teams race to carry a cotton ball on a spoon, waddle with a balloon between their knees, or wrap a teammate in toilet paper like a snowman.

Games for adults

15. Christmas movie quote game. Read out famous lines from holiday films. First person or team to name the movie scores a point.
16. Gift wrap challenge. Pairs must wrap a box while each person uses only one hand, one partner's left and the other's right. Funniest results win.
17. Christmas Scattergories. Pick a letter and give players a list of categories like "Christmas food," "something in a stocking" and "Christmas song." They have two minutes to write an answer starting with that letter for each. Unique answers score points.
18. The mitten challenge. Players wear thick oven mitts or winter gloves and race to unwrap a small gift. Whoever gets it open keeps it.

Tips for running party games

• Explain fast, start faster. If a game takes more than a minute to explain, demonstrate one round instead.
• Mix teams. Split up couples, families or departments so people meet someone new.
• Keep prizes small and fun. Candy, ornaments, novelty socks or bragging rights work fine.
• Make participation optional. Some guests prefer to watch, and that's fine. Give them a job like timekeeper or judge.
• Have a backup. If a game falls flat, move on quickly to the next.

More quick games to fill the gaps

• Christmas song finish the line. Read the first half of a line from a traditional carol like Deck the Halls or Jingle Bells and let players race to finish it.
• Christmas word chain. Players take turns saying a Christmas word that starts with the last letter of the previous word, such as tinsel, lights, star, reindeer. Hesitate for more than five seconds and you're out.
• Ornament hunt. Hide a few unusual ornaments, like a pickle, among the decorations on the tree. The first guest to spot each one wins a small prize. In parts of the US this is known as the Christmas pickle tradition.
• Name that tune. Hum or play a few seconds of a Christmas song. Teams buzz in with the title.
• Christmas bingo. Print bingo cards with festive pictures or words like stocking, candy cane and wreath, and call them out at random. Great for mixed ages since young kids can match pictures.

How to pick the right games for your crowd

Think about who's coming before you plan. A room full of young children needs active, short games with simple rules and lots of small wins. Office groups do best with games that mix people up without putting anyone on the spot, so team quizzes beat solo performances. Families with a wide age range love games where kids and grandparents can be on the same team, such as charades and Pictionary.

For adults who already know each other well, competitive games with a bit of chaos, like the mitten challenge or White Elephant, tend to get the biggest laughs. Plan about 20 to 30 minutes per game and stop while people are still having fun.

Quick digital extras

If you want something to fill gaps between bigger games, our free online games, including a word scramble, memory match and trivia, work well on a TV or tablet. Find them all on our Christmas games page.