Christmas party games are a fun way to connect, relieve some holiday stress, and bring some holiday cheer, way better than zoning out in front of the TV or navigating tricky political conversations. Whether you're hosting a holiday party or hosting the big day (or eve), here are some ROFL Christmas games for adults and kids to experience real holiday joy, perhaps create some new traditions, and take the best IG shots of the season.
Here are 20 exciting Christmas party games you can play with the whole family!
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Christmas Charades
Play charades with a holiday twist! Write down Christmas-themed clues (e.g., decorating a tree, Rudolph, Mariah Carey, building a snowman...) and have teams act them out. Keep it simple for kids, especially ones learning to read, or add some pop culture references (Buddy the Elf, anyone?) for adults-only parties.
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Name That Carol!
Play short snippets of Christmas songs and have guests guess the title. To up the challenge, use instrumental versions or hum the tune. For kids, you can turn this into musical chairs with holiday music!
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Christmas Trivia
Create trivia questions about Christmas movies, traditions, and songs. Bonus points for the most obscure facts! Here's a few to start:
- Which country started the tradition of putting up a Christmas tree? (Answer: Germany)
- In the song Twelve Days of Christmas, what is given on the 7th day? (Answer: Swans a-swimming)
- Which country celebrates “Feliz Navidad”? (Answer: Spain or Latin American countries)
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Guess the Holiday Scent
Use candles, essential oils, or holiday-themed spices like cinnamon, peppermint, or pine. Blindfold guests and have them guess the scent. Throw in some unexpected surprises like egg nog, maple syrup or Scotch tape.
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Snowball NBA
If you're lucky enough to have a White Christmas, set up buckets outside labeled with different point values. Guests toss real snowballs, or “snowballs” like white cotton balls or small foam balls if you're playing indoors, into the buckets for points.
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The Awkward Gift Wrap Race
Find awkwardly shaped items around the house, like a basketball or stuffed animal, and provide rolls of wrapping paper. The fastest (and neatest) gift wrapper wins!
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Ornament Relay
Hand out spoons or chopsticks and teams have to race to get ornaments from one side of the room to another.
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Candy Cane Hunt
Similar to an Easter egg hunt, hide candy canes around the house or yard and let guests hunt for them. Wrap a few with dollar bills to up the ante .;)
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Holiday "Who Am I?"
Stick Christmas-themed names or characters (e.g., the Grinch, Jude Law, Holiday Armadillo, Charlie Brown) on players' foreheads. Guests ask yes/no questions to guess who they are. It's a great ice breaker for new friends!
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Gingerbread Decoration Contest
Anything with a ticking clock adds a certain element of hilarity to it. Give your teams gingerbread houses with icing and decorations. Let the creativity flow, and award prizes for categories like “most festive” or “funniest" or "worst construction."
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Here are more Christmas games to play this season:
Jingle Bell Toss: Set up your college-era Solo cups into a bowling pin formation at opposite ends of the table. Each players tries to get large jingle bellsinto the opposite side’s cups. The first player to get a bell in each cup wins.
Human Hungry Hungry Hippo: Pair up, stand in a circle, and hand out plastic candy canes. Toss shatterproof Christmas balls in the middle of the circle. One person stands, holding the feet of the other person on the floor. The person on the floor tries to collect more balls with the candy cane than the other teams for a human version of Hungry Hungry Hippo!
Christmas Pictionary: Like charades, but on paper. Use pop culture references like "Hallmark Holiday Movie" or holiday-themed phrases like "Silent Night" for teammates to guess.
Left-Right Christmas Story Game: Make up a holiday story that includes the words "left" and "right" often. Guests pass a wrapped gift or object left or right as the words are mentioned, and whoever holds it at the end keeps the gift!
Christmas Bingo: Downloadbingo cards with holiday symbols or themes. Mark them off as they’re called out. First to yell “Bingo!” wins.
Reindeer Ring Toss: Use inflatable reindeer antler hats (or make your own) and toss rings to see who can "decorate" the reindeer.
Christmas Cookie Taste Test: Bake or buy a variety of holiday cookies. Blindfold guests and see who can identify the most flavors correctly.
Christmas Movie Emoji Quiz: Create a string of emojis that represent Christmas movies and have guests guess the titles.
Snowman Building Contest: If there’s snow, go outdoors for a snowman-building competition! If indoors, use toilet paper to “wrap” someone as a snowman.
Holiday Scavenger Hunt: Make a list of Christmas-related items like a red ornament, mistletoe, or a stocking and have guests search for them in teams.
Christmas Karaoke: Set up a karaoke machine or app and sing along to holiday classics. Bonus points for best singer or most dramatic performance!
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