Christmas Party Games

1 Christmas Name That Tune Extreme

In this musical party game, players must guess Christmas song titles. But instead of playing the song with a music player, a teammate provides the music.

Supplies and Set-up:
Download, print and cut up the Christmas Name That Tune Cards.
You can choose between 2 categories: Christmas Songs (Christian) or Christmas Songs (Popular).

You can also print both sets and mix them up.
Prize for the winning team.

How to Play:
Divide into teams of roughly equal number of players.
Teams take turns to send one player to pick a Christmas Name That Tune Card.
That player must vocalize a part of that song without using the actual lyrics, i.e. sing the melody but replace the lyrics with a sound, e.g. “la”, “da”, “do”, etc.
(If that player does not know the song, allow swapping with another player, but the first player – who already knows the song title – must sit out this round.)
Teammates try to guess the song title within a given time. (Suggest 1-2 minutes.)

If they get it correct within the time limit, the team scores 10 points.

Play for a pre-determined number of songs or period of time.
Give the winning team a prize.

2 Single Handed Gift Wrapping Challenge

Put your party guests’ gift-wrapping skills to the test! Players work in teams to gift wrap a Christmas present.
Here’s the catch: players must place one hand behind their backs throughout the game!

Supplies and Set-up:
Prepare several odd-shaped or fairly large items to be gift-wrapped.
Wrapping paper and sticky tape. (You can also include other gift-wrapping supplies like ribbons.)
Prizes for the winners.

How to Play:
Divide into teams. Each team can have 2-4 players.
(If you have too many guests, ask for volunteers to play this game while the rest watch.)

With players keeping 1 hand behind their backs, teams must work together to gift wrap their present using the supplies provided.

Award prizes for fastest team and most beautiful present.

3 Emoji Christmas Song Challenge

In this visual Christmas party game, players must guess which Christmas song each set of emojis represent.

Supplies and Set-up:
Download and print the Emoji Christmas Song Challenge sheets.
(This printable contains 4 unique puzzle sheets and 1 answer sheet.)

Prize for the first correct answers.

How to Play:
Give each guest an Emoji Christmas Song Puzzle sheet.
The first person to correctly guess all the Christmas songs wins a prize.
As there are 4 unique Emoji Christmas Song Puzzle sheets, you can play 4 rounds of this game.

This game can also be played “charades style” with individuals or teams guessing the Emoji Christmas Songs that are flashed on a screen. To learn more about the screen-based version of this game and to download the Emoji Christmas Song PowerPoint files, Click Here.

4 Catch Me If You Can! Christmas Party Game

While sitting in a circle, players take turns to put on a Santa hat and beard, take a selfie, then pass the items to the player on the left to do the same. At the opposite end of the circle, another player must do the same with a reindeer headband, also taking a selfie before passing the items to the player on the left. When Rudolph catches Santa, the player holding both sets of items must do a forfeit.

Supplies and Set-up:
Santa’s hat and beard.
Reindeer headband.
2 smart phones.
Prizes for the funniest selfies.
Small gifts for players who did the forfeits.

How to Play:
Have everyone sit in a circle.

Give one player a Santa hat, beard and smart phone.
Give another player sitting opposite a reindeer headband and smart phone.
(If you have a large group, you may like to add a few more sets of these items.)

When the game begins, the players holding these items must put them on and take a selfie with the smart phone, then pass the items to the player on the left to do the same.

Keep doing this until Rudolph catches Santa.
The player who ends up holding both sets of items does a simple and fun (but not embarrassing) forfeit.
(Be sensitive that some players may be shy; encourage everyone to join in the forfeit and allow other players to jump to the rescue.)

Play some lively Christmas songs in the background as you play this game.

You will have lots of funny pictures on your smart phones by the end of the game.
Award prizes for the funniest selfies.
You may also like to prepare small gifts for the players who did the forfeits.

5 Christmas Twenty Questions

Players must guess the Christmas related mystery item by asking 20 questions or less.

Supplies and Set-up:
Download, print and cut up the Christmas Twenty Questions Cards.

(You can also play without these cards and have the teams come up with their own Christmas related mystery items.)
Prize for the winning team.

How to Play:
Divide your party guests into 2 teams.
The first team draws a Christmas Twenty Questions Card.
The second team must ask yes/no questions and try to guess the Christmas mystery item on that card within 20 questions.
(You may also want to set a time limit of 3-5 minutes for each round.)
The asking team can try to guess the Christmas mystery item at any time, but wrong guesses are considered one of the 20 questions allowed.
Award 10 points if the team correctly identifies the Christmas mystery item within 20 questions.

Swap roles: The second team now draws a Christmas Twenty Questions Card and the first team must try to guess the Christmas mystery item on that card.

Play for a pre-determined number of rounds or period of time.

Give the winning team a prize.

6 Don’t Say This, Don’t Do That!

Party guests must catch each other in the act of forbidden deeds as specified by the “Don’t Say This, Don’t Do That!” cards. Those caught will be loudly called out and made to wear reindeer antlers and a flashing nose.

Supplies and Set-up:
Download, print and cut up the Don’t Say This, Don’t Do That! Cards.
(This game actually works best with your own custom prepared cards with “forbidden deeds” tailored to your group.)

Party noise makers, party blowers or whistles (1 for each guest).

Reindeer antlers and flashing nose. 

(Or any distinctive Christmas dress-up item, e.g. Santa’s hat and beard, Frosty’s hat and scarf, an oversized ugly sweater).

How to Play:
Give each guest a Don’t Say This, Don’t Do That! Card, and a party noise maker, blowout horn or whistle.
Explain that every time they catch someone “saying this” or “doing that” as indicated on the card, they must use their noise maker and shout “Don’t Say This!” or “Don’t Do That!”
He/she then puts the reindeer antlers and flashing nose on the perpetrator, who must keep them on until another guest gets caught!

7 Excuse Me, Are You an Artist?

Players must draw a Christmas related item on a paper plate placed on top of their heads.

Supplies and Set-up:
A paper plate or blank card for each player. (More if you decide to play multiple rounds.)
A marker for each player.
Prize for the best artist. (Or funniest drawing.)

How to Play:
Decide on what Christmas object you want your guests to draw.
Some suggestions: Angel, Snowman, Christmas tree with a star on top, Snowflake, Santa, Roast Chicken, a simplified Nativity scene (a simple house with a star above).
You can play multiple rounds, each round a different object.

Everyone holds a paper plate or piece of card on top of their heads.
With a marker in the other hand, they must draw the required Christmas object.
They cannot remove the paper plate from their heads until they are done.

8 Jingle Bell Rock

Add some noise to your Christmas party with this game! Players jump, shake, bend and wiggle their bodies to get 8 jingle bells out of a tissue box secured to their waist.

Supplies and Set-up:
Secure the bottom of 1 empty tissue box onto 1 belt.
Place 8 jingle bells in the empty tissue box.

How to Play: 
Players wear the belt around the waist with the tissue box at the back, just above the hips.
Without touching the box or belt with their hands, they must jump, shake, bend and wiggle their bodies to get all 8 jingle bells out of the box within 1 minute.

This game is adapted from the Minute To Win It game: Junk in the Trunk.

9 Christmas Broken Telephone Party Game

A secret message is given to the first player who must pass the message on by whispering it in the ear of the next person. The message goes from player to player until it reaches the last player.

Supplies and Set-up:
Prepare several secret messages of varying difficulties.
Here are some suggestions:
“Christmas is my favorite time of the year.”
“The big fat cat was dressed as Santa.”
“Scrooge went shopping for silver shoes with Sally last night.”
“Santa and five elves went for a vacation in sunny Jamaica.”
“The best present I ever received was a pair of stinky socks.”
“Let’s put buttered popcorn and grated cheese all over the Christmas tree.”

How to Play:
Have everyone sit in a circle.
Divide the circle into 2 halves to form 2 teams.
The game master sits between the first players of the two teams and whispers the secret message in their ears.
The message is whispered from player to player until it reaches the last player of each team.
Each player can only whisper the message once. (You can modify this rule for younger players.)
Finally, the last player of each team tells everyone the message they received.
In a typical game, everyone will have a good laugh because the final message will be significantly different from the original message.

10  Tallest Cookie Tower

In this Christmas party game, players must stack cookies to make the tallest tower possible.

Supplies and Set-up:
Cookies
Plates

How to Play:
Divide into teams. Each team can have 2-6 players.
Give each team 1 or 2 packs of cookies and a large plate.
Players must make the tallest cookie tower possible within 5 minutes.
(You can extend the time limit if all the teams agree.)
The team with the tallest standing cookie tower wins!

Variation:
Instead of building separate towers, have everyone collectively build 1 cookie tower.
Players take turns to place 1 cookie at a time on top of the cookie tower.
The player who topples the cookie tower does a simple and fun (but not embarrassing) forfeit.
(Be sensitive that some players may be shy; encourage everyone to join in the forfeit and allow other players to jump to the rescue.)

11 Christmas Hear It, Sing It, Name It

Players must listen to a Christmas song using headphones (or earphones) and simultaneously sing that song for their teammates to guess the song title.

Supplies and Set-up:
Select a playlist of Christmas Songs on YouTube or Spotify to play on your mobile phone.
Alternatively, create your own playlist of Christmas Songs.
You can refer to our printable Christmas Name That Tune Cards for song ideas: Christmas Songs (Christian) or Christmas Songs (Popular).

Prize for the winning team.

How to Play:
Divide into teams of roughly equal number of players.
Teams take turns to send one player to listen to a Christmas song using headphones (or earphones).
While listening, that player must sing along for their teammates guess the song title within a given time. (Suggest 1-2 minutes.)
Award 10 points for each correct answer.
Play for a pre-determined number of songs or period of time.
Give the winning team a prize.

12 Crazy Christmas Story

Craft a crazy Christmas story together, with your party guests taking turns to add one sentence at a time. 

How to Play:
Have your guests sit in a circle.
Everyone takes turns to add a single sentence to collaboratively craft a crazy Christmas story.

To get the creative juices flowing, you can have your most imaginative player suggest a starting line, or use any of these ideas:
“Last Christmas, I visited the faraway land of Mistletoepia and learned about their strange holiday customs.”
“I heard a loud splat and ran to the kitchen to investigate.”
“On Christmas morning, I woke up to a strange smell coming from the drawer right next to my bed.”
“This was truly turning out to be a strange day.”
“‘Ding Dong!’ We weren’t expecting anyone this Christmas morning, so I was surprised to see Uncle Al standing at the door with his weird family.”
“Funny story…”

13 Christmas A-Z Word Game

Teams take turns to shout out Christmas related words from A to Z. 

How to Play:
Divide into 2 or more teams.
The first team starts by shouting out a Christmas-related word starting with the letter A.
The next team shouts another Christmas-related word starting with the letter B within 10 seconds.
And so forth.

The team that is unable to shout a word in time does a fun and simple forfeit.

14 Christmas Ornament Spoon Relay

In this game, players use spoons to transfer Christmas ornaments from one end of the party area to the other.

Supplies and Set-up:
Non-fragile Christmas ornaments.
A spoon for each team.
A basket for each team.
Prize for the winning team.

How to Play:
Divide into 2 teams.
Players take turns to run to the opposite end of the playing area to pick up a Christmas ornament using a spoon.
They must then walk back and drop the ornament into the team’s basket before passing the spoon to the next player.
The team that transfers the most ornaments within the given time wins.

Variation:
For a more challenging game, hold the spoon in the mouth.
You will need to provide one spoon per player for this variation.

15 Guess It, Keep It

This is a great party game to give out Christmas presents to your guests. Players try to guess what a parcel contains. If they guess correctly, they get to keep the item.

Supplies and Set-up:
Gift-wrap a variety of presents.
Odd-shaped items work best for this game.
Include some inexpensive gifts along with some better ones.
You can also throw in some random items just for laughs. (For example, a hardboiled egg, a toilet paper roll, etc.)

How to Play:
Have everyone sit in a circle and pass one parcel at a time from one guest to the next.
The person holding the parcel can feel and shake it to guess what’s inside.
Set a time limit for each person to hold onto the parcel. (Suggest just 10 seconds.)
Everyone can do a countdown or assign a timekeeper.
The first person to correctly guess what’s inside the parcel can unwrap it and keep the gift.

You may need to drop hints and limit the number of gifts each party guest can win so that everyone brings home something.

Pass the next parcel.

16 How Many?

Get everyone at your party to estimate the number of Christmas candies in a sealed, see-through jar.

Supplies and Set-up:
Download, print and cut up the How Many? Guess Slips.

Fill a large see-through jar with your favorite Christmas candy or cookies.

How to Play:
Place your sealed jar somewhere prominent or pass it around amongst your guests.
Give each guest a How Many? Guess Slip and encourage everyone to fill in their names and guesses.
After you have collected everyone’s guesses, reveal your answer.
The person who guessed correctly (or closest guess) keeps the jar!

17 Christmas Don’t Forget the Lyrics

A Christmas song is played and paused at a pre-determined point. Players must sing the next line with the correct lyrics.

Supplies and Set-up:
Select a playlist of Christmas Songs on YouTube or Spotify to play on your mobile phone.
Alternatively, create your own playlist of Christmas Songs.
You can refer to our printable Christmas Name That Tune Cards for song ideas: Christmas Songs (Christian) or Christmas Songs (Popular).

Before the game, you will need to listen to these songs and note down which segment of the songs you want to play, and where you want to pause the song.
Prize for the winning team.

How to Play:
You can play this game as individuals or in teams.
Play a segment of a Christmas song, and pause at a pre-determined point.
The first player who can sing the next line of that song wins.
(If you notice certain players dominating the play, gently nudge them to give others a chance to win.)

If you are playing as individuals, give that player a prize.
If you are playing in teams, the team scores 10 points.
Give the winning team a prize at the end of the game.

Play for a pre-determined number of songs or period of time.

18 Pin the Star

A blindfolded player must position a star correctly in the Nativity Scene.

Supplies and Set-up:
Download and print the Nativity Scene and Star.

Paste the Nativity Scene on a wall.
Cut out the stars and paste a piece of sticky tack on their backs.
(Keep some extra sticky tack handy in case it loses its stickiness.)

Mark a foul line 10 feet away from the Nativity Scene.
1 blindfold.
Prizes.

How to Play:
This Christmas party game is played in turns, one at a time.
Each player is given a star and starts behind the foul line facing the Nativity Scene.
Blindfold the player and spin him/her around 3 times.
The player must walk towards the Nativity Scene and try to paste the star on the X.
Award prizes to those who successfully paste the star on or close to the X.