Looking for Christmas party games? Bring on the holiday fun with these clever ideas!
What’s a holiday without Christmas party games?
The holidays are quickly approaching and it won’t be long until we’re gathered with family and friends to celebrate. One way to connect and make memories is to play Christmas party games together.
We compiled a list of some of the best Christmas games for kids and adults. Even better, many of the supplies needed are already in your home or can be found at Goodwill, Dollar Tree, or Amazon.
If you’re ready for festivities, keep the laughs and holiday magic coming with these fun ideas!
Christmas party games to play this season:
Minute To Win It Games
These are simple and fast-paced games that take around one minute to win. These games are appropriate for almost all ages. Host your own “Holiday Olympics” by playing several of them at your Christmas celebrations.
Play as individuals or teams going head-to-head or play as individuals going against the timer for the best score of the bunch!
Try these popular Christmas minute to win it games:
Nut Flipper
The pressure is on when playing this fast-paced game! Go head-to-head with another player as you race to get your nutcracker to the finish line.
To play, place two empty cans of nuts slightly off the edge of a table. Using tape, mark two rows of 5 lines each. To move your nutcracker, you must flip an empty can of nuts and get it to land back on the table.
If it lands with the lid up, move your nutcracker two spaces, and if the can lands bottom up, move one space. If it falls off the table, try again. First one to the 5th line wins!
Supplies Needed:
Christmas Tree Cup Stack Game
Set the timer and see who can build their tree the fastest. If your cups topple over, you’ll have to start again!
To begin, place a piece of cardboard onto a toilet paper roll. Then, stack your cups on top and decorate with red pom pom “ornaments.” The first one to successfully balance and build their tree wins the game.
Supplies Needed:
Jingle In The Trunk
Get ready to laugh as your family members shake their thang! To play this funny game, hot glue two empty tissue boxes to belts or straps. Fill each with 8 jingle bells. Have two family members wear these belts with the Kleenex boxes on their backside.
Your family members will go head-to-head to see who can be the first to shake all 8 jingle bells out of their box. This comical game is one of our favorite Christmas party games to play!
Supplies Needed:
A Partridge In A Pear Tree
Turn the iconic Christmas song, “The 12 Days of Christmas.” into several fun Christmas party games for adults and kids. Start with “A Partridge In A Pear Tree.”
To play, split your family into teams of two. Blindfold one player and give them a handful of badminton birdies. Give the other player a picture of a pear to tape to their shirt and a bucket to hold on the top of their head.
The person with the bucket must stand still in one spot. The blindfolded player has one minute to get as many birdies into the bucket as possible.
Supplies Needed:
Want to play more “12 Days of Christmas” games? Visit PlayPartyPlan for the whole list!
The Fastest Gift Wrapper
Set up a table with a cardboard box and gift wrap. One by one, have your guests attempt to wrap the same box as fast as they can using wrapping paper and ribbon. To qualify, the gift must be securely wrapped and include the ribbon. The person with the fastest time wins!
Supplies needed:
Face the Cookie (aka Oreo Slide)
Can you move a cookie from your forehead to your mouth using ONLY your facial muscles? Find out when you play Face the Cookie (sometimes known as the Oreo Slide).
To play, place a cookie on someone’s forehead. It’s best to use a flat cookie like an Oreo, Chips Ahoy, or gingerbread cookie. Time how long it takes for them to move the cookie to their mouth using only their facial muscles. If the cookie falls, they must start over!
This affordable game is sure to get some giggles!
Supplies needed:
Head, Shoulders, Gift
Spread the Christmas Joy with this fun take on Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes. To get started, have your family members grab an opponent and then stand across from each other. Place an affordable wrapped gift on the floor between each set of opponents.
To play, one family member will be the announcer. The announcer calls out instructions like “head,” “shoulders,” or “knees.” The opponents must touch the body part that the announcer calls out. Every once in a while, the announcer will shout “gift!” At that time, opponents will race to be the first to collect the wrapped present on the floor. The winner keeps the goods!
Play as many times as you like!
Supplies needed:
Bottoms Up!
If you’re ready for some goofy fun this Christmas, consider playing this laugh-worthy Christmas game. To play, you attach an ornament to a string and then tie the string to the back of someone’s belt. Then, line up about 10 empty soda cans on a table.
The contestant has 60 seconds to knock over as many cans as possible using only the ornament. No hands are allowed which means they need to be prepared to shake their hips if they want to get the win!
Supplies needed:
Grinch Grab Christmas Punch-A-Hole Game
This easy-to-play game is a crowd-pleaser! In Grinch Grab, each person at your party has a chance to win a prize.
To set up the game, get as many plastic cups as the number of people at your holiday party. Place the cups on a table or glue them to a board as shown above. Fill each plastic cup with small goodies like candy, chapstick, money, lotto tickets, and other small items. If you’re playing with adults, you can even add mini liquor bottles or white elephant gifts.
Once filled, cover each cup with green tissue paper or wrapping paper and secure with a rubber band. One by one, the members of your party get a chance to punch a hole in one of the cups and keep what is inside!
Supplies needed:
Snow Shovel
How fast can you move a pile of cotton balls from one bowl to another without using your hands? Find out when you play Snow Shovel, one of the most popular minute-to-win-it Christmas party games.
The set up for this game is affordable and easy. Each contestant needs two bowls and a plastic spoon. Fill one of the bowls with 15-20 cotton balls. Have the contestants place the plastic spoon in their mouths. Start the timer, and each contestant has 60 seconds to use the spoon to move as many cotton balls as they can — no hands allowed!
Blindfold the contestants if you want to make the game extra challenging!
Supplies needed:
Candy Cane Hook ‘Em
If you thought moving snowballs was hard, wait until you try hooking candy canes! This exciting Christmas game for kids and adults doesn’t require many supplies. You just need candy canes and bowls.
Spread a pile of candy canes out on a table. Give each contestant a bowl and have them place one candy cane in their mouth.
Once the time starts, each contestant has 60 seconds to move as many candy canes as they can from the table to their bowl. The catch? They can’t use their hands. Instead, they must hook the candy canes using only the candy cane in their mouth.
Supplies needed:
North Pole Pop
Let the chaos begin! The object of this game is to see how many balloons you can pop in one minute while wearing thick mittens or oven mitts. Trust us, it’s actually much harder than it looks!
Supplies needed:
Stack Off
The race is on! Go head-to-head with other members of your family in this fast-paced game. Give each player a stack of 20 cups. Make 19 of the cups the same color (e.g., red) and have the cup at the very top be a different color (e.g., green).
When the timer starts, the contestants must move the different colored cup to the bottom. They will continue to move cups from the top to the bottom until the different colored top is back at the top.
The one who can move their cups the fastest is the winner!
Supplies needed:
Don’t Spill The Water
This quick, easy, and cheap game is making the rounds on social media and you can join in the fun too!
To play the game, set an empty glass on the table and fill a pitcher with water. Each member of your party will take turns adding a little bit of the water from the pitcher into the glass. Keep taking turns until the water overflows.
The object of the game is to NOT be the person who makes water spill.
Supplies needed:
Do You Hear What I Hear?
Can you guess how many jingle bells are in each box? That’s the objective of “Do You Hear What I Hear?”
This Christmas game for kids and adults is super simple to play. To set it up, get out 7 Christmas boxes. In each box, place a different number of jingle bells (anywhere from 3 to 35). Wrap up the boxes and label them 1 – 7.
To play, each guest has a chance to shake the boxes. On a slip of paper, have your guests write the order of the boxes from the smallest number of jingle bells to the largest number of jingle bells.
The one who has the most accurate guess wins!
Supplies needed:
How Many Ornaments On My Tree?
This game couldn’t get easier! Simply ask your guests to guess the number of ornaments on your Christmas tree. Have them write their guess on a piece of paper. The closest guess is the winner!
You can also play a variation of this game by having guests guess how many Christmas candies, candy canes, or marshmallows are in a jar.
Supplies needed:
Marshmallow Toss
For this game, place 6 mugs in a triangular shape at the end of a long table. Each row of mugs is worth a different amount of points. The first row is worth 1 point, the second row is worth 2 points, and the last row is worth 3 points.
On the opposite end of the table, place a bowl of large marshmallows. Each family member has 60 seconds to try to land their marshmallows into one of the mugs.
If you’re making this a Christmas party game for adults instead of kids, add brown shredded paper filler to the mugs to increase the difficulty.
The person with the highest amount of points is the winner!
Supplies needed:
Nutcracker Toss
When it comes to Christmas family games, a good ‘ol fashioned toss game is always popular.
To play this version, have each family member grab a partner. The pair should stand across from each other at a close distance.
Then, give everyone a plastic or paper cup to use and give one member of each team a nut to place in their cup. To keep things fair, the nuts should all be of the same variety and about the same size.
To start the first round, each pair of partners will try to toss the nut from one team member’s cup to the other’s. If the nut falls on the ground, that team is disqualified. Teams that successfully catch the nut will have each member take a step backward and start the next round. The rounds get progressively more difficult as the space between partners grows.
Keep playing until there is only one team left standing!
Supplies needed:
Blindfolded Christmas Tree Decorating
Your guests are given one minute to decorate a paper Christmas tree.
Blindfold everyone. Give them one large sheet of green construction paper and a sheet of round colored stickers. They have one minute to create a tree by tearing the construction paper with their hands and applying the stickers.
The person with the best-looking tree wins!
Supplies needed:
Christmas Sensory Challenge
Which one of your family members has the best sense of smell? Find out when you play this holiday game!
Fill a few empty tissue boxes or gift bags with different holiday items that have distinct scents. A few ideas include peppermint, cinnamon sticks, gingerbread cookies, sugar cookies, oranges, and pine needles. Put one different item into each bag.
Have each member of your family close their eyes. Their task is to smell each box or bag and determine what’s inside. Have them write their guesses on a piece of paper. The one with the most correct answers is the winner!
Supplies needed:
Classic Christmas Party Games
Some Christmas family games take longer than a minute. If you’re looking for a game to take up some time, try one of these popular party games! From charades to scavenger hunts, these games will put you in the holiday spirit!
Try these other Popular Christmas Party Games:
Christmas Decoration Scavenger Hunt
A Christmas scavenger hunt is a great way to entertain your family during the holidays. To play this variation, provide your family with a list of different holiday decorations that you’ve spotted throughout your neighborhood. These might be a snowman, icicle lights, reindeer, Santa Claus, gingerbread houses, candy canes, sleighs, or colored lights.
Split your family into teams. Each team must scour the neighborhood to find these different decorations. Have each team take a picture on a cell phone to prove they found the item.
The team that finds all the items the fastest is the winner!
Supplies needed:
- Cellphones
- A list of neighborhood decorations
Guess Who?
This Christmas character game is a hoot! It’s also cheap to play!
Write the name of a popular Christmas character, figure, or symbol on an index card. Some examples include:
- Santa Claus
- Mrs. Claus
- Frosty
- An angel
- Buddy the Elf
- A gingerbread man
- Rudolph
- Comet
- Vixen
- Prancer
- Scrooge
- Kevin McAllister from Home Alone
- Cousin Eddie from National Lampoon’s Vacation
- Ralphie from A Christmas Story
- The Grinch
Have your family sit at a table and tape an index card to each person’s head. They are not allowed to see what it says!
Everyone will take turns asking each other “yes” or “no” questions. The first person to figure out who they are wins!
Supplies needed:
All Through The House
Before your holiday party begins, hide several tiny Santa figurines around the house. When guests arrive, alert them that there are hidden Santas waiting to be found. Whoever finds the most figurines by the end of the party wins.
Another variation is to hide just one Santa and whoever finds him first wins a prize.
Supplies needed:
The Christmas Saran Wrap Game
We’ve yet to meet someone who doesn’t love this hilarious and rewarding Christmas game. It may be trendy but it never gets old!
To prepare, pool together several small gift items like lotto tickets, gift cards, card games, fidget toys, small candies, earbuds, etc. These items will all be wrapped one by one to create a giant Saran wrap ball.
When it’s time to play the game, have your family gather in a circle. The person who starts will put on a pair of oven mitts. The person to the right of them will be given a pair of dice.
At the start of the game, the person with oven mitts will attempt to unroll the Saran wrap ball as fast as they can to reveal a prize wrapped inside. Simultaneously, the person next to them will roll the dice as fast as they can and try to get doubles.
The object of the game is to unravel the Saran wrap ball (wearing oven mitts) to reveal a prize before the person next to you rolls doubles. If the person rolls doubles, you must pass them the Saran wrap ball and oven mitts. Meanwhile, they give the dice to the person on their right.
This continues around the circle until there are no more prizes left.
This fast-paced game quickly gets competitive so be ready when your turn comes along!
Supplies needed:
Holiday Cookie Contest
This “game” can be done in one of three ways.
The first option is to have everyone bring a different Christmas cookie to your holiday gathering. Display the cookies on a table without saying who made which cookie. Have guests rate their favorite to determine the winner.
The second way to play is to have a cookie decorating contest. Bake some sugar cookies and set up a table with different frosting and toppings. Have guests vote to determine the winner.
The third way to play is to have a gingerbread house decorating contest. Buy a few gingerbread kits and get to decorating. Have guests vote on the best!
Candy Cane “Spoons”
Play the popular game of “Spoons” but use candy canes instead of utensils.
Place candy canes in a circle. Provide one less candy cane than there are players. Deal four cards to each player and place the rest of the deck near the starting player.
The player who starts will look at the card and decide to keep it or pass it to the next person. If they keep the card, they must discard one to pass to the next player. They continue to look and pass cards until someone wins the round.
The object of each round is to make a four-of-a-kind before anyone else does. Once you have it, you must discreetly snag a candy cane from the center of the table. The person who is left without a candy cane is out of the game.
Remove one candy cane from the table and start the next round. The game ends when there is only one player left.
Visit Bicycle Cards for more in-depth instructions.
Supplies needed:
Hip Tip: Turn other classic games into family Christmas Games too! Consider playing Musical Chairs or Name That Tune using holiday music! Both are free to play!
The Salad Bowl Game
This FREE party game is a twist on the classic games Charades and Taboo. It’s one of our very favorite Christmas games for adults and kids because it is easy to customize and you most likely own everything you need to play.
To get started, break your party into two teams. Hand everyone 4-6 slips of paper and have them write down a person, place, or thing on each slip. It’s fun to make the words Christmas-themed and you can use movie titles, fictional characters, and celebrities, too!
Once finished, have everyone fold up their slips of paper and deposit them into the salad bowl.
The object of the game is to get your teammates to guess the word on the slip of paper you pull from the bowl. Each team will get 1 point per correct answer.
The game is played in 3 rounds – Verbal Clues, Charades, and One-Word Only.
For full instructions, see our post which breaks the game down by round.
This is one holiday game that is a must-try!
Christmas Kisses Trivia
How well do you know the facts surrounding Christmas? Find out in this fun and tasty game by PlayPartyPlan.
Your guests will answer true or false questions about Christmas. For each answer they get right, they receive a Hershey’s Kiss to place on their tree cutout.
The first one to decorate the entire tree wins!
Visit PlayPartyPlan to download the printable game boards.
The Christmas Carol Opposites Game
Give your brain a workout as you try to decipher the name of the Christmas Carol. This game is one of the more unique Christmas games for adults and we’re so glad we stumbled upon it online.
The game is comprised of a series of riddles. Each line on the paper gives you a handful of words that are a code for a well-known Christmas carol. The words you see are the opposite of the word they are meant to represent. For example, “A Cacophonous Morning” is code for “Silent Night.”
This game is a bit tricky so it’s best saved for the adults in your crew. We suggest setting a time limit and whoever can solve the most of these riddles is the winner!
Thanks to Kara, the creator, you can print this game for FREE! 🙌
Marshmallow Towers
Give your guests a pile of mini marshmallows and toothpicks. Set a timer for 3-5 minutes. The contestant that builds the largest tower out of just toothpicks and marshmallows is the winner.
You won’t believe the creations that can be made!
Supplies needed:
Who’s Santa?
Fans of murder mystery games will enjoy this Christmas mystery game! The best part is you don’t need any supplies!
To start, choose one person to be “Rudolph.” Have that person leave the room. Once they are out of the room, choose another player to be “Santa.”
When “Rudolph” re-enters the room, the player who was designated as “Santa” will discreetly wink at another player. The player who is winked at must say aloud, “Ho! Ho! Ho!”
The person playing Rudolph must do their best to determine who is doing the winking. Santa will continue to wink at different players until the round is over. The round ends when “Rudolph” figures out the correct “Santa.”
Still have holiday shopping to do? See our gift section for ideas!
