The top 15 Christmas party games for kids: Your ultimate guide
Christmas is a pretty darn special time of the year and if you have children in your life, it can take on a whole new meaning as you see it all through their eyes. From the Christmas tree (with piles of wrapped presents underneath) to the candy canes to the Christmas songs and more, you can see why it’s known as the most wonderful time of the year!
Our favourite Christmas party games for kids
Of course, the holiday season also means a holiday party or ten, school holidays and trying to keep the kiddos from telling you that they are bored before lapsing into a coma of screen time and indecipherable grunts. Yep, it can be enough to bring out the Grinch in even the most jolly of us!
That’s where having a solid repertoire of Christmas party games for kids up your sleeve comes in. Party games are guaranteed to keep everyone in the holiday spirit from younger children to older children and even the adults! So. let’s take a look at our favourite Christmas party games that the whole family can have fun playing.
So, without further adieu, here are the Christmas games that will have your kids (and the whole family) having the time of their lives – and working up a serious appetite for Christmas dinner.
Christmas Gift Stacking Relay Game
Got a ton of cardboard boxes lying around? There is a brilliantly simple game you can play with them at your next family gathering (or even before if you need a fun game to distract your kids while you enjoy a cuppa!).
To start, grab whatever empty boxes you have lying around – a tissue box, boxes from your latest Woolies shop, shoeboxes – whatever you can find. Next, wrap them up to look like presents (for extra fun you can hide little prizes in some of them) and then get ready to play a Christmas party game that everyone will love! If you don’t want to waste wrapping paper you can use construction paper instead and have the kids decorate the boxes themselves.
Divide the group into two teams, have them stand at opposite ends of the room (along with a stack of the wrapped presents) and then begin a relay. Start by having each team carry just one box but each time they make it to the other end of the room, they have to pick another one off of the pile and balance it as they make their way back.
To make it even more fun, you can play the game to music (Christmas tunes, naturally!) and speed it up as the game progresses to signal that the teams have to pick up the pace. You can also include obstacles that they have to run around while balancing the gifts.
If anyone drops the boxes they are carrying, they are out! The team member who lasts the longest and can carry the most pressies wins the game!
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Stack It!
For an easier version of the above Christmas party game, you can take the “presents” and challenge the kids to see who can make the tallest gift tower.
This is particularly good for younger kids who love to stack blocks or build towers – both of which are great for developing problem-solving and motor skills.
Snowman Slam
We love a Christmas party game that also involves a bit of craft-making and Snowman Slam is a great example of this. Truly, it’s almost like two games in one!
To start, grab six or more white paper cups (like the kind you might get your takeaway coffee in), some craft felt or construction paper, scissors and glue. Use these items to make little snowmen faces on the upside-down cups.
Next, grab an old sock or pair of stockings and fill it up with paper, cotton balls, foam or anything else you can find to make it soft but still with enough weight that it will fly. You can also just use ping pong balls if you prefer.
Then, stack the snowmen cups and toss the “snowballs” at them to see how many you can knock down in one go!
It’s super fun, super easy and is sure to be a hit at your next holiday party.
Candy Cane Hunt
Nothing says Christmas like candy canes – and nothing spells fun for kids like a candy cane hunt!
This one is so simple to set up but can keep kids entertained for hours.
To get into the spirit of this game, simply hide candy canes all over the house and garden and send the kids off to find as many of them as they can.
You could even get creative and make it into a candy cane scavenger hunt by providing clues as to where the players can find the next bit of sweet, sweet treasure. Or you could put a time limit on the race and whoever has the most candy canes at the end of the time is the winner!
Of all the fun Christmas party games you can play, this one gets bonus points for being the easiest to pull off.
Christmas Charades Game
Who doesn’t love a game of charades? This one, though, has a Christmas twist – of course!
To play this Christmas party game, split up into teams and take turns acting out different Christmas-themed people, places and things.
The team who guesses the most charades gets first dibs on the Christmas cookies! Or, whatever prize you have on hand.
Christmas Stocking Guessing Game
Another of our favourite Christmas games is guessing what’s in the Christmas stockings.
You can work in two teams or as individual players who have to try to guess the contents of the stockings as quickly as possible, based on cryptic clues provided by the gamesmaster.
One of the reasons this Christmas game is so fun is because the whole family can play and you can use whatever Christmas items you have on hand to fill the stockings up.
Snow Shovel Race
Okay, so obviously it does not snow in Australia at Christmas time – but that doesn’t mean we can’t still have the fun of a white Christmas… sort of.
This game can be played indoors or outdoors and does not require actual snow – you just need cotton balls instead!
To play, have a couple of bowls or cake tins (whatever you can find in that vein) at one end of a course and a pile of snowballs (cotton balls, ping pong balls or even mini marshmallows) at the other. Then, using a plastic spoon or spatula, the players race to see who can scoop as many of the snowballs up as possible (no hands allowed!) and then carry them across the room or garden to drop them in the bowl.
If a player drops one of their snowballs, they have to go back to the starting point and try again.
The first person to get all of their snowballs into their bowl wins!
Snowball Race
Using the same supplies as the Snow Shovel Race, you can also create a festive version of the classic egg and spoon race and have kids race each other while trying to balance a cotton ball or ping pong ball on a small plastic spoon – it’s harder than it sounds!
Jingle Bell Toss Game
If you’re still on the hunt for fun Christmas party games that everyone, no matter their age or skill level can enjoy then this take on Cornhole is just the trick!
All you need are some red plastic party cups (about 20), two pieces of wood, foam or cardboard and some glue.
Take the red cups and glue ten of them to each board, in a triangle shape like you’d see at a bowling alley.
Prop the boards up using books or bricks or anything else you can find that will support the boards and also keep them at an even height. You could also use two more of the red cups on the flip side of the board to make little legs (be sure to glue them on!).
Then, using jingle bells – or a ping pong ball if you prefer – have the kids (or whoever is playing) line up and take turns trying to get the jingle bells into the red cups.
You can either play it so that whoever gets the most jingle bells into the cups wins, you can play as teams or individual players or you could set a time limit (say, 60 seconds) and see how many bells you can land in that time – whatever you like!
This is definitely one of those games for kids that big kids will want to get in on too.
Pin the Red Nose on Rudolph
Sometimes, the best Christmas party games for kids are the ones that take a classic game and put a Christmas spin on it!
Think of this game as Pin the Tail on the Donkey – The Christmas Edition! Instead of kids taking a tail and placing it, while blindfolded, where they think it should go on the donkey, they can have plenty of fun trying to figure out where Rudolph’s nose should be.
You can award prizes to the player who manages to get the nose as close to Rudolph’s face as possible.
That Present Is Mine!
This game is like a mash-up of musical chairs and pass the parcel – which equals some serious, chaotic fun!
Wrap a variety of small toys (your local dollar store is great for finding these without breaking the bank) and wrap them in different layers of wrapping paper. You can make just one or make a couple of them, and then arrange a bunch of chairs in a circle and place the present or presents on a few of them.
Play Christmas music and have the kids dance or walk around the chairs in a circle. When the music stops, the children sit quickly on the seat closest to them. If they’re lucky enough to sit on the chair that has the gift on it, they can unwrap one of the layers of wrapping paper to see if they won a prize.
As the game progresses, you can also start to remove some of the chairs so that if the music pauses and someone doesn’t have a chair, they’re out!
Santa Says
Another festive twist on a classic kids game is Santa Says – instead of Simon Says.
Have someone dress up as Santa (an obliging uncle or grandparent is a great choice) and then call out different prompts for the kids to action.
Remember, if he doesn’t say “Santa says” and you still do the action – you’re out!
Musical Statues
You could also play a version of musical statues and have the kids dance around to some Christmas hits and when the music stops, they have to become a statue! Have Santa be the adjudicator and if he sees anyone moving, they are out.
Decorate Christmas Cookies
Sometimes, the best Christmas party games are ones where you get to eat the prizes and that is certainly the case here!
Why not turn decorating Christmas cookies into an event that kids will love to take part in (and it’s awesome for their imaginations too).
You could make this game into a challenge by playing a Christmas song and giving the kids the length of the track to decorate as many cookies as possible. When the music stops, the person who has managed to decorate the most biccies wins.
Or, you could set a specific Christmas theme as the decorating challenge (like who can create the best Santa), and set out a wide variety of (delicious) items to create their masterpieces with.
Of all the Christmas games on this list, this one might be the most delicious.
Decorate the Christmas Tree
Okay, so this one isn’t technically a game – but it sure is fun and a great way to help kids express their creativity!
From hanging Christmas lights to handmade decorations, blasting holiday music and writing Christmas cards, this one is guaranteed to give you allll the feels.
Christmas Games – Prize Ideas
Okay, so now you have a really solid list of Christmas games that your kids are sure to love, but what about some awesome prizes?
After all, Christmas parties can be the perfect place for some friendly and festive competition, right?
If you want to take your Christmas games up a notch and get the kids really into it, here are some simple and inexpensive ideas for prizes.
- Toys
- Books
- Stationery
- Lollies!
- Card games
- Sticker packs
- Bubble blowers
- Art supplies – like textas or crayons
The takeaway
So, there you have it – lots of fun Christmas games that everyone will love.
Remember to get creative and come up with your own ideas for games too. Who, knows? You may just start a new tradition that you’ll enjoy for years to come.
Happy holidays!
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Lise Bosch Follow +
Lise is a South African-born and Aussie-raised creative working as Kiindred's in-house writer and editor. With a journalism degree and experience in the beauty industry, she has a passion for family and lifestyle content. On her days off, she’s finding the latest and greatest brunch spots and trying to work through the longest TBR list known to humankind. It’s a work in...
