In a blink of Santa’s twinkling eye, Christmas day is over! Why not shake things up by playing a few family Christmas games to get Grandma singing, Uncle Joe sucking marshmallows, and everyone laughing! Here are my personal favorites to play on Christmas Eve, or after the gift-opening extravaganza on Christmas day.
Christmas Boggled
How many words can you build?
- Divide the group into equal (or fairly equal) teams.
- Provide a pencil and paper for each team.
- At the top of the sheet of paper write the Word C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S
- Set a kitchen timer for 1-3 minutes.
- In the allotted time, which team can build the most words using only the letters in the word Christmas?
- Play multiple rounds using different holiday words such as : Reindeer, Santa, Kris Kringle, North Pole, Bethlehem…
Who’s In Santa’s Hat?
You’ll never guess…
Divide into teams, or play as individuals, depending on the age of the players. Players are given pencils and scraps of paper with which to write the names of ten or more celebrities, book characters, or other famous people. Put the names in a Santa Hat and mix them up.
Players or teams take turns pulling names out of the hat and quickly describe them to the group or to their team without using rhymes, initials or the name itself.
Each time a name is guessed correctly, another name is selected. Play continues until one minute is up. Then it is time for the next team or player. When the hat is empty whichever player or team has the most slips of paper is declared the winner.
Note: If you have pre-readers or younger players, you can play with common object names instead of famous people.
The Merry Minute
Accomplish these challenges in one minute!
- Eat a cookie with your hands behind your back
- Unwrap a present while wearing mittens
- Build a sugar cube tower
- Tie a bow with gloves or mittens
- Pass red and green chocolate candies from one jar to another…the trick is that you have to suck them to the end of a straw to pass- marshmallows work too!
- Say the eight reindeer names with a mouthful of marshmallows
- Come up with some silly challenges of your own.
Other holiday favorites to play:
- 20 Questions
- Charades
- Pass the Parcel
- Santa’s going on a trip and he’s packing….
Share your favorite games in our comments, we’d love to read them!
