• 32 games
  • Checked October 2026

Bible Christmas Party Games

Nativity games built on Luke 2 and Matthew 2, each with its verse and every quiz with its answers.

Bible Christmas Party Games

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  1. Two Rows in Order: Luke 2 and Matthew 21. Write twelve events on cards, six from each chapter, with no verse numbers. Luke 2 gives the decree, the journey to Bethlehem, the baby laid in a feeding trough, the angel, the multitude praising God and the shepherds finding the baby. Matthew 2 gives the wise men in Jerusalem, Herod asking the priests, Herod sending the wise men, the star standing still, the three gifts and the dream.2. Shuffle a set for each team.3. Teams sort the cards into two rows, one for each chapter, and put each row in order.4. Check with the Bible open. The orders in the first step are the answers, at Luke 2:1, 4, 7, 9, 13 and 16 and at Matthew 2:1, 4, 8, 9, 11 and 12.Youngest player: age 8. Players: 4 to 40. You need: twelve event cards for each team and a Bible.
  2. String the Journeys1. Write five place cards and lay them on each table: Nazareth, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, the east and the field.2. Give each table three lengths of string, one for each set of travelers.3. Tables lay a string along each journey. Joseph and Mary go from Nazareth to Bethlehem (Luke 2:4). The shepherds go from the field to Bethlehem (Luke 2:15).4. The wise men go from the east to Jerusalem, then to Bethlehem, then home another way (Matthew 2:1, 8 and 12).Youngest player: age 8. Players: 2 to 40. You need: five place cards and three strings for each table.
  3. Around the Circle, the Referee Has the Book1. One player is the referee, with a Bible open at Luke 2:8-20.2. Going around the circle, each player says the next thing that happens, in one sentence and in their own words.3. The referee answers "yes", "not yet" or "that comes earlier".4. After a "not yet", the same player tries once more. The circle wins if it reaches the shepherds going home, in verse 20.Youngest player: age 7. Players: 4 to 15. You need: a Bible.

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Story games 8

  • Around the Circle, the Referee Has the Book 1. One player is the referee, with a Bible open at Luke 2:8-20. 2. Going around the circle, each player says the next thing that happens, in one sentence and in their own words. 3. The referee answers "yes", "not yet" or "that comes earlier". 4. After a "not yet", the same player tries once more. The circle wins if it reaches the shepherds going home, in verse 20. Youngest player: age 7. Players: 4 to 15. You need: a Bible.
  • In These Verses or Not? 1. Everyone sits with Luke 2:1-20 and Matthew 2:1-12 closed. 2. Name something from a nativity scene or a carol. Players stand if they think it is in those verses and stay seated if not. 3. In the verses are a feeding trough (Luke 2:7), shepherds at night (Luke 2:8), a star (Matthew 2:2) and gold (Matthew 2:11). 4. Not in these verses are a donkey, an innkeeper, a stable and a number for the wise men, who bring three gifts. Open the Bibles and let the players look for themselves. Youngest player: age 7. Players: 4 to 100. You need: a Bible for each table.
  • Luke or Matthew? Hold Up Your Card 1. Give every player two cards, an L and an M. 2. Name something from the Christmas story. Players hold up L if Luke 2:1-20 tells it, M if Matthew 2:1-12 tells it, and both cards if both do. 3. The shepherds, the feeding trough, the decree and the angel in the field are in Luke. 4. The wise men, the star, Herod and the three gifts are in Matthew. Bethlehem and Mary are in both. Youngest player: age 8. Players: 2 to 60. You need: two cards for each player.
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Story games, continued

  • Stand Up on Your Word 1. Give each table one word to listen for: shepherds, angel, baby, Lord or God. 2. Read Luke 2:8-20 aloud, slowly. 3. Each time a table hears its word, the whole table stands up and sits down again. 4. Read the verses a second time, a little faster. Angel and angels both count for the angel table. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 5 to 100. You need: a Bible.
  • The Story With Mistakes 1. Tell the story of Luke 2:1-20 in your own words, with a mistake slipped in now and then. 2. A player who hears one calls "check the book" and says what it should be. 3. Mistakes to use are these: the decree came from Herod (it was Caesar Augustus, verse 1), they went up to Nazareth (to Bethlehem, verse 4), the shepherds were watching at noon (by night, verse 8) and the shepherds walked slowly (they came with haste, verse 16). 4. A player who corrects a mistake finds the verse and reads it aloud. Youngest player: age 7. Players: 3 to 40. You need: a Bible.
  • Storyboard in Six Frames 1. Give each team Luke 2:1-20 to read and a sheet of paper folded into six boxes. 2. The team chooses six moments and draws one in each box, in order, with the verse number underneath. 3. Stick figures are fine, and nobody judges the drawing. 4. Teams swap sheets. With the Bible open, each team checks that every picture matches its verse and that the six are in order. Youngest player: age 7. Players: 4 to 40. You need: paper, pencils and a Bible for each team.
  • Two Rows in Order: Luke 2 and Matthew 2 1. Write twelve events on cards, six from each chapter, with no verse numbers. Luke 2 gives the decree, the journey to Bethlehem, the baby laid in a feeding trough, the angel, the multitude praising God and the shepherds finding the baby. Matthew 2 gives the wise men in Jerusalem, Herod asking the priests, Herod sending the wise men, the star standing still, the three gifts and the dream. 2. Shuffle a set for each team. 3. Teams sort the cards into two rows, one for each chapter, and put each row in order. 4. Check with the Bible open. The orders in the first step are the answers, at Luke 2:1, 4, 7, 9, 13 and 16 and at Matthew 2:1, 4, 8, 9, 11 and 12. Youngest player: age 8. Players: 4 to 40. You need: twelve event cards for each team and a Bible.
  • Who Said It? Angel, Shepherds, Wise Men or Herod 1. Hang four signs around the room, one each for the angel, the shepherds, the wise men and Herod. 2. Read a line aloud, and everyone walks to the sign of whoever said it. 3. The lines are “Don’t be afraid” (the angel, Luke 2:10), “Let’s go to Bethlehem, now” (the shepherds, Luke 2:15), “Where is he who is born King of the Jews?” (the wise men, Matthew 2:2) and “Go and search diligently for the young child” (Herod, Matthew 2:8). 4. Read each verse from the Bible before the next line, so that everyone hears the answer in its place. Youngest player: age 7. Players: 4 to 60. You need: four signs and a Bible.

Moving games for a hall 8

  • Dress a Shepherd Relay 1. Each team chooses one shepherd, who stands at the far end of the hall. 2. At the start line, each team has a pile: a robe, a towel for the head, a cord to hold it on and a broom handle for a staff. 3. Walkers take one thing at a time to the shepherd and help to put it on. Nothing covers the face. 4. The first team whose shepherd is dressed and holding the staff calls “Let’s go to Bethlehem, now”, from Luke 2:15. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 6 to 40. You need: a robe, a towel, a cord and a broom handle for each team.
  • Everyone to His Own City 1. Read Luke 2:3: “All went to enroll themselves, everyone to his own city.” 2. Call out a way to sort the room, such as the month you were born, and point to where each month gathers. 3. Players walk to their own city and count themselves. 4. Each city reports its number to the leader, who writes it on the board. Sort again by the first letter of your first name, then by the color of your socks. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 8 to 100. You need: a Bible and a board.
  • Home by Another Way 1. Read Matthew 2:12, where the wise men “went back to their own country another way”. 2. Everyone lines up along one wall. One at a time, players cross the room. 3. Each must cross in a way nobody has used yet: sideways, on tiptoe, in giant steps, backward with a partner watching. 4. When everyone is across, the group votes for the best way, and all go home by it. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 4 to 30. You need: a Bible.
  • No Room in the Inn, Nobody Out 1. Musical chairs, with a place for everyone at the end. Set the chairs in a ring as the inn, and lay a blanket in one corner. 2. Walk around while music plays. When it stops, everyone finds a chair. 3. Whoever has no chair goes to the blanket and helps to stop the music. Take one chair away each round. 4. End when the inn is down to one chair and nearly everyone is on the blanket. Read Luke 2:7 there, which ends “there was no room for them in the inn”. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 6 to 30. You need: chairs, a blanket, music and a Bible.
  • Shepherds or Wise Men? Walk to Your Side 1. Name one wall for the shepherds and the opposite wall for the wise men. 2. Call out something one of them did, and everyone walks quickly to that wall. 3. The shepherds were in the field at night (Luke 2:8), heard the angel (2:10), came with haste (2:16) and went back praising God (2:20). 4. The wise men came from the east (Matthew 2:1), saw the star (2:2), brought gifts (2:11) and went home another way (2:12). Youngest player: age 6. Players: 4 to 100. You need: nothing.
  • Spread the News Tag 1. A walking tag. Two players start as shepherds with good news. Everyone else walks about the hall. 2. A shepherd who touches a walker on the arm says "good news", and that walker becomes a shepherd too. 3. Keep going until the whole room has heard. No running, and tags are on the arm only. 4. Read Luke 2:17 at the end, where the shepherds tell widely what they had been told about the child. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 8 to 60. You need: a Bible.
  • The Star Stops, Everyone Stops 1. Dim the lights. A leader shines a flashlight on the ceiling and moves the spot slowly across it. 2. The travelers walk under the star in single file, keeping their eyes on it. 3. When the star stops, everyone stops and stands still until it moves again. 4. Finish with the star still over one chair, and read Matthew 2:9, where the star “came and stood over where the young child was”. Youngest player: age 4. Players: 3 to 30. You need: a flashlight and a Bible.
  • Three Gifts on One Tray 1. A walking relay. Each team has a tray with three things on it for gold, frankincense and myrrh: a small box, a jar and a bottle, all unbreakable. 2. The first walker carries the tray on one flat hand to a chair at the far end, the house of Matthew 2:11. 3. Set the three gifts down on the chair, pick them up again and walk back. 4. A gift that falls is put back on the tray where it fell. The first team with every walker home wins. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 6 to 40. You need: a tray, a small box, a plastic jar and a plastic bottle for each team.

Table quizzes with the answers 8

  • Count It in the Text 1. Each table has the two passages open in the World English Bible. 2. Ask how many times a word appears. Tables write a guess, then count. 3. In Luke 2:1-20, feeding trough appears three times (verses 7, 12 and 16) and shepherds four times (verses 8, 15, 18 and 20). 4. In Matthew 2:1-12, star appears four times (verses 2, 7, 9 and 10) and Herod four times (verses 1, 3, 7 and 12). Score a point for a right guess and a point for a right count. Youngest player: age 8. Players: 4 to 60. You need: the two passages printed or a Bible for each table, paper and pens.
  • Every Name in Three Minutes 1. Give each table Luke 2:1-20, Matthew 2:1-12 and a sheet of paper. 2. Tables have three minutes to list every person and every place named in the two passages. 3. Score a point a name. The people are Caesar Augustus, Quirinius, Joseph, Mary, David, Jesus and Herod. 4. The places are Syria, Galilee, Nazareth, Judea, Bethlehem, Jerusalem and Judah. Israel, in Matthew 2:6, is named as a people and earns a point too. Youngest player: age 8. Players: 4 to 60. You need: a Bible, paper and a pen for each table.
  • Fill the Gap, Ring the Bell 1. Put a bell on each table. 2. Read a verse with one word left out. The first table to ring gives the word. 3. Use these, from Luke 2: laid him in a feeding ... (trough, verse 7), good news of great ... (joy, verse 10), on earth ... (peace, verse 14). 4. And these, from Matthew 2: we saw his ... in the east (star, verse 2), gold, ... and myrrh (frankincense, verse 11), their own country another ... (way, verse 12). Youngest player: age 8. Players: 4 to 60. You need: a bell for each table and a Bible.
  • Find the Verse Number 1. Every table opens Luke 2. 2. Read a phrase. The first table to call its verse number scores. 3. The phrases are “keeping watch by night” (verse 8), “good will toward men” (verse 14), “pondering them in her heart” (verse 19) and “a decree went out” (verse 1). 4. For younger tables, say which half of the passage to look in. Youngest player: age 8. Players: 4 to 60. You need: a Bible for each table.
  • One Does Not Belong 1. Read four words. Three are in Luke 2:1-20 or Matthew 2:1-12, and one is not. 2. Tables write down the one that does not belong. 3. Try gold, frankincense, silver and myrrh (silver), then Herod, Quirinius, Pilate and Caesar Augustus (Pilate). 4. Then Nazareth, Bethlehem, Jerusalem and Jericho (Jericho), and shepherds, wise men, fishermen and scribes (fishermen). Youngest player: age 8. Players: 2 to 60. You need: paper and a pen for each table.
  • Scrambled Names on Paper Stars 1. Write six scrambled words from the story on paper stars and tape them to the wall: HELMETHEB, DOHER, HAZARENT, PSEDHHERS, RRYMH and GANLE. 2. Tables have four minutes to unscramble them. 3. The answers are Bethlehem, Herod, Nazareth, shepherds, myrrh and angel. 4. For a bonus point, a table says where each word is found. Nazareth, shepherds and angel are in Luke 2:1-20, Herod and myrrh in Matthew 2:1-12, and Bethlehem in both. Youngest player: age 8. Players: 4 to 60. You need: six paper stars, tape, paper and pens.
  • String the Journeys 1. Write five place cards and lay them on each table: Nazareth, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, the east and the field. 2. Give each table three lengths of string, one for each set of travelers. 3. Tables lay a string along each journey. Joseph and Mary go from Nazareth to Bethlehem (Luke 2:4). The shepherds go from the field to Bethlehem (Luke 2:15). 4. The wise men go from the east to Jerusalem, then to Bethlehem, then home another way (Matthew 2:1, 8 and 12). Youngest player: age 8. Players: 2 to 40. You need: five place cards and three strings for each table.
  • Which Came First in the Chapter? 1. Give each table two cards, marked 1 and 2. 2. Name two events from the same chapter. Tables hold up 1 if the first one named came first, and 2 if the second did. 3. In Luke 2, the angel speaks (verse 10) before the multitude appears (verse 13), and the shepherds find the baby (verse 16) before they tell others (verse 17). 4. In Matthew 2, Herod asks the priests (verse 4) before he sends the wise men (verse 8), and the gifts (verse 11) come before the dream (verse 12). Youngest player: age 8. Players: 4 to 60. You need: two cards for each table.

Quiet games for the youngest 8

  • Build the Scene as the Verse Is Read 1. Put figures or paper cutouts in a basket: Mary, Joseph, a baby, a feeding trough and shepherds. 2. Read Luke 2:16 one phrase at a time. 3. When a child hears a name, they find that figure and set it on the table. The shepherds, who are the ones arriving in this verse, go on first. 4. Then read Matthew 2:11, and let the children add the wise men and the three gifts in a place of their own, the house. Youngest player: age 3. Players: 1 to 10. You need: nativity figures or paper cutouts and a Bible.
  • Keeping Watch: Which Sheep Moved? 1. The children are sheep, lying on the floor in a field of cushions. One child is the shepherd and looks carefully at where each sheep lies. 2. The shepherd covers their eyes. A leader taps one sheep, who crawls quietly to a new place. 3. The shepherd looks again and says which sheep moved. 4. Give every child who wants one a turn at keeping watch, as the shepherds do in Luke 2:8. Youngest player: age 4. Players: 4 to 15. You need: cushions.
  • Loud Sky, Quiet Earth 1. Teach Luke 2:14 in two halves. 2. For “Glory to God in the highest”, everyone stretches both arms up and says it in a big voice. 3. For “on earth peace”, everyone crouches, pats the floor and whispers. 4. Say the two halves three times, a little slower each time, and end crouched and quiet. Youngest player: age 3. Players: 2 to 40. You need: nothing.
  • Tiptoe to the Sleeping Baby 1. Read Luke 2:16, where the shepherds find the baby lying in the feeding trough. Lay a doll in a box in the middle of the room. One child sits beside it as the listener, with eyes closed. 2. One at a time, the other children tiptoe up and lay a paper star beside the box. 3. If the listener hears a footstep, they raise a hand, and that child freezes for a count of three before going on. 4. Nobody is sent back. When every star is down, the listener opens their eyes and counts them. Youngest player: age 3. Players: 3 to 15. You need: a doll, a box, a paper star for each child and a Bible.
  • What Left the Tray? 1. The memory tray game, with things from the story. Lay a paper star, a toy sheep, a strip of cloth, a small box, a jar and a bottle on a tray. 2. Name each one together. The cloth and the sheep belong to Luke 2, and the star and the three gifts to Matthew 2. 3. Cover the tray and take one thing away. 4. Lift the cover. The children say what has gone. Keep everything on the tray bigger than a child's fist. Youngest player: age 4. Players: 2 to 12. You need: a tray, a cover and six things from the story.
  • When You See the Star, Sit Down 1. While the children wait outside with a helper, tape a paper star somewhere in plain sight: on a chair leg, on the piano, at the edge of a window. 2. The children come in and look, with their hands behind their backs. 3. A child who sees the star says nothing, walks to the rug and sits down. 4. When everyone is sitting, all point together. Matthew 2:10 says what the wise men felt when they saw the star: “exceedingly great joy”. Youngest player: age 3. Players: 2 to 20. You need: a paper star and tape.
  • Whisper the Good News 1. Sit in a circle. The leader whispers five words from Luke 2:10 to the first child: “good news of great joy”. 2. Each child whispers them to the next. 3. The last child says aloud what arrived. 4. Read the verse from the Bible, then send the words around the other way. Youngest player: age 4. Players: 4 to 15. You need: a Bible.
  • Wrap the Baby in Bands of Cloth 1. Read Luke 2:7 slowly, where Mary “wrapped him in bands of cloth and laid him in a feeding trough”. 2. Give each child a doll or a soft toy and a strip of old sheet. 3. Children wrap their baby, with help, and lay it gently in a box lined with a towel. 4. Everyone whispers good night to the babies. Leave them there until the end of the party. Youngest player: age 3. Players: 1 to 12. You need: a doll or soft toy and a strip of cloth for each child, and a box with a towel.

How this list was compiled: Written for a church party, a Sunday school class or a family, for ages 3 and up. The games and their wording are ours, and the ages and player counts are our estimates. Every story detail and quotation was checked on 2026-10-09 against Luke 2:1-20 and Matthew 2:1-12 in the World English Bible, a public domain translation, at https://ebible.org/eng-web/LUK02.htm and https://ebible.org/eng-web/MAT02.htm. Where a familiar detail is not in those verses, the game says so. Relays are walked, nothing covers a face and nobody is asked about their own beliefs. This page is unofficial and belongs to no church. Licence: own work

How it works

These Bible Christmas party games stay inside two passages, Luke 2:1-20 and Matthew 2:1-12 in the World English Bible. Use them as games for church Christmas party nights, a Sunday school class or a family at home.

Read the full guide

Church group Christmas party games, from one table to a full hall

1. Open with a moving game: Shepherds or Wise Men? Walk to Your Side works with any number. 2. Sit down for one story game and one table quiz. 3. Give the under-sixes their own corner and Quiet games for the youngest. 4. End together with No Room in the Inn, Nobody Out, which finishes on its verse.

What the two passages say, and what they do not

Three gifts are named, but no number of wise men. There is an inn with no room, but no innkeeper, donkey or stable in these verses. In These Verses or Not? turns that into a game.

  • Keep one Bible open at each table, so that players check the answers themselves.

Questions and answers

What are Christian Christmas games for elementary classroom parties?

The table quizzes keep children at their desks with a Bible, paper and cards: Fill the Gap, Ring the Bell, Which Came First in the Chapter? and One Does Not Belong. Luke or Matthew? Hold Up Your Card works from desks too.

What are good nativity games for a church Christmas party?

Who Said It? Angel, Shepherds, Wise Men or Herod, Dress a Shepherd Relay and Two Rows in Order: Luke 2 and Matthew 2 work for mixed ages in a hall. Each names its verse, so a leader can read it aloud.

Which Bible Christmas games suit preschoolers?

The eight quiet games are for ages three and four, among them Wrap the Baby in Bands of Cloth, When You See the Star, Sit Down and Loud Sky, Quiet Earth. None needs reading, and nobody is out.

What Bible verses do nativity games use?

Luke 2:1-20 tells of the decree, the journey to Bethlehem, the birth and the shepherds. Matthew 2:1-12 tells of the wise men, Herod, the star and the gifts. Every game here uses one or both.

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