30 games
Checked October 2026

Games to Play on Christmas Eve

Family games to play on Christmas Eve, in the order of the evening, each with its youngest age.

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The Breakfast Table Note1. Take one sheet of paper. The first writer starts a note for the children to find at breakfast, with one line that rhymes with nothing yet.2. Pass the sheet on. Each writer adds one line, and every second line has to rhyme with the line before it.3. Stop after eight lines.4. Read it aloud once, quietly, and prop it against the milk jug.Youngest player: age 13. Players: 2 to 6. You need: paper and a pen.
Roll for Who Opens First1. Everyone who is opening one present tonight sits in a circle and holds it.2. Each rolls a die, and the highest roll opens first. A tie rolls again.3. Before the paper comes off, the rest of the circle gets one guess each at what is inside.4. The order then goes down through the rolls. Whoever rolled lowest opens last and picks the bedtime story.Youngest player: age 3. Players: 2 to 10. You need: a die.
Say Thank You in Charades1. After the one present is open, nobody may say thank you in words.2. Instead, each person acts out what they will do with the present tomorrow: reading in bed, building a tower, wearing it in the rain.3. The giver has to guess the action. If the giver is not in the room, the family guesses.4. A right guess earns the actor a real thank-you hug or a handshake, as they choose.Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 10. You need: nothing.

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While dinner cooks 6

Carols for the Cook 1. The cook shouts the name of a carol from the kitchen. 2. Everyone in the living room has to sing its first line back, loud enough to be heard over the pans. 3. The cook gives a score out of five by banging a spoon on a pot lid that many times. 4. After five carols, the singers choose one for the cook to sing back. Youngest player: age 4. Players: 3 to 15. You need: a spoon and a pot lid.
Guess the Minute Dinner Lands 1. When the cooking starts, everyone outside the kitchen writes down the time on the clock when the last dish will reach the table. 2. Fold the slips into a bowl. Nobody may ask the cook for a hint. 3. The cook calls "served" as the last dish goes down, and a child reads the clock. 4. The closest slip wins the job of ringing a bell or calling everyone to the table. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 3 to 15. You need: slips, pens, a bowl and a clock.
How Many Legs at the Table? 1. Before anyone sits down, each player guesses how many legs will be at the table tonight. People count, and so do chair legs, table legs and any pet that sleeps underneath. 2. Write the guesses down. 3. When everyone is seated, the youngest counter walks around and counts aloud while the others check. 4. The closest guess wins first pick of the bread basket. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 3 to 15. You need: paper and a pen.

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While dinner cooks, continued

Seat Everyone by Three Rules 1. Write a name card for every person who will sit at the table. 2. The cook gives the seating crew three rules, such as: the two youngest may not sit side by side, Grandma sits where she can see the tree, and the cook sits nearest the kitchen. 3. The crew moves the cards around the table until every rule is kept. 4. The cook checks the plan. A crew that passes on the first check adds a fourth rule of its own. Youngest player: age 7. Players: 2 to 6. You need: a name card for every seat and a pen.
Set the Table by Riddle 1. The cook, or any adult with hands free, calls out a riddle for each thing the table needs: "I have four teeth and never bite, and I lie to the left of the plate." 2. The table crew works out the answer, fetches the forks and lays them. 3. Go on through knives, spoons, glasses, napkins and the salt. 4. A crew that sets the whole table with no wrong guess chooses where everyone sits. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 2 to 6. You need: the things for the table.
Smell Report From the Hallway 1. The reporters line up in the hallway outside the kitchen, never inside it. 2. One at a time, each closes their eyes, sniffs and names one thing they can smell: onions, cinnamon, something roasting. 3. The cook calls back "yes" or "not tonight". 4. A smell nobody has named yet scores a point. The reporter with the most points announces the menu at the table. Youngest player: age 4. Players: 2 to 8. You need: nothing.

The whole family in pajamas 6

Goodnight, House: One Light Each 1. The whole family walks through the house together, one room at a time. 2. In each room, one person switches off a light and says goodnight to one thing in it: "Goodnight, piano." 3. Nothing may be said goodnight to twice. A player who repeats one carries the youngest child's slippers the rest of the way. 4. The walk ends at the bedroom doors, and voices get quieter in every room. Youngest player: age 3. Players: 2 to 10. You need: nothing.
Stocking Relay Down the Hall 1. Everyone holds their own stocking at one end of the hall. The hooks or the mantel are at the other end. 2. The youngest goes first and chooses how to travel: on tiptoe, backward, like a penguin. 3. Each person after that copies the way the last one went, hangs their stocking and chooses a new way for the next. 4. Walking pace only, in slippers or bare feet. The oldest goes last and takes the family photo. Youngest player: age 3. Players: 3 to 12. You need: a stocking each.
Three Moving Lights From the Window 1. Turn off the lamps in one room and gather at the window in pajamas. 2. Everyone watches the sky and the street for moving lights: a plane, a car on a far road, a blinking tower. 3. A watcher who spots one whispers "light" and points. It counts when a second person sees it too. 4. The first watcher with three lights wins. Then the curtains close for the night. Youngest player: age 4. Players: 2 to 10. You need: nothing.
Tiptoe Test Down the Hall 1. The listeners sit at one end of the hall with their eyes shut. 2. One walker starts at the other end and tiptoes toward them as quietly as possible. 3. A listener who hears a step raises a hand. 4. The walker scores one point for every listener whose hand is still down at the finish. The quietest walker is tonight's champion of going to bed without waking anyone. Youngest player: age 4. Players: 3 to 10. You need: nothing.
When Will the Last Light Go Off? 1. At bedtime, each person writes down the time when the last light in the house will be switched off tonight. 2. Seal the guesses in an envelope and prop it on the breakfast table. 3. The last adult awake writes the real time on the outside of the envelope before bed. 4. Open it at breakfast. The closest guess chooses who opens the first present of the morning. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 3 to 12. You need: slips, pens and an envelope.
Whose Pajama Leg? 1. The guesser waits in the next room. 2. Everyone else lies on the floor under one big blanket, with one pajama leg and foot sticking out at the edge. 3. The guesser comes in and walks along the row, naming the owner of each leg. No tickling. 4. One point for each right name. The person whose leg was guessed last hides the guesser's eyes for the next round. Youngest player: age 3. Players: 4 to 10. You need: a big blanket.

By the tree with the lights low 6

A Paper Link for the Best of the Year 1. Give everyone a strip of paper and a pen. 2. Each person writes or draws the best moment of their year, and signs the back. Small children tell theirs to an adult, who writes it down. 3. Read the strips aloud one at a time. The family guesses whose moment each was. 4. Loop the strips into a chain and hang it on the tree. Keep it with the ornaments and add to it next year. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 12. You need: paper strips, pens and tape.
A Whispered Hope, Said by Your Neighbor 1. Sit in a circle by the tree. 2. Each person whispers to the neighbor on the left one hope for tomorrow that is not a thing: "I hope Grandpa tells the boat story." 3. Going around, each neighbor says the hope they were told, without saying whose it was. 4. When all the hopes are out, the family guesses who hoped for what. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 4 to 12. You need: nothing.
Find This Year's New Ornament 1. Before the children come in, an adult hangs one ornament on the tree that was not there this morning. 2. With the room lights low, everyone looks from where they sit. Nobody touches the tree. 3. A player who thinks they have found it whispers its place to the adult. 4. The first right whisper wins the job of hiding next year's ornament. Youngest player: age 3. Players: 2 to 10. You need: one new or home-made ornament.
Shapes on the Ceiling 1. Turn off every light but the tree. 2. Everyone lies on the floor with their heads toward the tree and looks up at the ceiling. 3. Take turns to find a shape in the shadows and the spots of light: a ship, a dragon, a hat. The others must find it too before the turn passes. 4. No points. Go around until someone goes quiet, which means it is working. Youngest player: age 4. Players: 2 to 10. You need: nothing.
Silent Night, Quieter Each Verse 1. Choose one slow carol that everyone knows. 2. Sing the first verse in a normal voice. 3. Sing it again at half the volume, then again in a whisper, then with lips moving and no sound at all. 4. Anyone who sings out loud in the silent verse conducts the next carol. One carol like this is enough before bed. Youngest player: age 3. Players: 2 to 15. You need: nothing.
Your Face in a Bauble 1. Each person finds a shiny round ornament on the tree and looks at their own stretched reflection in it. 2. Back on the floor, everyone draws that face on a card just as the ornament showed it: big nose, tiny ears. 3. Shuffle the cards and lay them out. 4. The family matches each bauble face to its owner. The drawing that gets the most wrong guesses wins. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 10. You need: cards and pencils.

The one present tonight 6

A Question Earns the Next Turn 1. The youngest person opens their one present first. 2. Then that person asks a question about the family's year: "What did we eat at the lake?" or "Who lost a tooth in March?" 3. The first person to answer correctly opens next, and then asks the next question. 4. Go on until everyone has opened one. Someone who has already opened may answer, and then passes the turn to a person who has not. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 3 to 10. You need: nothing.
Clue Tags: Choose Tonight's Present by Riddle 1. An adult picks three presents for each child that would be fine to open tonight. 2. Each of the three gets a second tag with a one-line riddle about what is inside: "I am read, but I am not a sign." 3. The child reads the three clues aloud and chooses one present by its clue alone, with no lifting or shaking. 4. The other two go back under the tree until morning. Youngest player: age 6. Players: 2 to 8. You need: gift tags and a pen.
Follow the Ribbon to Tonight's Present 1. An adult ties one end of a long ribbon to each child's present for tonight and hides the present. 2. Wind the ribbon through the room: around a chair leg, under the rug, behind a cushion. Use a different color for each child. 3. Hand each child the free end. 4. The children wind their ribbons up as they follow them. Nobody may pull. The present is opened where it is found. Youngest player: age 4. Players: 1 to 6. You need: a long ribbon in a different color for each child.
Open It With Your Eyes Shut 1. Everyone holds their one present. On the count of three, all shut their eyes. 2. Each person unwraps by feel and keeps their eyes shut. 3. Going around the circle, each says what they think they are holding. 4. On a second count of three, everyone looks. The player whose guess was furthest from the truth gathers the paper. Youngest player: age 4. Players: 2 to 10. You need: nothing.
Roll for Who Opens First 1. Everyone who is opening one present tonight sits in a circle and holds it. 2. Each rolls a die, and the highest roll opens first. A tie rolls again. 3. Before the paper comes off, the rest of the circle gets one guess each at what is inside. 4. The order then goes down through the rolls. Whoever rolled lowest opens last and picks the bedtime story. Youngest player: age 3. Players: 2 to 10. You need: a die.
Say Thank You in Charades 1. After the one present is open, nobody may say thank you in words. 2. Instead, each person acts out what they will do with the present tomorrow: reading in bed, building a tower, wearing it in the rain. 3. The giver has to guess the action. If the giver is not in the room, the family guesses. 4. A right guess earns the actor a real thank-you hug or a handshake, as they choose. Youngest player: age 5. Players: 2 to 10. You need: nothing.

After the children are in bed 6

The Breakfast Table Note 1. Take one sheet of paper. The first writer starts a note for the children to find at breakfast, with one line that rhymes with nothing yet. 2. Pass the sheet on. Each writer adds one line, and every second line has to rhyme with the line before it. 3. Stop after eight lines. 4. Read it aloud once, quietly, and prop it against the milk jug. Youngest player: age 13. Players: 2 to 6. You need: paper and a pen.
Lightest to Heaviest by Eye 1. Stand five wrapped presents in a row on the table and give each a letter on a sticky note. 2. Without touching them, everyone writes the five letters in order from lightest to heaviest. 3. One person lifts the presents two at a time and puts them in the true order. The wrappers who know what is inside may not argue. 4. One point for each letter in the right place. A full score earns a rest from wrapping. Youngest player: age 13. Players: 2 to 8. You need: five wrapped presents, sticky notes, paper and pens.
Point, Don't Ask 1. For ten minutes of wrapping, nobody may speak. 2. A wrapper who needs the scissors, the tape or the end of the ribbon has to ask for it in mime. 3. Anyone who says a word out loud puts a paper bow on their own head. 4. When the ten minutes are up, the person with the fewest bows chooses the music for the rest of the wrapping. Youngest player: age 13. Players: 2 to 8. You need: the wrapping things and a few paper bows.
Tags in a Disguised Hand 1. Everyone still up writes two of tomorrow's gift tags in handwriting that is not their own: slanted, tiny, all capitals. 2. Mix the tags face up on the table. 3. Each person writes down who they think wrote each tag. 4. The writers own up. The best detective wins. The writer nobody caught writes the tags for every awkward shape left on the table. Youngest player: age 13. Players: 3 to 8. You need: gift tags, pens and paper.
What Am I Wrapping? 1. One wrapper takes something ordinary from the room, such as a whisk, a slipper or a remote control, and wraps it behind a cushion. 2. The others listen to the rustling and watch the shape take form. 3. They may ask ten questions that can be answered yes or no. 4. Whoever names the thing wraps next. If nobody does, the parcel goes under the tree with a tag for the person who came closest. Youngest player: age 13. Players: 3 to 8. You need: scrap wrapping paper and tape.
The Year's Awards on Gift Tags 1. Write a category on each of six gift tags: best meal of the year, worst weather day, funniest thing a child said, best day out, most used thing in the house, bravest moment. 2. Pass each tag around the table. Everyone adds a nominee in a few words. 3. Read the nominees out and agree on a winner by show of hands. 4. Tie the six tags to the tree for the children to find and argue with at breakfast. Youngest player: age 13. Players: 2 to 8. You need: six gift tags, a pen and ribbon.

How this list was compiled: Our suggestions, written for this site for one family at home on the evening of December 24. The wording, the youngest ages and the player counts are ours. Every game belongs to that one evening: the wait for dinner, pajamas, the tree with the lights low, the one present some families open, and the wrapping after bedtime. Nothing here says who brings the presents. The list states no rule or history of a traditional game, so no outside source was needed. Licence: own work

How it works

These games to play on Christmas Eve are for a family at home, when the children cannot sit still and dinner is not ready. They run from the wait for dinner to lights out, and the bedtime sets end quietly.

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Group games to play on Christmas Eve, by the hour

The five sets follow the evening. While dinner cooks keeps children busy and out of the kitchen: Set the Table by Riddle even gets a job done. After dinner come The whole family in pajamas and By the tree with the lights low. Finish with Goodnight, House: One Light Each, which ends at the bedroom doors.

If your family opens one present tonight

The games under The one present tonight settle who opens first and make one small present last. Roll for Who Opens First needs a die, and Follow the Ribbon to Tonight's Present needs a ribbon for each child.

Seal the guesses for When Will the Last Light Go Off? before the children go up. It gives them something to come down for.

Questions and answers

What games can a family play on Christmas Eve?

Before dinner, Guess the Minute Dinner Lands and Carols for the Cook. In pajamas, Stocking Relay Down the Hall and Whose Pajama Leg? By the tree, Find This Year's New Ornament. Each game gives the youngest age that can join, from three upward.

What are calm Christmas Eve games before bed?

Shapes on the Ceiling is played lying down with only the tree lit. Silent Night, Quieter Each Verse ends with no sound at all, and Goodnight, House: One Light Each walks the family to the bedroom doors.

How do you decide who opens a present first on Christmas Eve?

Roll a die, as in Roll for Who Opens First, or let the youngest start and pass the turn with a question about the family's year, as in A Question Earns the Next Turn. A read-aloud story that passes gifts left and right also works.

What can adults play on Christmas Eve after the kids are asleep?

Quiet table games that get the wrapping done: Point, Don't Ask is ten minutes of wrapping in mime, Tags in a Disguised Hand is a handwriting test, and The Breakfast Table Note leaves the children a rhyme to find.