Christmas Party Games for All Ages

For one room with small children, teens and grandparents in it: press Pick 3 new games.

Christmas Party Games for All Ages

  1. Rhymes With Snow, Around the Table1. The host says a short Christmas word: snow, bell, sleigh, star. 2. Going around the table, each person says a word that rhymes with it. 3. A person who cannot think of one says pass, and gives the next starting word when the round ends. 4. Made-up words count if the table laughs. Across the ages: rhyming is a game most small children already play, and made-up words keep them in. Players: 3 to 20. Time: 5 min. Props: none.
  2. The Toy Workshop Machine, One Motion Each1. The first player starts a small motion and a sound from their seat, over and over: a hammer, a saw, a squeaky wheel. 2. The next player adds a different motion and sound, and so on around the circle. 3. When everyone is working, the host calls faster, slower and stop. 4. Start again from the youngest player. Across the ages: there is nothing to get wrong, and a grandparent can join without leaving the chair. Players: 5 to 30. Time: 5 min. Props: none.
  3. What Made That Sound? Behind the Sofa1. One player goes behind the sofa with a tray of Christmas things. 2. They make one sound at a time: tape pulled off the roll, paper crumpled, a bell, scissors, a zipper on a boot. 3. The circle listens with eyes closed. The first hand up says what made it. 4. After five sounds, the best guesser takes the tray. Across the ages: children know these sounds as well as anyone, and often answer first. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 8 min. Props: a tray with tape, paper, a bell, scissors and a boot.

Next step Gift swaps for the same crowd

How it works

These Christmas party games for all ages are written for one room that holds a five-year-old, a teenager and a grandparent. Each game says how it copes with the age gap.

Read the full guide

Family Christmas party game ideas, by moment

1. As guests arrive, start one of the Seated circle games, so latecomers can slip in. 2. Before the meal, split into Mixed-age teams with a child, a teen and an adult on each. 3. At the table, use the Five-minute fillers while dinner finishes. 4. After the presents, the Tree, stocking and wrapping-paper games use up the paper.

When the youngest keeps losing

Switch to Games the youngest can win. They run on a die, a drop or a guess, so nobody can let a child win and nobody needs to.

Tips
  • Put a grandparent and a small child on the same team early, before the cousins pair off by age.

Questions and answers

Which are the funny family Christmas party games?

Three-Part Snowman, the Adult Draws Blind and Speed Reindeer: Ten Seconds, One Crayon get the loudest laughs, because the grown-ups do worst. Sing It Like a Mouse, Sing It Like a Giant is the noisiest.

What Christmas games can a five-year-old and a grandparent play together?

Everything in Games the youngest can win runs on luck, so a small child has the same chance as anyone. The Seated circle games keep a grandparent in a chair while the game comes to them.

What can a family play at the table while dinner finishes?

The Reindeer Were Late Because and Rhymes With Snow, Around the Table need nothing at all, and both end the moment the food arrives. Most of the filler group is played from the chairs.

Are gift exchange games on this list?

No. White elephant, dice swaps and other exchanges are on the Christmas gift exchange list, which is linked below. This page is the games to play before and after the presents.

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All 34 games

Mixed-age teams 5

  • Cardboard Reindeer, Built by Three Generations 1. Give each team a pile from the recycling: boxes, cardboard tubes, paper and a roll of tape. 2. Teams have eight minutes to build a reindeer that stands up by itself. 3. The youngest member names it and introduces it to the room. 4. The other teams vote, and nobody may vote for their own reindeer. Across the ages: small hands tear tape, tall ones hold the antlers up, and the youngest does the talking. Players: 6 to 30 in teams. Time: 15 min. Props: boxes, cardboard tubes, paper and tape for each team.
  • One Reads, One Solves, One Runs 1. The host hides one small parcel for each team and writes four clues that lead to it, one after another. 2. On each team the adult may only read the clue aloud, the teenager may only say where it points, and the child may only run to fetch the next one. 3. Nobody does another person's job. 4. The first team to bring back its parcel wins, and every team finishes its trail. Across the ages: the child needs no reading and gets all the running, which is the job most children want. Players: 6 to 24 in teams of three. Time: 15 min. Props: four written clues and a small parcel for each team.
  • Quiz With a Question for Each Age 1. Before the party the host writes ten rounds of three questions: one a small child can answer, one for a teenager and one for a grown-up. 2. Each team holds a child, a teen and an adult. 3. Only the right person may answer each question. The others keep their hands over their mouths. 4. A point for each right answer. A child's question might be: what color is a candy cane? Across the ages: every player is asked something written for their own age, so the teams stay level. Players: 6 to 30 in teams of three. Time: 15 min. Props: thirty questions written by the host, paper and pencils.
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Mixed-age teams, continued

  • Reindeer Reins: Three on One Ribbon 1. Tie a long ribbon into a loop for each team. 2. The team stands inside its loop, the smallest in front, everyone holding the ribbon at waist height. 3. Teams walk a course around the furniture and back, one team at a time, against a stopwatch. 4. A dropped ribbon adds five seconds. Across the ages: the smallest reindeer sets the pace from the front, so nobody is pulled along. Players: 6 to 30 in teams of three. Time: 10 min. Props: a long ribbon for each team and a stopwatch.
  • Three-Part Snowman, the Adult Draws Blind 1. Each team of three has one big sheet of paper and a marker. 2. The child draws the bottom snowball, and the teenager draws the middle one with the hand they do not write with. 3. The adult draws the head, hat and face with eyes closed, steered only by the child's words. 4. Pin the snowmen up in a row. The room claps for each, and the loudest clap wins. Across the ages: the child has the easiest job and gives the orders, and the adult has the hardest. Players: 6 to 30 in teams of three. Time: 10 min. Props: big paper and a marker for each team.

Seated circle games 5

  • Echo the Bell, Add One Ring 1. Everyone sits in a circle. The first player rings a small bell once and passes it on. 2. The next player repeats what they heard and adds one ring, a shake or a pause. 3. The pattern grows as the bell goes around. 4. When someone loses it, the circle claps the last good pattern together, and that player starts a new one. Across the ages: the bell reaches the smallest players while the pattern is still short, so seat them early in the circle. Players: 5 to 20. Time: 5 min. Props: one small bell.
  • Roll the Snowball, Ask for a Word 1. The circle sits on chairs and on the floor with a white ball of yarn. 2. The roller names a kind of thing, then rolls the ball to someone: something on a tree, something in a stocking, something that is red. 3. The catcher names one and becomes the roller. 4. No answer may be used twice. Across the ages: the roller fits the question to the catcher, an easy one for a small cousin and a hard one for an aunt. Players: 5 to 20. Time: 8 min. Props: a white ball of yarn.
  • The Toy Workshop Machine, One Motion Each 1. The first player starts a small motion and a sound from their seat, over and over: a hammer, a saw, a squeaky wheel. 2. The next player adds a different motion and sound, and so on around the circle. 3. When everyone is working, the host calls faster, slower and stop. 4. Start again from the youngest player. Across the ages: there is nothing to get wrong, and a grandparent can join without leaving the chair. Players: 5 to 30. Time: 5 min. Props: none.
  • Two Parcels, Two Directions 1. Wrap two small empty boxes, one in red paper and one in green. 2. While everyone sings a carol, the red box goes around the circle to the left and the green one to the right. 3. Whenever one player ends up holding both boxes at once, the singing stops. 4. That player picks the next carol and starts the boxes off again. Across the ages: where the boxes meet is pure chance, and passing a box is all anyone has to do. Players: 6 to 24. Time: 8 min. Props: two small wrapped boxes.
  • What Made That Sound? Behind the Sofa 1. One player goes behind the sofa with a tray of Christmas things. 2. They make one sound at a time: tape pulled off the roll, paper crumpled, a bell, scissors, a zipper on a boot. 3. The circle listens with eyes closed. The first hand up says what made it. 4. After five sounds, the best guesser takes the tray. Across the ages: children know these sounds as well as anyone, and often answer first. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 8 min. Props: a tray with tape, paper, a bell, scissors and a boot.

Games the youngest can win 6

  • Drop a Paper Snowflake From Shoulder Height 1. Lay a dinner plate on the floor as the target. 2. Each player holds a paper snowflake at their own shoulder height, straight above the plate, and lets go. 3. A snowflake that stays on the plate scores one. 4. Three drops each. Across the ages: paper drifts, and a short drop drifts less, so the smallest player has the best chance. Players: 2 to 20. Time: 5 min. Props: a dinner plate and a paper snowflake each.
  • Five Boxes, One Bell 1. Wrap five boxes the same and number them. Out of sight, the host puts a bell inside one. 2. Each player says a number from one to five. 3. The host shakes the boxes one by one. Everyone who chose the box that rings scores a point. 4. The host moves the bell and plays again. First to three points. Across the ages: nobody can know where the bell is, so every age guesses on level terms. Players: 3 to 30. Time: 8 min. Props: five wrapped boxes, numbers and a bell.
  • Roll a Six, Wear the Star 1. Players sit around a table with one die and a paper star on a ribbon. 2. The die goes around, and each player rolls once. 3. Whoever rolls a six puts the star around their neck, taking it from whoever had it. 4. Set a timer for five minutes and hide it. The player wearing the star when it rings wins. Across the ages: a die does not know how old anyone is. Players: 3 to 12. Time: 5 min. Props: a die, a paper star on a ribbon and a timer.
  • Six Paper Reindeer, One Die 1. Draw six lanes of ten squares on a long strip of paper, and set a paper reindeer numbered 1 to 6 at the start of each. 2. Every player picks a reindeer to cheer for. Several players can share one. 3. Players take turns rolling the die. The reindeer with that number moves one square. 4. The first reindeer home wins for everyone who chose it. Nothing is staked on it. Across the ages: picking a number is the only choice anyone makes, and the smallest child rolls as well as anyone. Players: 2 to 30. Time: 10 min. Props: a long strip of paper, six paper reindeer and a die.
  • Which Hand Has the Bell? 1. Players pair up. One of each pair hides a small bell in a fist behind their back, then holds both fists out. 2. The partner points to a hand. 3. A right guess scores a point, and the bell changes sides. 4. Five turns each, then find a new partner. Add up your points at the end. Across the ages: it is a guess between two hands, and a child guesses as well as a grandparent. Players: 2 to 30 in pairs. Time: 5 min. Props: a small bell for each pair.
  • Yarn Snowball on the Number Mat 1. Draw a grid of twelve squares on a big sheet of paper and write the numbers 1 to 12 in them in any order. 2. From three paces away, each player rolls a ball of yarn along the floor onto the mat. 3. The square where it stops is the score. Off the mat scores nothing. 4. Three rolls each, added up. Across the ages: a ball of yarn rolls where it likes, so aiming helps very little. Players: 2 to 20. Time: 8 min. Props: a big sheet of paper, a marker and a ball of yarn.

Tree, stocking and wrapping-paper games 6

  • Clean Up by Color: Red Paper, Green Paper 1. After the presents, split the room into a red team and a green team and give each a bag. 2. On go, each team gathers only wrapping paper that is mostly its own color. 3. Paper of any other color belongs to whoever reaches it first. 4. When the floor is clear, lift the two bags. The heavier one wins, and the room is tidy. Across the ages: the smallest players are closest to the floor and fit under the table. Players: 4 to 30 in two teams. Time: 5 min. Props: two large bags and a floor covered in wrapping paper.
  • Cut a Ribbon to Fit the Biggest Parcel 1. Stand the biggest parcel where everyone can see it. Nobody may touch it. 2. Each player cuts a length of ribbon they think will go once around it. 3. Wrap each ribbon around the parcel in turn. 4. The closest fit wins, whether short or long. Across the ages: judging a length by eye is no easier at fifty than at seven. An adult cuts for a child who points. Players: 3 to 20. Time: 8 min. Props: a big parcel, a roll of ribbon and scissors.
  • Find the Parcel Wrapped in Your Scrap 1. When wrapping, the host saves a scrap of each paper and uses a different paper for each player's game parcel. 2. Each player draws a scrap from a stocking without looking. 3. On go, everyone searches under the tree and around the room for the parcel wrapped in their paper. 4. Parcels are opened together when the last one is found. Across the ages: matching a pattern needs no reading, so nobody needs a name tag read to them. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 8 min. Props: a small parcel for each player in its own paper, the matching scraps and a stocking.
  • I Spy on the Tree, by Color or by Letter 1. The spy picks one thing hanging on the tree and keeps it secret. 2. A young spy says its color: I spy with my little eye something gold. 3. An older spy gives the first letter of its name, as in the usual game. 4. The others guess in turn, and the one who gets it is the next spy. Across the ages: a child who cannot spell yet spies by color, and the same round still works for the adults. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 8 min. Props: a decorated tree.
  • Ornament Down the Tube Line 1. Every player holds a cardboard tube from a roll of wrapping paper. 2. Players stand in a line and hold the tubes end to end, sloping gently down. 3. A plastic ornament is rolled in at the top. Each player who has passed it on runs to the bottom of the line to keep the line going. 4. The aim is to carry the ornament across the room and into a stocking without touching it. Across the ages: tall players kneel to keep the slope, so everyone ends up at the height of the smallest. Players: 4 to 16. Time: 10 min. Props: a cardboard tube each, a plastic ornament and a stocking.
  • Three Ornaments Moved: Spot Them 1. Everyone looks at the tree for one minute. 2. Players turn their backs, and the host moves three ornaments to new branches. 3. Players turn around and point without speaking when they have found one. 4. The host says yes or no to each pointer. Whoever finds the third one moves the ornaments next. Across the ages: children look at the low branches and adults at the high ones, so move one of each. Players: 3 to 20. Time: 5 min. Props: a decorated tree.

Carol and story games 6

  • A Carol in Three Voices 1. Split the room by age into three choirs: children, teens and grown-ups. 2. Pick a carol all three know. 3. The choirs sing one line each in turn, and everyone sings the last line of every verse together. 4. On the second carol the host points at a choir, and only that choir sings until the hand moves. Across the ages: each age sings among its own, so nobody small is drowned out and nobody is asked to sing alone. Players: 6 to 60. Time: 8 min. Props: none.
  • A Story From the Stocking, One Object Each 1. Fill a stocking with small objects: a spoon, a key, a toy car, a mitten, a pine cone. 2. The first player pulls one out and starts a Christmas story that has the object in it. 3. The stocking moves on. Each player pulls a new object and adds two sentences that use it. 4. The player who draws the last object ends the story. Across the ages: a young child can simply say what the object does next, and the next adult makes sense of it. Players: 4 to 15. Time: 10 min. Props: a stocking of small household objects.
  • Ring Only on the Word 1. Everyone holds something that rings or rattles: a bell, a bunch of keys, a spoon in a mug. 2. The room chooses a carol and one word that comes up in it often. 3. Everyone sings, and rings only when that word is sung. 4. A ring at the wrong moment earns a groan from the room. Sing it again faster. Across the ages: small children ring with great confidence, and nobody is put out for a wrong ring. Players: 4 to 40. Time: 5 min. Props: a bell, keys or a spoon and mug each.
  • Sing It Like a Mouse, Sing It Like a Giant 1. Write a way of singing on each card: like a mouse, like a giant, as a whisper, like an opera star, half asleep. 2. The room picks a carol everyone knows. 3. The youngest player draws a card and shows it. Everyone sings one verse that way. 4. The next youngest draws for the next verse. Across the ages: pictures on the cards mean a child who cannot read still leads the whole room. Players: 4 to 40. Time: 8 min. Props: cards with ways of singing, drawn as pictures too.
  • Three Picture Cards, One Short Story 1. Draw simple pictures on twenty cards: a wreath, a snow boot, a cookie, a star, a cat, a ladder. 2. A pair made of one older and one younger player draws three cards. 3. The younger one lays them in an order. The older one tells a story of four sentences that follows it. 4. The room claps, and the next pair draws. Across the ages: the child decides what happens and the older player has to make it work. Players: 4 to 20 in pairs. Time: 10 min. Props: twenty picture cards.
  • Words Covered: Tell the Picture Book Yourself 1. Take any picture book about winter and cover the words with strips of paper. 2. The book goes around the room, a page for each player. 3. Each player shows the picture and says what is happening on that page, following on from the page before. 4. At the end, uncover the words and read the real story aloud. Across the ages: telling a story from a picture is a thing small children do every day, and adults find it harder. Players: 3 to 15. Time: 10 min. Props: a winter picture book and strips of paper.

Five-minute fillers while dinner finishes 6

  • Name Three Before the Bread Goes Around 1. One person holds the bread basket and names a kind of thing for someone else at the table: three things on a sleigh, three white animals, three things that jingle. 2. The basket starts around the table from hand to hand. 3. The person named must say three before the basket gets back to where it started. 4. Then that person takes the basket and picks who goes next. Across the ages: the question is chosen for the person, so a child gets one they can answer and an uncle gets a hard one. Players: 4 to 16. Time: 5 min. Props: a bread basket, or anything else on the table.
  • The Reindeer Were Late Because 1. The host starts a sentence and stops: the reindeer were late because. 2. Going around the table, each person finishes it in their own way. 3. No ending may be used twice. 4. The youngest person at the table picks the ending they like best, and its owner starts the next sentence. Across the ages: there is no wrong ending, and the youngest player is the judge. Players: 3 to 20. Time: 5 min. Props: none.
  • Rhymes With Snow, Around the Table 1. The host says a short Christmas word: snow, bell, sleigh, star. 2. Going around the table, each person says a word that rhymes with it. 3. A person who cannot think of one says pass, and gives the next starting word when the round ends. 4. Made-up words count if the table laughs. Across the ages: rhyming is a game most small children already play, and made-up words keep them in. Players: 3 to 20. Time: 5 min. Props: none.
  • Sleigh, Sled, Sandal: One Does Not Belong 1. One person names three things, two of which share something: a sleigh, a sled and a sandal. 2. The table works out which one does not belong, and why. 3. Any reason the table accepts is a right answer, so there is often more than one. 4. The person with the best reason sets the next three. Across the ages: small children find reasons adults miss, and any reason the table accepts counts. Players: 3 to 20. Time: 5 min. Props: none.
  • Speed Reindeer: Ten Seconds, One Crayon 1. Everyone gets a slip of paper and one crayon. 2. The host counts down from ten while everyone draws a reindeer. 3. Crayons down at zero. Hold the drawings up. 4. The table votes for the reindeer that looks most surprised. The winner names the next thing to draw. Across the ages: in ten seconds nobody draws well, so a child's reindeer stands as good a chance as anyone's. Players: 3 to 20. Time: 5 min. Props: a slip of paper and a crayon each.
  • Step Out, Change One Thing 1. One person leaves the room and changes one thing about how they look: a sleeve rolled up, a napkin in a pocket, a paper hat turned around. 2. They come back and stand at the head of the table. 3. The table has three guesses at what changed. 4. The person who spots it steps out next. Across the ages: children notice clothes and hats at their own eye level that adults look straight past. Players: 4 to 20. Time: 5 min. Props: none.

How this list was compiled: Written by the Game Night Generator editors on 2026-10-03 for a family Christmas where small children, teenagers and grandparents share one room, in our own words. Player ranges and minutes are our estimates. Every game says how it copes with the age gap. No game is an eating race, none involves alcohol, and gift swaps have a list of their own. The usual way to play the one traditional game was checked on 2026-10-03 against English Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_spy Licence: own work