Christmas parties don’t need a big budget or hours of prep to be memorable — just a handful of games that get everyone laughing. Whether you’re hosting a classroom party, a family gathering, or a neighborhood get-together, this mix of active, guessing, and craft-based games works for toddlers through tweens, indoors or out. Grab your supplies and let the countdown to Christmas chaos begin.
1. Jingle Bell Relay Race
Quick Facts: 4+ players • 10 min • Ages 4-10 • Free-low cost • Indoor/outdoor
Teams race to carry a jingle bell on a spoon across the room without dropping it.
Supplies Needed: Jingle bells, large spoons.
Setup: Split kids into two teams and mark a start and finish line.
How to Play: First player balances a bell on a spoon and walks to the finish line and back, then hands off to the next teammate. Drop the bell, start over from where you dropped it. First team to finish wins.
2. Mystery Stocking Guessing Game
Quick Facts: 3+ players • 10-15 min • Ages 3-8 • Low cost • Indoor
Kids reach into a stocking and guess the hidden object by touch alone.
Supplies Needed: A stocking, small household or holiday items (ornament, candy cane, pinecone).
Setup: Hide one item inside the stocking before each round.
How to Play: One child reaches in without looking and feels the object, then guesses what it is out loud. Reveal the item, swap it out, and pass the stocking to the next player.
3. Wrapping Paper Ball Toss
Quick Facts: 2+ players • 10 min • Ages 3-10 • Free • Indoor/outdoor
Crumpled wrapping paper scraps become instant snowballs for a toss game.
Supplies Needed: Leftover wrapping paper, a basket or box.
Setup: Crumple paper scraps into balls and place a basket a few feet away.
How to Play: Kids take turns tossing paper balls into the basket, stepping back a foot after each successful throw. Whoever scores from the farthest distance wins the round.
4. Guess That Christmas Scent
Quick Facts: 3+ players • 10 min • Ages 4-10 • Low cost • Indoor
A blindfolded sniff test using classic holiday smells like peppermint and cinnamon.
Supplies Needed: Small cups, cotton balls, scented items (peppermint extract, cinnamon, pine, cocoa), blindfold.
Setup: Soak cotton balls in each scent and place them in separate labeled cups.
How to Play: Blindfold one player and hold a cup under their nose. They guess the scent, then pass it along. Track correct guesses to crown a “Nose Detective.”
5. Reindeer Antler Ring Toss
Quick Facts: 2+ players • 10-15 min • Ages 5-12 • Low cost • Indoor/outdoor
Players toss rings onto a headband-wearing “reindeer” to score points.
Supplies Needed: Foam antler headband, small rings or glow sticks bent into circles.
Setup: One player wears the antler headband and kneels a few feet from the others.
How to Play: Remaining players take turns tossing rings, aiming to land them on the antlers. Rotate who wears the headband every few rounds so everyone gets a turn.
6. Gingerbread Man Scavenger Hunt
Quick Facts: 2+ players • 15-20 min • Ages 4-10 • Free-low cost • Indoor/outdoor
Kids search the house or yard for hidden paper gingerbread men.
Supplies Needed: Printable or cutout paper gingerbread men.
Setup: Hide 10-15 gingerbread cutouts around the space before kids arrive.
How to Play: Give kids a time limit and let them search for every hidden gingerbread man. Whoever finds the most wins a small prize, like a real gingerbread cookie.
7. Shaving Cream Santa Beard
Quick Facts: 2+ players • 10 min • Ages 5-12 • Low cost • Indoor (easy cleanup surface)
Kids sculpt a Santa beard out of shaving cream on their own chin.
Supplies Needed: Shaving cream, mirrors, towels.
Setup: Lay towels down and give each player a small mound of shaving cream.
How to Play: Players shape the cream into a beard on their chin using only their hands. Vote on the fluffiest, funniest, or most realistic Santa beard.
8. Christmas I Spy
Quick Facts: 2+ players • 10 min • Ages 3-8 • Free • Indoor
A holiday twist on the classic guessing game using festive decor as clues.
Supplies Needed: None — a room decorated for Christmas.
Setup: No setup needed beyond your existing holiday decorations.
How to Play: One player picks a visible object and says “I spy something red and round.” Others guess until someone’s right, and that player picks the next item.
9. Wrapping Paper Tube Hockey
Quick Facts: 2-6 players • 10-15 min • Ages 5-12 • Free-low cost • Indoor
Empty wrapping paper tubes become hockey sticks for a mini floor hockey match.
Supplies Needed: Cardboard wrapping paper tubes, a small soft ball or balled-up sock.
Setup: Set up two “goals” using boxes or chairs at either end of the room.
How to Play: Players use the tubes to pass and shoot the ball toward the opposing goal. Play to a set number of points or a timed round.
10. Silver Bells Memory Match
Quick Facts: 2+ players • 10-15 min • Ages 4-10 • Low cost • Indoor
A holiday spin on the classic memory card game using matching ornament pairs.
Supplies Needed: Two sets of matching small ornaments or printed cards, a tray.
Setup: Arrange all pairs face-down in a grid on the tray or floor.
How to Play: Players take turns flipping two items at a time, trying to find matching pairs. Keep flipped pairs if they match; whoever collects the most wins.
11. Don’t Wake Rudolph
Quick Facts: 4+ players • 10-15 min • Ages 4-10 • Low cost • Indoor
A Christmas twist on “Don’t Eat Pete,” played by keeping a candy cane hidden from a sleeping “Rudolph.”
Supplies Needed: A chair, a candy cane, a blindfold or “sleeping” volunteer.
Setup: Seat “Rudolph” in a chair with the candy cane placed near their feet.
How to Play: Kids quietly try to sneak up and grab the candy cane. If Rudolph hears movement and points at them, that player freezes and sits out the round.
12. Saran Wrap Candy Ball Unwrap
Quick Facts: 2+ players • 15-20 min • Ages 5-12 • Low cost • Indoor
Kids race to unwrap a giant plastic-wrap ball packed with candy and small prizes.
Supplies Needed: Plastic wrap, small candies, trinkets, dice.
Setup: Layer candies and prizes inside plastic wrap, building up a large ball.
How to Play: Players sit in a circle passing the ball while rolling dice. Whoever rolls doubles gets to unwrap until the next double is rolled, keeping any prizes freed.
13. Indoor Cotton Ball Snowball Fight
Quick Facts: 4+ players • 10-15 min • Ages 3-10 • Low cost • Indoor
A mess-free snowball fight using soft cotton balls instead of real snow.
Supplies Needed: A large bag of cotton balls, two laundry baskets.
Setup: Divide the room in half and scatter cotton balls evenly on both sides.
How to Play: Split into two teams and set a timer. Teams toss “snowballs” onto the opposing side; whoever has fewer on their side when time’s up wins.
14. Christmas “Would You Rather”
Quick Facts: 2+ players • 10 min • Ages 5-12 • Free • Indoor/outdoor
A quick-thinking game where kids pick between two silly holiday scenarios.
Supplies Needed: None, or a printed list of questions.
Setup: Prepare a list of holiday-themed “would you rather” questions ahead of time.
How to Play: Read a question aloud, like “Would you rather build a snowman or decorate cookies?” Kids move to one side of the room based on their answer, then explain their pick.
15. Build-a-Snowman Relay
Quick Facts: 4+ players • 10-15 min • Ages 4-10 • Low cost • Indoor/outdoor
Teams race to assemble a paper or cotton-ball snowman piece by piece.
Supplies Needed: Paper snowman parts (or cotton balls), buttons, a carrot nose cutout.
Setup: Place each team’s snowman pieces in a pile at the far end of the room.
How to Play: One player at a time runs to the pile, grabs one piece, and places it on the team’s snowman before tagging the next player. First complete snowman wins.
16. Candy Cane Scavenger Hunt
Quick Facts: 2+ players • 15-20 min • Ages 3-10 • Low cost • Indoor/outdoor
Kids search for hidden candy canes stashed around the house or yard.
Supplies Needed: A bag of candy canes.
Setup: Hide candy canes in easy-to-spot and tricky locations before the hunt starts.
How to Play: Give kids a time limit or a target number to find. Whoever collects the most candy canes keeps them as their prize.
17. Paper Plate Snow Globe Craft Race
Quick Facts: 2+ players • 15 min • Ages 4-9 • Low cost • Indoor
A timed craft challenge to build a paper snow globe using simple supplies.
Supplies Needed: Paper plates, cotton balls or white paint, winter stickers, glue.
Setup: Lay out craft supplies within reach of each player.
How to Play: Players glue a plate half to look like a “globe” scene with stickers and snow effects, racing to finish first. Judge for creativity, not just speed.
18. Minute to Win It: Cookie Face
Quick Facts: 1+ players • 5 min • Ages 6-12 • Low cost • Indoor
Players balance a cookie on their forehead and try to walk it into their mouth using only face muscles.
Supplies Needed: Round cookies, a timer.
Setup: Give each player one cookie to balance on their forehead.
How to Play: Without using hands, players scrunch their face to move the cookie down toward their mouth. First to eat it (or most progress in 60 seconds) wins.
19. Santa Hat Color Match Toss
Quick Facts: 2+ players • 10 min • Ages 4-10 • Low cost • Indoor/outdoor
A bean-bag toss game where players match colored targets to score points.
Supplies Needed: Colored beanbags or balls, colored hoops or paper circles.
Setup: Lay colored targets on the floor a few feet from the throw line.
How to Play: Players toss beanbags trying to land them on the matching colored target. Award bonus points for exact color matches, and total scores after five rounds.
20. Christmas Bingo
Quick Facts: 3+ players • 15-20 min • Ages 4-10 • Low cost • Indoor
A festive twist on classic Bingo using holiday images instead of numbers.
Supplies Needed: Printable Christmas Bingo cards, markers or candy for covering squares.
Setup: Hand out one card and a pile of markers to each player.
How to Play: Call out holiday images one at a time; players cover matches on their card. First to complete a row shouts “Bingo!” and wins a small prize.
21. Candy Cane Fishing
Quick Facts: 2+ players • 10-15 min • Ages 4-9 • Low cost • Indoor/outdoor
Kids “fish” for candy canes hooked onto a string using a stick and magnet.
Supplies Needed: Candy canes with paperclips attached, a stick, string, a small magnet.
Setup: Tie the magnet to the string and attach the string to the stick.
How to Play: Scatter candy canes on the floor and let kids take turns “fishing” by dangling the magnet over them. Whoever catches the most candy canes wins.
22. Christmas Carol Charades
Quick Facts: 4+ players • 15 min • Ages 6-12 • Free • Indoor
Players act out Christmas carol titles without speaking while others guess.
Supplies Needed: A list of carol titles written on slips of paper.
Setup: Fold the slips and place them in a bowl or hat.
How to Play: One player draws a slip and acts out the song title using only gestures. Teammates shout guesses until someone gets it right, then rotate turns.
23. Snowflake Freeze Dance
Quick Facts: 3+ players • 10 min • Ages 3-8 • Free • Indoor/outdoor
A dance-and-freeze game set to holiday music, where getting caught moving means you’re out.
Supplies Needed: A speaker and a Christmas music playlist.
Setup: Clear an open space for dancing.
How to Play: Play music and let kids dance freely; pause it at random moments. Anyone still moving when the music stops sits out until one dancer remains.
24. Elf Yourself Dress-Up Relay
Quick Facts: 4+ players • 10-15 min • Ages 4-10 • Low cost • Indoor
Teams race to dress a teammate in oversized elf costume pieces before tagging the next player.
Supplies Needed: Oversized elf hats, striped socks, vests, or costume pieces (two sets).
Setup: Pile each team’s costume pieces at the far end of the room.
How to Play: One player runs to the pile, puts on all the pieces, runs back, undresses, and tags the next teammate. First team through wins.
25. Christmas Trivia Countdown
Quick Facts: 2+ players • 10-15 min • Ages 6-12 • Free • Indoor/outdoor
Teams race to answer holiday trivia questions before time runs out.
Supplies Needed: A list of Christmas trivia questions, a timer.
Setup: Split players into teams and prepare a list of questions ranked by difficulty.
How to Play: Alternate asking each team a question, awarding points for correct answers within a set time. Team with the most points after all rounds wins.
26. Candy Cane Hockey Pass
Quick Facts: 4+ players • 10 min • Ages 5-12 • Low cost • Indoor
A cooperative game where teammates pass a ball down the line using only hooked candy canes.
Supplies Needed: One large candy cane per player, a small soft ball.
Setup: Line teammates up single file, each holding a candy cane by the straight end.
How to Play: Players work together to pass the ball hand-to-hand using only the hooked ends of their candy canes, no hands allowed. Fastest team to the end wins.
27. Pin the Nose on Rudolph
Quick Facts: 2+ players • 10 min • Ages 3-8 • Low cost • Indoor
A holiday spin on the classic blindfolded pin-the-tail game.
Supplies Needed: A Rudolph poster, red nose cutouts with tape loops, a blindfold.
Setup: Hang the poster at kid height on a wall.
How to Play: Blindfold one player, spin them gently, and let them try to stick the nose in the right spot. Closest placement after everyone’s turn wins.
28. Ugly Sweater Design Contest
Quick Facts: 2+ players • 15-20 min • Ages 5-12 • Low cost • Indoor
Kids decorate a plain sweater template into the silliest, ugliest holiday design they can.
Supplies Needed: Paper sweater templates or old sweatshirts, pompoms, felt, stickers, markers.
Setup: Give each player a blank sweater and a shared pile of craft supplies.
How to Play: Set a timer and let kids decorate freely. Once time’s up, vote as a group for the funniest, most creative, or most “ugly” sweater.
29. Christmas Balloon Pop Challenge
Quick Facts: 4+ players • 10-15 min • Ages 5-12 • Low cost • Indoor
Kids pop balloons to reveal hidden mini challenges or prizes inside.
Supplies Needed: Balloons, slips of paper with dares or prizes, pins.
Setup: Insert one paper slip into each balloon before inflating and scattering them.
How to Play: Players take turns popping a balloon and completing the challenge or claiming the prize written inside. Continue until all balloons are popped.
30. Santa’s Sleigh Ride Freeze Tag
Quick Facts: 4+ players • 10-15 min • Ages 4-10 • Free • Outdoor/large indoor space
A high-energy tag game where “Santa” freezes players who can only be unfrozen by a teammate.
Supplies Needed: None.
Setup: Designate one player as “Santa” and set clear play boundaries.
How to Play: Santa chases and tags others, freezing them in place. Frozen players are “unwrapped” when another player tags them free. Game ends when Santa freezes everyone.
With 30 games ranging from quiet guessing games to high-energy relays, there’s something here for every age group, budget, and space — no elaborate prep required. Mix a few active games with quieter ones to keep the energy balanced, and let kids help pick their favorites.
Whichever games you choose, these simple, low-cost activities are guaranteed to fill your holiday gathering with laughter and Christmas cheer.