Christmas isn't just for kids, and neither are holiday party games. Get into the spirit and bring out the kid in all the grown ups with Christmas party games for adults.
Sprinkle Christmas Fun Into the Party
While not everyone can be the life of the party, anyone can enjoy a lively party with some great party games.
Icebreaker: Have a People Scavenger Hunt
Icebreakers are quick and easy adult Christmas party games intended to help guests get to know each other. One great Christmas party icebreaker is the people scavenger hunt. Instead of looking for objects on a list, have your guest seek people who can answer yes to a particular Christmas-related statement like, "has gone caroling." Use the printable list below or make up your own questions. If you need help downloading the printable, please see the Guide for Adobe Printables.
Pictionary and Charades
Create a list of Christmas activities, Christmas movies, and Christmas carols your guests must try to guess. Both of these games ask guests to communicate an idea without words. In Pictionary, they must draw, and in charades, they must act out the word, phrase, or title. Use this printable list or come up with your own.
- Divide the guests into teams, so that one team member draws or acts out the word and the other team member tries to guess the word.
- Use a timer to limit the guessing/charade/drawing time to 15-20 seconds.
- Each team takes a word from the pile and draws or acts it out.
- Team members can alternate who draws/acts.
- The team with the most correct answers at the end wins.
Blindfolded Gift Wrapping Race
Think you're a great gift-wrapper? Time to see if you can do it blindfolded. In this race, everyone tries to be the first to wrap their gift without seeing it. As an added bonus, you get to wrap all your holiday gifts as part of the game.
- Before putting on a blindfold, each player cuts the wrapping paper to the size they want (blindfolded cutting is never a great idea).
- One person acts as judge and tells everyone to put on their blindfolds and start wrapping.
- As fast as possible, each player wraps a gift. The gift must be completely wrapped, with none of the actual present showing through the paper.
- When the player is done wrapping, they raise their hand to indicate they are done. The first person to finish is the winner.
Egg Nog Taste Test
All brands of egg nog are not created equal. In this taste test game, guests can vote for the best-tasting egg nog to determine which one is most delicious.
- Before the party, pick up as may different brands of egg nog as you can. You can even include variations like low fat, dairy-free, and other options. Number each egg nog carton.
- Pick up some small paper cups and number the cups to match the cartons. Pour egg nog into the numbered cups so each guest can try each type of egg nog without knowing which brand it is.
- Have each guest try the different types of egg nog.
- Ask each party-goer what their favorite egg nog number is. Reveal the brand of the winning egg nog after the voting.
DIY Ugly Christmas Sweater Fashion Show
Sure, you can buy an ugly Christmas sweater to wear to a party, but it's even more fun when you make your own. This fun craft is a great way to get creative and have fun at a holiday party.
- Have each person bring a thrift store sweater and a hot glue gun to the party.
- Before the party, pick up as many craft supplies as you can find. Think pom-poms, sequins, feathers, googly eyes, and other crazy embellishments. You'll also want ribbons, yarn, and glitter.
- At the party, each guest can hot glue the embellishments to their sweater. Give everyone a specified amount of time to work on the sweaters.
- When the time is up, have a fashion show.
Christmas Sticker Stalker
Traditional sticker stalker involves trying to covertly stick stickers to other party attendees. If you're the first to get rid of all your stickers by putting them on other people, you win. The Christmas version simply uses Christmas stickers instead.
- Before the party, pick up packs of stickers shaped like stars, Santa hats, ornaments, and other Christmas shapes.
- Distribute the same number of Christmas stickers to each guest. Twenty is a good number for an evening.
- Have each person try to stick the stickers on others at the party without being noticed. If the other person notices, the sticker gets returned.
- The first person to run out of stickers is the winner. The person with the most holiday stickers stuck to them gets a round of applause too.
Toilet Paper Snowmen
Fans of Frosty The Snowman will love this humorous toilet paper game.
- Divide the group into teams of two.
- Provide each team with one roll of toilet paper, a scarf, a hat, and a pipe (if you so desire).
- Set a timer for 15 seconds to a few minutes, depending on how much time you have available for game play.
- One member from each team has to "build a snowman" out of their teammate, using the roll of toilet paper.
- They have to top it off with the scarf, hat, and pipe (if applicable).
- You can award a prize for the best built, the funniest, and the fastest snowman.
Christmas House Masterpiece
This is a fun game that will test your fine motor skills and coordination.
- Supply each party guest with a plain white paper plate and a magic marker.
- Tell the guests to place the paper plate on top of their head.
- Provide verbal instructions for the players to draw on their paper plates.
- Draw a line to create the ground.
- Draw a house.
- Draw a chimney on top of the house.
- Draw a door on the house.
- Draw a wreath hanging on the front door.
- Draw a sled with reindeer on the roof.
- Award points for each of the following items. He or she with the most points wins!
- Two points if the house touches the ground.
- Two points if the wreath is touching the door.
- One point if the door is on the house.
- One point if the chimney touches the house.
- Two points if the sled and the reindeer are touching the roof.
- One point if the house has decorations, like Christmas string lights, on it.
Pair O' Carolers
This game will test your knowledge on Christmas Carols and singing skills.
- Count off an even number of people. Large groups work well for this game.
- Write down the name of a popular Christmas carol on two slips of paper.
- Put all the slips into a bag, and ask everyone to draw for one.
- When the individuals draw their slip, they can't show it to anyone, but they do have to start humming the song written on the paper.
- People then walk up to other people in search of the other person humming their tune.
- Once a matched pair finds one another, they need to start singing the Christmas song loudly in front of everyone else, and they are the winners!
Christmas Adults-Only Drinking Games
If planning to feature drinking games at your party, be sure you have designated drivers so that all your guests remain safe on their way home.
The Christmas Word Game
You may want to opt for a non-alcoholic drink if you believe you tend not to have the best of luck in most game competitions.
- Divide guests into two teams.
- Give each team a word related to Christmas.
- Read a Christmas story out loud
- Each time the chosen word is mentioned, the team with it takes a drink.
Sing-a-Long
If you can sing and have an excellent memory when it comes to Christmas carol lyrics, no worries about getting a ride home.
- Pick a Christmas carol.
- Have guests take turns singing lines from the song.
- One guest begins by singing the first line and others continue by singing the next.
- If someone messes up or forgets a lyric, he or she must take a drink.
Holiday Gift Exchange Games
If you're planning a gift exchange at your party, you can easily turn the event into a game.
White Elephant
This is a humorous twist on a secret Santa gift exchange.
- In the party invitation, request guests bring a "white elephant" gift, or one that's funny, weird, and/or likely to be unwanted.
- Everyone who has brought a gift then draws a number. Turns will go in numerical order.
- When your number is called, you may unwrap a gift from the pile or take a present another person has already opened.
Unwrapped Elephant Gift
If you are patient and won't peek, you might survive this spin on While Elephant gift exchange.
- Put a twist on the white elephant exchange and choose to not unwrap any of the gifts until the end of the exchange.
- This variation adds an extra element of mystery and luck. The plotting and friendly theft involved in the exchange make for great entertainment.
Left/Right
A fun games for all, even for lefties.
- Everyone sits in a circle holding a gift.
- Someone reads a Christmas-themed story that includes the words "left" and "right" several times each.
- Every time the guests hear "left" in the story, they pass the gifts to the left; every time they hear the word "right," they pass them to the right.
- At the end of the game, you get to unwrap the gift you're holding.
Minute-to-Win-It Christmas Games
Keep your guests active by challenging them to participate in quick and fun holiday games.
Marshmallow Munch
Eat an entire bowl of mini marshmallows and drink a cup of hot cocoa in a minute.
Elf Toss
Players have to toss mini plastic elves into a line of buckets ( 5″ away, 7″ away, and 10 feet away) in one minute. Player has to make elves into each bucket in the time to win.
North Pole Pop
Each player has to pop 10 balloons using just their hands wearing winter gloves in one minute.
Cookies for Santa
Players have to wear a faux Santa's beard, place a cookie on their foreheads and try to get it into their mouths using only facial muscles. No hands allowed.
Snow Shovel
Have two bowls available: one bowl filled with 15 pompoms and one bowl empty. Players must transfer all of the pom poms from one bowl to the other using a plastic spoon in their mouths.
Candy Cane Hook'em
Have an empty deep small bowl and lots of wrapped candy cane on a pile placed on top of the table. Players place a candy cane into their mouth ( curved side out) and try to hook another candy cane from the pile and transfer it to a bowl. No hands allowed.
Oh Christmas Tree
Player has to stack 36 plastic cups in a pyramid (Christmas tree) shape in one minute and put them back into a single stack using only one hand.
Mix Up Game Options
The types of games that you feature at your Christmas party should reflect the type of guests you have attending. When planning games, having a creative mix will ensure that everyone feels comfortable and can take part in the fun. Play a few traditional games that everyone knows how to play and then include a few new ones.
