Christmas day in our house is about playing Christmas party games – it makes the day a bit different to the rest of the year and it keeps everyone entertained. These Christmas party games are for young and old to play together because engaging with children boosts their confidence and can be a great way to involve them in family life.

Now I realise some families aren’t as competitive as ours and 1 or 2 Christmas party games are quite sufficient. Feel free to pick your favourites and just stick to that!

9 fun Christmas party games for young and old

Personalised Guess Who

Guess Who is a classic game where 24 faces are displayed. Then somebody secretly chooses 1 of the faces and everybody has to work out which it is by eliminating the other 23.

Personalise this fun Christmas game by using photos of people in your family or famous people.

When you’re creating games for young and old, you can encourage them to work together by purposefully using information that only parts of the group know so they have to rely on each other. For example, the adults may recognise a picture of Donald Trump but not recognise Iggle Piggle from In The Night Garden.

Traditionally, you have a board each, but when we play at Christmas, we just have 1 person who decides on a character and then everyone else works together to find out who it is. You can display the faces by printing them out and sticking them up, or on a computer screen.

Close Up Christmas Items

All you need to do for this party game is take some close up photos of the Christmas items dotted around your house. You could crop the photos even further to make it even more difficult if you wish. Here are a few examples:

• Christmas tree branch
• Bauble
• Advent calendar
• Candle
• Tinsel

Display the photos and everybody has to work out what they are.

Another tip for organising family party games for young and old is to have a range of difficulty in the questions. As long as there are plenty that the children can manage, you can slip in a few really tricky ones to test the adults – then everybody is happy.

Rip a pic

Give each person a piece of paper. They have 30 seconds to rip that paper into the shape you ask for. Then judge whose is the best. Here are a few Christmassy ideas for you to try:

• Christmas tree
• Star
• Snowman
• Wreath
• Candle
• Cracker

Again, because we’re trying to create games for young and old, differentiate the task by making the adults rip the paper behind their backs. This makes it a more even playing field.

Another alternative to this game is, instead of ripping paper, ask the players to draw with their eyes closed. Again, to make it more difficult for the adults, they have to place the paper on top of their heads to draw.

Mr & Mrs: Mummy vs. Daddy

The traditional Mr & Mrs game has been around for ages and is always a good one for a giggle.

This is a slightly different take on it because the children need to decide whether the answer is Mummy or Daddy (you could also go with Grandma or Grandpa, or Uncle John or Uncle Phil depending on who is at your party).

Here are a few questions to get you started:

If you want to really embrace the game, give each child a Mummy sign and a Daddy sign for them to hold up depending on who they think.

Other

And here are a few more games for young and old that you might want to try:

• Scavenger hunt – divide into teams. Leader calls out an item (e.g. hair bobble) and the first team to bring that item to the leader gets a point
• Corners – stick a Christmas image in each corner of the room. Play music. When the music stops, each person chooses a corner. Leader calls out an image and everyone stood there is out
• Twas the night RIGHT before Christmas – sit in a circle. Pass the parcel right when you hear the word “right” and left when you hear the word “left”. The winner is the one holding it at the end. Link to poem
• Jingle Bells – 1 person sits in the middle of the room on a chair, blindfolded. There are bells under the chair. Everyone else has to try and take the bells but you are out if the blindfolded player hears and points at you
• Toilet roll snowman – use a toilet roll and props to make a player into a snowman. Make it competitive by dividing into teams and a prize goes to the best snowman

As a bonus activity idea, you could even act out the Christmas story using this story sheet which involves lots of audience participation!

I hope you enjoyed my list of fun Christmas party games for young and old. What games do you like to play as a family? Have you tried any of the ones I’ve listed? Or do you prefer a quiet Christmas in front of the TV? I always love to hear from you so let me know in the comments section below.

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