Christmas games & activities for families: ideas for the holidays

Christmas party games to do with the kids

The Christmas season is full of excitement and anticipation, and it usually flies by for children. Children look forward to Christmas every year, but it can sometimes be a long time until they can open their presents. Even during the Christmas holidays, a bit of variety is needed to keep boredom at bay. And what could be more fun than Christmas games and fun activities to spend time together? Here you can find creative ideas for children of all ages that parents can plan for the holidays.

Christmas games for children of all ages

Christmas games are the perfect opportunity to spend time with family and friends and to keep everyone entertained.

Fun Christmas games for small children:

• Christmas treasure hunt: hide festive items around your home (for example, Christmas decorations) and make a treasure map with clues.

• Match contest: all you’ll need for this game are matches and dice. Each player is allowed to take as many matches as they have rolled. The player with the most matches at the end of the game is the winner.

• Shell game: for this game, you need four cups and a nut. One of the players places the nut under a cup and then shuffles the cups in plain view. Now the other players must guess under which cup the nut is.

• I spy with my little eye: a classic amongst children’s games is the ever-popular guessing game "I spy with my little eye". It’s a delight to play this game in a beautifully decorated living room with different objects to guess.

• Chinese whispers: try whispering festive words like “Christmas jumper”, “Christmas cracker” or “Christmas stocking” to other players and see what garbled combinations come out at the end.

• Guess the fragrance: in preparation for the game, fill different items, which you associate with Christmas, into small containers. Examples could be biscuits, a twig of pine, Christmas tea or a tangerine. Now let your children solve the puzzle and train their sense of smell.

Christmas games for older kids:

• I packed my bag: equally popular is the memory game “I packed my bag”. How about trying it with a twist this time and only packing festive items? From Christmas socks, an ugly Christmas sweater or a Christmas tree – everything goes.

• Categories: with festive categories, you can simply transform this popular word game into a game for winter. Create a festive atmosphere with new categories like “Christmas sweets” or “Christmas carols”.

• Charades: this guessing game is not only popular at parties but also at family gatherings. In this game, the family members play against one another in teams and must act out words with pantomime only. Players then try to guess the word. If you want to play a festive version of this game, you can define a set of specific Christmas words before playing. A similarly popular game is Pictionary, in which a word or phrase is drawn and must be guessed by the teammate.

• “Who am I”: a true classic amongst the guessing games is “Who am I”. This game is also easily adapted to a Christmas theme. To do this, the players must think of Christmas characters (for example, a snowman, Joseph, or Saint Nicholas). The players must then ask clever questions to figure out who the characters are.

• How do you doo: do your kids know a lot about music? Then let them put their musical knowledge to the test with a game of “how do you doo”. The catch: you can only use the word “doo” when you sing. The player who names the most song titles wins.

• Christmas gift game: if you haven’t tried to wrap a gift with one hand, then give this challenge a try. Players of the same team can work together but must always have one hand behind their back. It’s guaranteed to be a lot of fun!

Christmas crafts

Many children love to experiment with different colours and materials. So how about making a funny Christmas character from a handprint or a cute snowman? You can find exact step-by-step instructions in our article “Christmas crafts for kids”.

Christmas baking recipes

Baking at Christmas time is guaranteed to be a lot of fun for the whole family. Everyone can get involved with kneading the dough, cutting out biscuits and secretly snacking on the dough. Your child can be especially creative when it comes to decorating the biscuits.

A highlight for children at Christmas time is building and decorating a gingerbread house. You can bake the individual parts yourself or buy a ready-made set that only needs to be assembled. From colourful icing and Gummi Bears to iridescent sprinkles – when it comes to decorating, let your imagination run wild.

Christmas stories

On cold winter evenings, for many families there is nothing better than snuggling up on the sofa and listening to Christmas stories. There are many wonderful Christmas stories and fairy tales for children that will most certainly delight your little ones. In addition, this is also the perfect opportunity to practice reading together.

A Christmas film night

A Christmas film is a must for many families during the festive season. Prepare pillows, blankets and snacks for a cosy atmosphere. Don’t forget your pair of cosy pyjamas for a Christmas film night. A relaxed pair of joggers and a soft jumper are also a good choice. This way, you are sure to be comfortable for your film night.

More ideas for indoor Christmas activities:

• Secret Santa

• Make Christmas characters from home-made Play-Doh

• Write Christmas cards

• Decorate your living room with Christmas trees made from old sweaters

• Dance to Christmas music

Visit a Christmas market

The smell of sugared almonds, the sound of festive music and brightly lit stalls: there is a lot for children to discover at Christmas markets. Christmas markets are very popular with families and they are a wonderful activity that you can enjoy together. A lot of markets also offer special activities for children, such as making candles.

Tip: To avoid the crowds a bit, it’s a good idea – especially if you’ve got young children – to visit Christmas markets in the morning or early afternoon. That way, your children will see the festively decorated stalls without crowds.

Ice skating

Many children love ice skating in winter and improving their skating skills. An outing to a frozen lake or skating rink is sure to excite and delight.

Tip: You can use the layering principle for ice skating: multiple layers of clothing will help to keep you warm. For this purpose, functional clothing forms a good basis. In addition to this, a pair of well-fitted trousers, a warm jumper and a form-fitting jacket are a good choice.

Discovering animal tracks

In winter, there is a lot to discover in the forest. For example, fresh snow makes it easy to spot animal tracks left by deer, rabbits or mice. You can enjoy time outside in the fresh air looking for animal tracks with your child.

More ideas for outdoor activities at Christmas time:

• Sledding

• Making a snowman

• Geocaching

• Snowball fight

• Winter barbecue

• Relaxing at a water park

• See a Christmas play

Conclusion: fun ideas and Christmas games for kids

There are a lot of fun and creative Christmas games for children that can provide a source of entertainment during the holidays. Classic games are easily adapted to a Christmas theme, for example, charades with a festive set of words. As a family, you can also enjoy great indoor and outdoor activities such as baking biscuits, carolling, ice skating or even following animal tracks. There are a lot of fun activities to choose from to get your whole family involved.

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Sources and further information:

https://www.playpartyplan.com/25-christmas-party-games/
(accessed on 21.09.2026)

https://www.thebestideasforkids.com/christmas-crafts-for-kids/
(accessed on 21.09.2026)

https://ideas.hallmark.com/articles/christmas-ideas/ways-to-make-christmas-magical-for-kids/
(accessed on 21.09.2026)

https://www.thekidcounselor.com/make-holiday-season-kids/
(accessed on 21.09.2026)

Source of images in chronological order in text:

Cover photo: iStock.com/VioletaStoimenova
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