Christmas Games for Kids: 20 No-Prep Games for Home and the Classroom

The easiest Christmas games for kids need no supplies: Santa Says, Snowman Freeze, Christmas charades, Christmas Pictionary and Christmas Would You Rather all work at home or in a classroom. Open the screen games on a phone or the classroom projector, split the kids into teams, and the game supplies the words and the timer.

Below are 20 Christmas games for kids, sorted into no-prep indoor games, games you run from one screen, games for a school Christmas party, and games with prizes.

Key takeaways

• With no supplies at all, play Santa Says, Snowman Freeze, Christmas Twenty Questions or Christmas I Spy.

• With one phone or screen, play Christmas charades, Pictionary, Christmas Would You Rather or Christmas Jeopardy.

• For a school Christmas party, use team games on the projector; kids don't need accounts or devices.

• CardYard's kids settings keep every prompt simple and clean, and the games run free in a browser.

Christmas games for kids at a glance

No-prep indoor Christmas games for kids

These need no screen and no supplies, so they work anywhere.

1. Santa Says

Play Simon Says with a Christmas twist: "Santa says flap your elf ears," "Santa says pull the sleigh." Anyone who moves without "Santa says" sits down for one round.

2. Snowman Freeze

Play Christmas music while the kids dance, and when the music stops, everyone freezes like a snowman. Anyone who wobbles becomes a snowflake helper who spots the next wobblers.

3. Christmas Twenty Questions

One child thinks of something Christmassy, like a gingerbread house, and everyone else gets 20 yes-or-no questions to guess it. It works in the car, too.

4. Christmas I Spy

Take turns saying "I spy something red and shiny" around the tree. Younger kids can use colors, and older kids can use first letters.

5. Reindeer, Reindeer, Santa

Play Duck, Duck, Goose with Christmas words: the tapper says "reindeer" around the circle, then "Santa," and the chase begins.

Christmas games you run from one screen

Open these on a phone, a tablet or the TV.

6. Christmas charades

Show the word to the actor and let the group guess. The kids charades generator has 60 reviewed prompts for ages 4 to 12, like "hop like a bunny," and the Christmas charades ideas add festive ones. Let the youngest act in pairs.

7. Christmas Pictionary

Open Pictionary, type "Christmas" as the theme, and choose easy objects. One child draws a snowman or a candy cane, and their team guesses before the timer ends.

8. Christmas Would You Rather

Read from the 80 Christmas Would You Rather questions. The first group is easiest for children, and the list avoids adult material. Kids move to one side of the room to vote.

9. Christmas Jeopardy

Christmas Jeopardy builds a board of 25 clues in five festive categories for two to four teams. It suits a classroom or a family with older kids.

10. Christmas categories game

The Christmas categories game has eight original holiday lists. Kids write one answer per category for a random letter before the timer ends.

11. Christmas trivia

Read questions from our Christmas trivia questions, starting with the easy round for kids.

12. Hue Hunt

In Hue Hunt, one player picks a secret color and gives a short clue like "Rudolph's nose," and the others guess on a board of 480 colors. It plays well with 2 to 10 kids.

13. 10 Second Panic

10 Second Panic shows a "name five" prompt, and a player has ten seconds to answer. Choose the easy deck for younger kids.

14. 15 Words or Less

In 15 Words or Less, a clue-giver describes target words with a limited number of spoken words. Older kids can play with 15 words and younger ones with 25.

15. Stop the Timer

Stop the Timer challenges each child to stop the clock at exactly 10 seconds. Turn on Blind Time to hide the clock for a harder round.

Christmas party games for kids at school

A classroom Christmas party works best as a 45-minute plan run from the projector:

• 10 minutes: Santa Says or Snowman Freeze to burn off energy.

• 15 minutes: Christmas charades or Christmas Pictionary in two teams.

• 10 minutes: Christmas Would You Rather, with kids moving to vote.

• 10 minutes: Christmas Jeopardy or the categories game as the finale.

Students don't need accounts or devices. For more ideas through the year, see our no-prep classroom games.

Christmas games for kids with prizes

16. What's missing from the tree?

Put about ten small ornaments on a tray, let everyone look, then cover it and take one away. The first to name the missing ornament wins a sweet. The NSPCC rates this memory game for ages 4 and up (NSPCC Christmas games, retrieved 2026-10-18).

17. Pass the present

Wrap a small prize in layers, with a treat between each one. Pass it while the music plays, and whoever holds it when the music stops unwraps one layer.

18. Christmas musical chairs

Play Christmas songs and remove one chair each round. The last child sitting wins a candy cane.

19. Christmas mad libs

Write a short Santa story with blanks for nouns, verbs and silly words. Kids fill in the blanks without seeing the story, then you read it aloud.

20. Holiday scavenger hunt

Hide a few festive items, like a bell, a bow and an ornament, and give kids a picture list to find them. Give a small prize to everyone who finishes.

Tips for Christmas games with kids

• Mix ages on teams. Pair a young child with an older sibling or a parent.

• Keep rounds short. Use 30 to 60 second turns.

• Read prompts aloud for kids who are still learning to read.

• Reward everyone. Small treats for every round winner keep it friendly.

• End with a calm game like I Spy before bedtime or home time.