15 FUN CHRISTMAS PARTY GAMES FOR TEENS | 2024 (2024)

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I’ve put together a list of 15 fun Christmas party games for teens that older kids can enjoy playing with their siblings, cousins, friends and even… adults! These games will help you make sure your teens are included and engaged in the festive fun this year rather than sloping off to scroll TikTok and Snap their friends.

THE CHALLENGE OF ENTERTAINING TEENS AT CHRISTMAS

As kids head into their teenage years, it’s natural that they become less interested in spending time with their family and might not enjoy the activities they once found entertaining. As a result, they might skip family time or prefer to spend the Christmas holidays playing on their phones.

But it really is worth making an extra effort to engage them in family fun and games.And I promise that if you can get teens engaged and actively participating, they will thank you, both now and in years to come, for helping to make their Christmas magical and memorable.

The party games in my roundup are easy to set up, and some of them require no preparation. If you’re a teacher, you can also use these games around Christmas time in the classroom.

Some of these games are suitable for younger teens, but there are more complicated ones that older teens and adults will find amusing.

15 ENTERTAINING CHRISTMAS PARTY GAMES FOR TEENS

Here are some party games that even the hardest-to-please teens will love playing this Christmas.

Here’s a video of what an inflatable reindeer ring toss game looks like in action.

2. GOOD SANTA/BAD SANTA PASS THE PARCEL

Good Santa/Bad Santa Pass The Parcel is a riff on the classic game of Pass The Parcel that brings a little friendly competition and excitement into play.

• Number of players: 6+
• Props: Wrapping paper, tape, a selection of good and bad little gifts, music.

How to play:

Wrap up a main gift and a series of smaller gifts layer by layer to make a parcel to pass.

The twist is that every other gift is a bad gift.

Examples of bad little gifts:

• An old sock with a hole in the toe
• An empty crisp packet
• A stone
• A comedy dare written on a note that the ‘winner’ must do
• A brown banana skin

Play the game in the usual way, with everyone sitting in a circle, taking turns to pass the parcel until the music stops and the person holding the parcel gets to open a layer of the parcel.

3. SANTA’S BEARD RELAY RACE

The Santa’s Beard Relay Race is pure comedy, and I challenge anyone not to fall about laughing while playing it. I must note it’s probably not a game for any teens who don’t want to mess up their make-up!

• Number of players: An even number of players
• Props: A couple of large plates, cotton balls, and Vaseline or any type of petroleum jelly

How to play:

Pour cotton wool balls onto two large plates and put the plates on a table at one end of the room.

Divide the players into two teams and get them to stand at the other end of the room from the table.

Smear the lower half of each player’s face with Vaseline.

At the start of the race, the first player from each team must race to the table and bury their face in a plate of cotton wool balls. The aim is to get as many balls as possible to stick to their face and create a ‘Santa beard’.

They are not allowed to use their hands to stick the cotton wool balls on.

Once they’ve had their turn, they must return to their team, and the next player sets off.

The winning team is the one who has managed to collectively collect the most cotton wool balls.

4. CHRISTMAS TWO TRUTHS AND ONE LIE

Now, this is as much a game of jeopardy as it is a guessing game! There is a risk of causing offence, though hopefully only in a light-hearted, jovial way. This game can work for younger and older teens, and it works for small and big groups.

• Number of players: Unlimited number
• Props: Paper and pens for each player

How to play:

Ask each player to write down the three worst gifts they’ve ever received. Two of the gifts have to be actual gifts they have received, and one has to be made up.

Each player, in turn, reads out their list and must try to be as convincing as possible about the gift that is a lie.

The other players must ask questions about the gifts to try and discern which gift is the lie.

Continue until everyone has had a turn.

5. CHRISTMAS STOCKING GUESSING GAME

This guessing game can lead to fits of giggles and much hilarity if you manage to get a really good selection of items for the players to guess.

• Number of players: 3 – 10
• Props: A Christmas stocking, about 20 random items, paper and pens for players to use.

How to play:

Without anyone seeing, fill the Christmas stocking with five items from the selection you’ve put together.

Pass the stocking around the players, who must feel the stocking and write down what they think the items are.

Once everyone has written their answers, reveal the items one by one and see who has the correct answers and who has the zaniest or most inappropriate answers.

Play again with the next selection of items.

6. CANDY CANE RELAY RACE

This is a great game for large festive gatherings or for school classes. You will need a large room or space outdoors to really make the most of playing this relay race game.

• Number of players: Teams of four players
• Props: Enough candy canes for one per player, plus an extra one per team.

How to play:

Divide the players into teams with four players in each team and ask two members of each team to stand at one end of the race track and the other two to stand at the opposite end.

Give each player a candy cane.

Give the first player in each team to race an extra candy cane, which they must hook onto the candy cane they already have.

When the race starts, the first player must run as fast as they can to the opposite end of the track without dropping the candy cane they have hooked onto the cane they are holding.

Once at the other end of the track, they must transfer the hooked candy cane to the cane of the next player in their team to race. They must make the transfer without touching the hooked cane with their hands.

Once the candy cane is hooked, the second player must race back to the start line and transfer the hooked candy cane to the third person to run. Rinse and repeat until all players have run.

The winning team is the first to have everyone successfully transfer the hooked candy cane and reach the finish line.

7. CHRISTMAS SONG PICTIONARY

Christmas Song Pictionary is a twist on classic Pictionary. It works particularly well with smaller groups but can also scale to be played with a large group of players.

• Number of players: Unlimited number
• Props: Note cards, pens, whiteboard, and markers

How to play:

Write down the names of a bunch of well-known (and not so well-known if you want to be tricksy) Christmas songs and carols, each one on an individual note card. Place the cards face down.

Divide the players into two teams and ask a player to come over and pick a face-down card.

The player should then attempt to draw the song or carol on the whiteboard so that their team can guess what it is. Words and numbers are not allowed.

Set a time limit (five minutes works well). If the team guesses correctly, they score a point.

If they don’t guess correctly, the opposing team can steal the point if they can guess correctly.

8. CHRISTMAS PLAYDOUGH PICTIONARY

Who says playdough is just for little kids?! Playdough Pictionary is a brilliant alternative 3D take on Pictionary. It’s hilarious how competitive this can get, plus it’s great for sparking nostalgia for childhood, which teens secretly love.

• Number of players: Unlimited number
• Props: Playdough (Play-Doh), note cards, and pens

How to play:

Write down the names of a bunch of Christmas-related items, each one on an individual note card. Place the cards face down.

Divide the players into two teams. Challenge each player in turn to choose a note card and then use playdough to create the item on the card.

The player’s team should try and guess the item.

Set a time limit (five minutes works well). If the team guesses correctly, they score a point.

If they don’t guess correctly, the opposing team can try to steal the point.

9. SANTA LIMBO

I just love the silliness of Santa Limbo, it’s exactly the kind of game that works well with teens.

• Number of players: Unlimited number
• Props: Santa hats, a broomstick, a pole or scarf, and pillows

How to play:

Ask two players to hold the broomstick/scarf at shoulder height.

The rest of the players take turns putting on a Santa hat and a pillow under their clothes for Santa’s belly. They then have to try to limbo under the broomstick/pole without touching it and without their hat falling off.

The hat and the belly make it even harder than usual to limbo, especially as the pole goes lower.

The two players holding the broomstick/scarf should move the broomstick lower after everyone has had a turn, and then the players try to go again.

The winner is the person who manages to keep the hat on and go the lowest.

10. FUN FACT SNOWBALLS

This game turns a ‘snowball’ fight into a fun facts guessing game.

• Number of players: Unlimited number
• Props: Lots of white paper, a selection of pens and a big glass bowl.

How to play:

Give each teen a few sheets of white paper and ask them to write a fun fact about themselves on each piece of paper and then scrunch it up into a ‘snowball’.

Put all the snowballs in the glass bowl.

Get all the players to sit around in a circle. One player grabs and snowball from the ball and throws it at another player.

The player who catches the snowball must read out the fun fact, and everyone else has to guess whose fact it is. This can be particularly fun if the person reading out the fact happens to be the person who wrote the fact because they will have to try hard not to give themselves away.

11. CHRISTMAS KARAOKE CHALLENGE

You can go one of two ways when setting up a Christmas Karaoke Challenge. You can either go for popstar-like performances, or you can go down the novelty Christmas song route and aim for comedy.

• Number of players:8+
• Props:Karaoke machineor the Smule app gets good reviews (iOS/Android)

How to play:

Put together a playlist of Christmas classics or Christmas novelty songs and get everyone taking turns to sing their heart out and entertain everyone else.

You could introduce a competitive element and offer a Christmas gift as a prize for the best performance.

12. CHRISTMAS SCAVENGER HUNT

A Christmas Scavenger Hunt is a great game for teens. Go for a simple game where you just give everyone a list of items to find. Or make it more challenging by creating clues in the form of riddles or puzzles for players to guess the locations.

• Number of players: 4+
• Props: Christmas-themed items, lists of the items to be found and clues for how to find them, a prize

How to play:

Create a list of items for the players to find. Give the items a Christmas theme for a little festive fun. So things like:

• Christmas bauble
• Candy canes
• Santa hat
• Snow globe
• Red Rudolph nose
• A sparkly star
• A mini Christmas tree
• Little gifts (with candy/sweets inside)
• Letter to Santa (write out a comedy list of toy requests)
• Mistletoe
• An angel
• Winter scarf

Hide the items around the house or outdoor area where the scavenger hunt will take place.

Make sure to keep track of where you hide each item, just in case!

Divide the players into teams. Each team should have at least two players, but you can have as many teams as you like.

Give each team a copy of the scavenger hunt list and clues and a bag to collect the items in.

Set a time limit for the scavenger hunt. Depending on the number of items and the size of the playing area, the time limit can be anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.

As the teams find the items on the list, they should collect them in their bag or basket and check them off the list.

Once the time limit is up, have the teams return to a designated meeting spot to tally up their scores.

Award points for each item found.

The team with the most points at the end of the scavenger hunt wins a prize.

13. INDOOR SNOWMAN BUILDING COMPETITION

Don’t worry, you don’t need to import snow into your home! This is a food-based game. The aim of the Indoor Snowman Building Competition is for the players to compete to create the best-looking edible snowman. It’s a great game for smaller groups of teens.

• Number of players: 2-10
• Props: Vanilla ice cream, candy sticks, raisins, chocolate chips, pretzels, marshmallows, chocolate or fruit sauce, and/or other edible decorations, scoops, spoons, plates, and a timer.

How to play:

You can either divide the players into teams, or everyone can play individually.

The challenge is for the teams or individuals to build a snowman as quickly as possible before the ice cream melts. They can use as many of the ingredients as they want to make the best-looking snowman.

To make the game more challenging, only allow the players to use one hand to build the snowmen.

The winning team is the team with the best-looking snowman.

As an added bonus, the players can also enjoy eating their ice cream snowmen after they’re done!

14. THE BIG CHRISTMAS GIFT WRAPPING RELAY RACE

When I say ‘big’, I mean BIG because this game involves wrapping up players as a Christmas gift and challenging them to run an obstacle course. This game works well both outdoors and indoors. Just make sure you have enough room to play it indoors.

• Number of players: An even number of players
• Props: Wrapping paper, wrapping decorations, masking tape and a selection of obstacles

How to play:

Set up the party room or outdoor area with a selection of obstacles. Obstacles could include:

• Cones
• Balls
• Jumps
• Ramps
• Mini balance beam
• Hula hoop
• Skipping rope

Use masking tape to set a start line and finish line. Set out enough gift-wrapping materials for each team on the start line.

Divide the players into teams and ask them to gather at the start line.

At the start of the race, each team must wrap a player like a gift. Once the player is wrapped, they must negotiate the obstacle course and then run back to their team.

The winning team is the first team where every player has been wrapped and run the obstacle course.

15. SANTA’S HELPER RELAY RACE

Santa’s Helper is a slightly different relay race involving gifts to the Big Christmas Gift Wrapping Race. In Santa’s Helper, the challenge is for players to wrap a number of gifts and then race against each other whilst carrying the big stack of gifts. This is an excellent game for younger teens, and it works well for larger groups.

• Number of players: 4+
• Props: Boxes and objects to be wrapped as gifts, wrapping paper, tape, ribbons, and bows

How to play:

Divide the players into teams and give each one of them an equal number of gifts – around 7 or 8 is a good number. Try and make sure that each team gets similar or identical shapes to wrap.

At the start of the race, each team should start wrapping the gifts as fast as possible.

Once a team has wrapped all the gifts, they should then take turns each team member to become Santa’s Helper and race to the other end of the race track and back with the stack of gifts. If they drop a gift, they have to return to the start line and begin again.

The winning team is the one whose players finish the relay race first.