24 Family-Friendly Games to Play at the Holidays

Whether it’s a classic like It’s a Wonderful Life or your favorite Mario Lopez Hallmark movie (we’re partial to Feliz NaviDad), everyone will love this twist on a traditional movie night. Pop some popcorn, put on your PJs, and keep an eye out for the traditional holiday movie motifs.

Do you know your Frasier fir from your fresh pine? What about cranberry from holly berry? Holiday candles come in every possible cozy scent, and we like the idea of turning them into a blind tasting (er … smelling?). Buy all the holiday candles from one of your favorite retailers, put on blindfolds, and see who can guess the most correctly.

For an old-school activity, hide candy canes all around the Christmas tree and throughout your home. Give the kids (and the adults!) Santa hats to fill with as many as they can find.

How well do you know your holiday phrases? Can you guess them from just a set of emojis? This game gives you winter- and holiday-related emoji combinations and lets you guess what it means.

You know that game where you run around with an egg on a spoon? This is even higher-stakes (unless you buy shatterproof ornaments!). Create a relay race course where you balance an ornament on a spoon and pass it off to your teammate, each completing either a leg of the race or an entire loop of the course. First team to finish wins.

Who hasn’t seen Elf way too many times over the holidays? But have you been paying attention? Only this game will tell. Depending on how competitive you are, make a night out of it by playing the movie either before or after playing the trivia game.

How fast are your wrapping skills? Give each person a similarly sized set of boxes, a roll of paper, and tape. On your marks, get set, wrap! Race to the fastest wrapping — but don’t cut corners. You can disqualify contestants for tape that doesn’t stick and missing pieces of paper.

After you’ve wrapped the presents, there’s another fun game you can play! Everyone wears mittens and races to unwrap the presents without the use of all their fingers. First to finish their stack wins. Tip: Make the teams swap presents before the unwrapping portion so no one gives themselves an advantage with loose tape!

Warning: Don’t attempt this with full mugs of hot chocolate! Instead, play it before you start sipping on cozy cocoa. Choose mini marshmallows or full size, and see who can make the most into a mug.

This is one where everyone can be a winner! Host a gingerbread house decorating competition and give out awards for different categories. “Best House for a Snowman,” “Sweetest Decor,” “Most Likely to Make it Into Christmas Living Magazine,” and more give everyone a chance to shine.

Think of this like the ultimate building blocks challenge. Buy green plastic cups and attempt to stack 100 to form a Christmas tree. Keep working upwards in a pyramid, and, to make it extra festive, add a few pom-pom ornaments with glue as you go.

Make a Christmas tree of Polaroid photos of all of your family members and vote on superlatives for each. Maybe your sister is “Best Cookie Decorator,” your mom is “Most Likely to Spill What She Got You,” and your nephew is “Most Likely to Surprise You with a Snowball.” 

Bring back this elementary school favorite! Put on a blindfold and take turns trying to give Rudolph his signature ruby nose.

If you have a high-energy group, this card game is a must-have! Each player takes an equal amount of cards, then takes turns flipping a card. They say one of the five words in the title and, if it matches the flipped card, every player slaps the pile. The last person to slap takes the cards. First person to zero cards wins! 

Write your favorite holiday characters on sticky notes, then each person sticks one to their forehead (no peeking!). Everyone tries to explain to that person who is on their head but, the catch is, they can’t say the name.

Get the most bang for your buck with this set of 12 games that combines all the fun in one box. There are games from Reindeer Antler Ring Toss to Merry Quizmas to Clutch the Kazoos (we’re intrigued!), and you can even play some of the games without a group.

Even the littlest of elves can join in on the fun with this charades game that has 90 different Christmas-themed prompts to choose from. Images on the cards illustrate each acting choice, meaning there’s no need to read when it’s your turn. This is the perfect game to play after dinner, gathered around the fire, with upbeat carols playing in the background.

If you have a big Dr. Seuss fan in your life, then this Grinch-themed holiday game is exactly what they’ll want to find under the tree. This small ring toss set is great to set up at holiday parties, office parties, or anytime you want to give people a fun distraction.