Family Games Christmas Party Guests of All Ages Can Play (Grandparents Included)
The best family games for a Christmas party let a six-year-old and an 80-year-old play on the same team: the pass the present dice game, a then-and-now photo match, the left right Christmas story, a party premiere video from the guests who couldn't come, and pass the parcel. None of them need a screen, a rulebook or anyone getting down on the floor, and each one plays well with 10 to 30 people across three generations.
A note before the list: we make Tribute, the group video maker, and it's one of the 14 games.
| Game | Best for | Time needed | What you need |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pass the present dice game | Any crowd | 20 minutes | Two dice, small wrapped gifts |
| Then-and-now photo match | Grandparents and teens | 15 minutes | Old Christmas photos |
| The left right Christmas story | Groups in a circle | 10 minutes | One gift, a printed story |
| The party premiere (a group video) | Families with people far away | 10 minutes at the party | A Tribute made 2 to 3 weeks before |
| Pass the parcel | Kids with grandparents | 15 minutes | A gift wrapped in many layers |
| How well do you know Grandma? | Grandparents in the spotlight | 15 minutes | Ten questions |
| The Christmas price guess | Older adults | 15 minutes | Grocery items with receipts |
| Carol bingo | All ages, seated | 20 minutes | Bingo cards, a speaker |
| Christmas then, a story round | The end of the night | 20 minutes | A few prompts |
| Grand-team charades | Grandparent and grandchild pairs | 20 minutes | Slips of paper |
| Reindeer ring toss | Little kids | 10 minutes | Antler headband, paper plate rings |
| Toilet paper snowman | Teams of three | 10 minutes | Rolls of toilet paper |
| Pin the nose on the reindeer | Ages 3 to 8 | 10 minutes | A poster, a blindfold |
| Christmas categories | Ages 8 and up | 15 minutes | Paper, pens |
What are the best family games for a Christmas party?
Christmas party games for families have a harder job than games at home. The room is bigger, half the guests only see each other once a year, and the youngest and oldest players need to be in the same round. Pew Research Center found that 82% of U.S. adults planned to gather with family and friends on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day (Pew, 2017), so most hosts face this crowd at least once a season.
The games below keep everyone in their seats or close to them. Most need a pen, a few photos or a small wrapped gift.
1. Pass the present dice game
Put one small wrapped gift per guest in the middle of the room. Players take turns rolling two dice; doubles let you take a gift from the pile. Once the pile is gone, set a five-minute timer and doubles now mean you steal from anyone. When the timer ends, you keep what you hold.
- Time needed: 20 minutes
- Cost: About $5 per gift, or ask each guest to bring one
Best for: Any size crowd, since dice don't care how old you are.
Why it works: Luck decides everything, so Grandpa and the toddler are even.
2. Then-and-now photo match
Ask relatives to send one old Christmas photo of themselves as a kid. Print them, number them and tape them to a wall. Guests write down who they think each child is, and the grandparents tend to win because they were holding the camera.
- Time needed: 15 minutes, plus an hour to collect and print photos
- Cost: A few dollars in printing
Best for: Big families where the teens have never seen Dad with a mullet.
Why it works: Grandparents become the experts, and every photo comes with a story.
3. The left right Christmas story
Sit in a circle with one wrapped gift. Someone reads a short Christmas story packed with the words "left" and "right," and the gift moves in that direction every time one is spoken. Whoever holds it when the story ends keeps it. Write your own story with family names in it and the laughs double.
- Time needed: 10 minutes
- Cost: One small gift
Best for: Groups who can sit in a circle, from lap-sitting toddlers up.
Why it works: Nobody has to perform, and the confusion is the fun.
4. The party premiere (a Tribute group video)
Two to three weeks before the party, start a Tribute and send the link to the relatives who can't come: the uncle overseas, the cousin with a newborn, the friend who moved across the country. Tribute is a group video maker that turns messages from friends and family into one surprise video. It works by inviting everyone to record a short clip from their phone; Tribute compiles the clips, music and photos into a finished video you share or play together.
Ask each person to answer one question, such as "What's your favorite memory of this family at Christmas?" Dim the lights halfway through the party and play it on the TV, with the youngest grandchild in charge of the remote. Unlike a group call, nobody has to be online at the same time, and the grandparents can watch it again the next morning. Over 8 million videos have been sent on Tribute, and it holds 4.9 stars from 7,000+ reviews.
- Time needed: 10 minutes at the party; open it 2 to 3 weeks ahead so people have time to record
- Cost: Free to start a draft; you pay from $35 when you publish and start collecting videos
Best for: Families with people who can't travel this year.
Why it works: The missing faces join the party, and the whole room watches together.
5. Pass the parcel
Wrap a small prize in ten or more layers of paper, tucking a candy or a joke between each layer. Play music and pass the parcel around the circle. When the music stops, whoever holds it tears off one layer. The player who opens the last layer wins the prize.
- Time needed: 15 minutes
- Cost: One prize, a roll of paper and some candy
Best for: Kids, with a grandparent running the music.
Why it works: Every layer is a small win, so almost everyone gets something.
Which Christmas party games work for older adults and grandparents?
Many grandparents travel far for the party. AARP's research on grandparents found that over half have at least one grandchild living more than 200 miles away (2018 AARP Grandparents Study). These fun party games for families give them a reason to talk with grandkids they don't see often, and none of them ask anyone to stand for long.
6. How well do you know Grandma?
Before the party, ask Grandma ten questions in private: her first job, her favorite carol, the worst gift she ever got. At the party, the grandkids form a team and guess her answers while she sits in the judge's chair. Swap in Grandpa for round two.
- Time needed: 15 minutes
- Cost: Nothing
Best for: Putting a grandparent at the center of the room.
Why it works: The kids learn things about her they never knew to ask.
7. The Christmas price guess
Set out ten grocery items from the holiday shop: a turkey, a bag of cranberries, a box of candy canes. Guests write down what they think each one costs, and the closest guess without going over wins the item. Compared to a trivia game, this one rewards people who do the shopping, which often means the oldest players.
- Time needed: 15 minutes
- Cost: Items you were buying anyway
Best for: Christmas party games for older adults who like to be right.
Why it works: Experience beats speed, which flips the usual winners.
8. Carol bingo
Make bingo cards with carol titles instead of numbers. Play the first few seconds of each song on a speaker, and players mark the title if they recognize it. The first full row wins a prize, and the room ends up singing along by the third song.
- Time needed: 20 minutes
- Cost: Printer paper
Best for: All ages, all seated.
Why it works: Grandparents know the old songs and kids know the new ones, so both get rows.
9. Christmas then, a story round
Write prompts on cards and let the oldest guests draw them: "Your best Christmas as a kid," "A gift you made by hand," "The year everything went wrong." Each storyteller gets two minutes. The kids then guess which year it happened.
- Time needed: 20 minutes
- Cost: Nothing
Best for: The end of the night, when the room is full and calm.
Why it works: Grandparents get to tell the stories nobody has asked for in years.
10. Grand-team charades
Pair each grandparent with a grandchild. One acts out a Christmas movie or song while the partner guesses, then they swap roles. Teams race the clock, and the pair with the most correct guesses in two minutes wins.
- Time needed: 20 minutes
- Cost: Nothing
Best for: Mixed-age pairs who don't spend much time together.
Why it works: Each pair needs both players, so neither generation can carry the other.
What are fun family games for a Christmas party with little kids?
Little guests need short rounds and something to throw, stack or stick. These games to play at a Christmas party take ten minutes and leave space for a grandparent to judge from the couch.
11. Reindeer ring toss
One adult wears an antler headband and kneels. Kids toss rings cut from paper plates and try to land them on the antlers. The adult can lean to help the smallest players, which they always will.
- Time needed: 10 minutes
- Cost: An antler headband and paper plates
Best for: Ages 3 to 8.
Why it works: The target moves and laughs, which kids find hilarious.
12. Toilet paper snowman
Teams of three pick one player to be the snowman. The other two wrap them in toilet paper, then add a scarf, a hat and paper buttons. The grandparents pick the winner after two minutes.
- Time needed: 10 minutes
- Cost: A few rolls
Best for: Teams of mixed ages.
Why it works: It's one of the hilarious Christmas party games that also makes the photo of the night.
13. Pin the nose on the reindeer
Draw a reindeer on a poster and cut out red paper noses with tape on the back. Blindfold each player, spin them three times and point them at the wall. The nose closest to the middle of the face wins.
- Time needed: 10 minutes
- Cost: A poster board and a scarf for the blindfold
Best for: Ages 3 to 8.
Why it works: A classic party game that even toddlers know, with a holiday twist.
14. Christmas categories
Pick a letter and five categories: a Christmas food, a song, a gift, something on a tree, a movie. Everyone has one minute to write an answer for each. Unique answers score a point, so "G" for "gingerbread" might lose to "garland."
- Time needed: 15 minutes
- Cost: Paper and pens
Best for: Ages 8 and up, with younger kids teamed with an adult.
Why it works: Grandparents and kids think of different answers, which wins points.
How do you pick family games Christmas party guests will all play?
The secret to fun family games for a Christmas party is fewer, not more. Name one game captain who isn't hosting. Plan three games, not ten: one with a gift, one seated, one for the kids. Start the first right after the meal while everyone is still in one room.
Say your party has 25 guests, from a baby to a great-grandmother. Run the dice game first, carol bingo while dessert goes out, and the party premiere video last, when the room is quiet enough to hear it. For more games built for a single household, see our Christmas games for family; for a grown-ups night after the kids leave, try our Christmas party activities for adults.
Do these family friendly Christmas party games work for New Year's Eve?
Most of them do. The dice game, carol bingo (swap in party songs) and Christmas categories all carry over to games for a New Year's Eve party at home. Teens will take the toilet paper snowman to a new level if you call it a midnight fashion show.
If part of the family can't be in the room, our guide to virtual Christmas party ideas adapts several of these for a screen. For the rest of the season, start with our holiday season guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
What games can you play at a Christmas party with all ages?
The pass the present dice game, carol bingo and the left right Christmas story work from age three to ninety. Luck matters more than skill, so every player has a shot.
What are good Christmas party games for grandparents?
How well do you know Grandma?, the Christmas price guess and the story round put older guests in the spotlight. They're seated, need no quick reflexes and reward life experience.
How many games should you plan for a family Christmas party?
Three is plenty for a party of two to four hours. Pick one game with a prize, one seated game and one for the kids, and keep a backup.
How can relatives who can't come join a Christmas party?
Collect short video messages from them ahead of time and play the group video at the party. They take part on their own schedule, and the room watches them together.
What is the left right Christmas game?
Guests sit in a circle with a wrapped gift while someone reads a story full of the words "left" and "right." The gift passes in that direction at each word, and whoever holds it at the end keeps it.
👉 Start your holiday Tribute and bring the relatives who can't travel into the party.
