40 Fun Christmas Games for Youth Groups

Finding a fun Christmas youth group game can be challenging, especially when there is a significant age gap. Thankfully, there are plenty of Christmas party games that everyone can participate in and have a great time.

Take a look at these 40 exciting Christmas-themed games to try at your next youth group Christmas party during the holiday season.

1. Blindfold Christmas Paper Tree Creations
What you’ll need: Stickers, sequins, or other colorful small pieces of paper ready in a dish or plate ready for decorating with two-sided tape or glue.

How to play: First, blindfold a player, then give them a green piece of paper and have them tear it into three triangles (small, medium, and large) to form a Christmas tree. Next, get them to glue them together to form a tree and then use the stickers or other items to decorate it.

Players must complete this task in only two minutes and afterward judge which person has the most decorated tree that looks realistic. Players can play one at a time or simultaneously if they have enough blindfolds.

2. Giftwrap a Youth Leader Relay Race
What you’ll need: Gift wrapping paper, masking tape, bows, ribbons, and assorted items to act as pylons to run around.

How to play: First, each team of youth members must wrap their leader up in Christmas wrap, complete with bows and ribbons.

Once the leader is complete, they must go through a racecourse from one side of the room to the other, weaving between pylons or around them in a figure-8 formation to make the race harder. The first leader to arrive at the finish line on the other side with the wrapping paper still intact wins.

3. Christmas Charades
What you’ll need: A bowl, slips of paper with an assortment of Christmas season songs, movies, characters, and books written on them.

How to play: Break the large group into two teams. Use a large bowl to put folded slips of paper with Christmas items on them to choose from. One person selects a piece and acts out the thing without saying a word for their team to guess.

4. Pin the Nose on the Reindeer Games
What you’ll need: A large paper on the wall with Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer drawn on it without a nose. Red paper circles or red pompoms, double-sided tape or glue, and a blindfold.

How to play: Blindfolded players use a red paper circle or pompom for red noses with tape or glue to position it as close to where Rudolf’s nose belongs on the paper. The person who is closest to the proper spot wins the game.

5. Christmas Act of Kindness Paper Chain
What you’ll need: Red, green, and white strips of paper, a stapler, a pen.

How to play: Each youth member will use different colored slips of paper to write simple acts of kindness they can do on their own for someone. Next, staple all the slips in circles in a chain formation as a Christmas decoration to take home.

Each day, they can remove one chain link and complete the random act of kindness that they wrote on the slip for someone that day.

6. Cotton Ball Santa Face Race
What you’ll need: Vaseline, cotton balls, paper plates.

How to play: First, players will smear Vaseline on the bottom of their chin and face at one station. Next, they will run across the room to another station where cotton balls are out on a paper plate. Finally, they must stick their face into the plate, trying to get as many cotton balls to stick to them as possible without using their hands.

Finally, they run back to the station and remove all the cotton balls into an empty plate. The youth member who has the most cotton balls retrieved wins.

7. Constructing Gingerbread Houses Competition
What you’ll need: A pre-made gingerbread house kit or a box of graham crackers, icing, and an assortment of edible candies for decoration, and a timer.

How to play: Have someone set the timer for an agreeable amount of time and break the youth group into teams. Each team will have to construct their gingerbread house as quickly as possible before the time is up. The best-decorated house that is still standing at the end wins.

8. Make an Ugly Sweater Competition
What you’ll need: A plain sweater for each youth member, an assortment of random items, a stapler, pins, glue, and two-sided tape.

How to play: Each youth member will decorate their sweater with as many items as they wish to make it as ugly as possible. The person who creates the ugliest sweater wins.

9. Speed Tree Decorating
What you’ll need: Plastic decorations, unbreakable items, funny or odd things, a timer, and an undecorated Christmas tree.

How to play: Depending on the group size, split them into teams with a basket of decorations and funny or odd items. They cannot touch the tree and must stand three feet away.

Each team will have only five minutes to throw their decorations and items onto the tree to decorate it. They cannot touch the tree at all, and the team that gets the most decorations and things to stay on the tree wins.

10. Christmas Edition of Found on Phone
What you’ll need: A list of winter season or Christmas-related things, such as snow, Mary, Joseph, sleigh, and others. One or more cell phones, paper, and a pen.

How to play: Break the youth into teams and use one or more cell phones from the team members to find as many items on their phone from the list as possible. The team that finds the most things from the list wins.

11. Santa’s Helper Relay Race
What you’ll need: An assortment of different sized containers or boxes, wrapping paper, bows, ribbons, and tape.

How to play: Divide the youth group into teams and choose an elf to start as Santa’s Helper. The team members all begin trying to wrap as many gifts as quickly as possible. Once all the gifts are ready, the person as Santa’s Helper must balance all the items while piling them on top of one another. Then, they must carry them across the room to another table without dropping any items. The team who can wrap and transport the gifts without dropping any first wins the game.

Then, they must carry them across the room to another table without dropping any items. The team who can wrap and transport the gifts without dropping any first wins the game.

12. Christmas People Wrapping
What you’ll need: Lots of wrapping paper, tape, assorted items that players could use to shape a human body, such as newspaper, cardboard tubes, balloons, or other things.

How to play: Separate the youth into small groups and use all their supplies to make Christmas People shapes. The team with the most accurate-looking person wins.

13. Pin the Beard on Santa
What you’ll need: A large piece of paper on the wall showing Santa’s drawn face on it without a beard. A blindfold or eye mask, two-side tape, glue, or pins, cotton balls, pompoms, or other items that can stick, such as crumpled white tissue paper.

How to play: Have each person wear a blindfold and use items with two-side tape, glue, or pins to stick Santa’s beard to his face. See how many players get their items in the correct area on Santa’s face.

14. Indoor Ice Cream Snowman Competition
What you’ll need: Tubs of vanilla ice cream, ice cream scoops, baby carrot sticks, raisins, buttons, twigs, and any other items they may want to dress up their snowman.

How to play: Break up into teams and try to create the best-looking ice cream snowman using teamwork and creativity. The snowman that stays together the best wins.

15. Fun Facts Paper Snowball Fight
What you’ll need: Lots of blank sheets of paper, pens, and a timer.

How to play: Have everyone write a fun fact about themselves on a piece of paper and then crumple it up so it forms a ball. Do this for two more pieces of paper. Once everyone has three fun facts into snowballs, start an indoor snowball fight. Players can use any snowballs they find on the ground and continue throwing snowballs for three minutes.

After three minutes, the snowball fight stops, and everyone retrieves one snowball and opens it to read out a fun fact. Then, they must try to guess who wrote the item from the group.

16. Surprise Bag of Christmas Goodies
What you’ll need: Christmas stocking or plain sock you cannot see through, and some Christmas-themed items, such as a candy cane, hard candy, oranges, or small toys.

How to play: Separate the youth into teams and give them a stocking with some random Christmas items inside. Each team must guess what is inside. The team that has the highest number of correct answers in the group wins the game.

17. Play-Doh Christmas Pictionary
What you’ll need: Different colors of play-doh, words of Christmas movies / people / items / things / events on strips of paper, and a timer.

How to play: Create teams of players with the group. One team member chooses a slip of paper and must create a play-doh scene/person/item for the rest of the team members to guess. The team that figures it out in the least amount of time wins.

18. Mitten Mayhem
What you’ll need: Already wrapped boxes and items, dice and fuzzy mittens, or a pair of oven mitts.

How to play: Divide the youth members into teams. Each team will have a wrapped gift with several layers of paper and tape, dice, and a pair of fuzzy mittens or oven mitts. Start with two people, one person rolling the dice and one wearing the mittens while trying to unwrap the gift. The person unwrapping must continue to try and unwrap until the individual rolling the dice gets a specific number, for example, roll a number 4.

19. Santa Limbo
What you’ll need: Pillows, a broomstick, and a Santa hat.

How to play: Have two people hold a broomstick at shoulder height while another participant wears a Santa hat and puts a pillow under their shirt. Then, players take turns going under the limbo stick with a Santa belly.

With each successful turn in this Santa game, lower the broomstick and have the participants try again. The last Santa who is successful is the winner.

20. Blindfold Christmas Gift Wrapping
What you’ll need: A blindfold, various empty boxes or containers of different sizes, gift wrapping paper, tape, bows, and ribbons.

How to play: Blindfold a player and have them try wrapping an empty container or box with paper, tape, and adding bows and ribbons. The best-looking gift at the end wins.

21. Ornament Spoon Race
What you’ll need: Plastic spoons and plastic or unbreakable ornaments.

How to play: Break up the youth into two teams and form single lines on one side of the room. The first person in line will have a plastic spoon handle in their mouth and place an unbreakable ornament on the end of the spoon.

At the start of the race, those first in line will race to the other side of the room without dropping their ornaments off the spoon. If they fall, the player must return to the beginning and repeat their turn. Once the youth member reaches the other side successfully, the next person in line can begin with their turn.

The team with the most players on the opposite side first wins the race.

22. Ornament Knock Out
What you’ll need: Plastic or unbreakable ornaments, string, a belt, empty cans, plastic bottles, or cups, and a timer or stopwatch.

How to play: Tie a plastic ornament to the belt and place it on a youth player. Have them try to knock down assorted items such as empty cans, cups, or plastic bottles standing on a table or chair with the ornament swinging from the belt. They will need to move their hips, wiggle, and shake to get the ornament to bounce and move around.

The person who can knock down all their ornaments in the least amount of time wins.

23. Christmas Wrapping 3-Legged Race
What you’ll need: Christmas wrapping paper, tape, and teams of two individuals.

How to play: Have two people wrap their middle legs together with Christmas wrapping paper and tape as fast as they can. Once securely together, they race across the room to the other side without tearing the paper. The first team to reach the other side and not damage their wrapping job wins.

24. Christmas Bake-Off Competition
What you’ll need: Several boxes of cake mix, cookie or muffin mixes, edible Christmas decorations, icing, food coloring, Other tasty baking items such as sprinkles, licorice, chocolate chips, or anything else you want to add to a bakery item. Use muffin tins, cake pans, or cookie sheets, depending on the things the youth will make.

How to play: Determine the type of baked goods you want to compete with for the contest. Split the group into teams of two, three, or four and give them a set amount of time to mix, bake, and decorate their items. The best-looking and best-tasting creation wins.

25. Candy Cane Hook Relay Game
What you’ll need: A pile of candy canes, multiple bowls, or paper plates.

How to play: This fun youth group game splits the participants into two teams and place half of each team on one side of the room and the other half opposite them. Place two bowls or paper plates out for each team on both sides of the room. One will have multiple candy canes inside while the other remains empty.

The first person in each line will run across the room and put a candy cane in their mouth with the hook facing out. Then, using the hook, they will try to pick up the candy canes and move them from the full plate or bowl to the empty one. If they successfully move them all, the next person in line on that side of the room can take their turn.

If they struggle and cannot finish, they must return to their group and the second person in their team has to try to finish their round. The team that successfully moves all the candy canes from one plate to the other using every player wins. This fun game can have various rules, including only three tries to pick candy canes up or a time limit. This method is a great way to help keep the game moving.

26. Ornament Waltz
What you’ll need: Some unbreakable ornaments with the hooks removed, paper plates, straws, or other unconventional items.

How to play: Line up the players on one side of the room with their ornaments. Offer a collection of items such as paper plates, straws, or other items for them to help move their decoration to the other side of the room across the floor without touching it with any part of their body. They can fan it with a plate, blow with a straw, or some better way. The first youth member to move their decoration to the other side without touching it wins.

27. Christmas Bingo
What you’ll need: Free printables of bingo cards with various Christmas words or pictures in each square, and red and green bingo dabber pens.

How to play: Select one person to act as the bingo caller while all other players will have a bingo card. The caller will select a piece of paper and read out the Christmas work or describe the picture for the players to check off their cards. The first youth that gets a straight line wins.

28. White Elephant Gift Exchange
What you’ll need: Each player contributes a small, wrapped Christmas present or gift card, a bowl, slips of paper, and numbers for each person in the group.

How to play: Have everyone place their gift together on a table or floor so everyone can see. Then, each person takes a number out of the bowl to determine their order to choose a surprise gift. Players can choose from the pile or steal from another person. Stealing can only happen up to three times, then the last person to hold the gift after three steals is out with their present.

29. Do You Hear What I Hear Guessing Game
What you’ll need: Various sizes of bells, empty boxes.

How to play: Put different-sized jingle bells into unwrapped boxes. You can include many or only a couple. They should be different for each package. Players take turns shaking the box and trying to guess how many bells are inside. After everyone has had a turn guessing, open the box to determine the actual number. The person with the highest number of correct guesses wins.

30. Christmas Scavenger Hunt
What you’ll need: Itemized list of things to search for, such as candy canes, hard candy, Christmas stockings, other assorted winter and Christmas themed items, a timer, and pencils.

How to play: Give every player, or create teams, a printed list with a pencil or pen to check off as many items as they can find in a short amount of time. The player or team with the most things found wins.

31. Marshmallow Mountain Race
What you’ll need: Jumbo marshmallows and paper plates.

How to play: Separate the youth group into two small groups. Each team will be on one side of the room in a single file. On the other side of the room, have a table with bags of jumbo marshmallows and two paper plates.

Each team sends a player racing to the table to build a tall marshmallow mountain on the paper plate as fast as possible. The first player to cause an avalanche loses the round, and both players return to their group so the next two people in line can try. Continue through each person until everyone has a chance. Tally up which team has the more successful mountains that did not fall to determine a winner.

32. Who Has the Ornament?
What you’ll need: A non-breakable ornament.

How to play: One person is to stand in the middle while everyone else sits on the floor in a circle, keeping their hands behind their backs. The person in the middle closes their eyes while the ornament enters the circle. Once the decoration is in someone’s hand, they yell “Start,” and the middle person opens their eyes.

While singing a Christmas carol together, the players try to hand the ornament around the circle to others without the middle person guessing who has it. Players can pretend to be passing to help confuse the guesser. At the end of the Christmas music, everyone stops moving, and the person in the middle must guess who has the ornament. If they guess correctly, they will change positions with that person. If they assume incorrectly, they change places with someone else in the circle.

33. Santa Says
What you’ll need: A Santa hat.

How to play: Pick one person to start as Santa and wear the Santa hat. Then, they shout out commands that begin with ‘Santa Says’ for all the players to follow. When Santa shouts out an order without first saying ‘Santa Says’ and other players complete the action, they are out of the game.

Continue with the remaining players until left with only one person following Santa’s directions. This person becomes the new Santa and starts the game over with everyone.

34. Blindfold Christmas Tree on a Plate Game
What you’ll need: Paper plates, markers, pencils, and a blindfold.

How to play: Have one person shout out commands to the blindfolded players for items to draw on their paper plates. They can pick a theme, such as a fireplace scene complete with stockings and fire beside a Christmas tree or Santa in his sleigh.

After the caller finishes with directions, everyone can see how accurate the drawings are when you cannot see what you are doing.

35. Christmas Word Scramble
What you’ll need: A list of Christmas and winter words on paper in large letters, envelopes, scissors, and a pen.

How to play: Cut each word apart in the list and separate each letter. Place the loose letters from one word into an envelope and write what the word is inside the envelope. Distribute the envelopes to smaller groups and see who can unscramble all the Christmas words the fastest without looking inside the envelope at the answer.

36. Christmas Matching Game
What you’ll need: Various wrapping paper cut into separate squares, envelopes.

How to play: Use many different wrapping paper colors, designs, and styles and cut each of them into two small hand-held square shapes. Place unmatched squares into the envelopes and distribute them among the youth. Each person will choose a square and try to find their partner to match with as soon as possible. The winner is the pair that finds each other first.

37. Christmas Gratitude Game
What you’ll need: Small paper gift bags, random items around the party location, timer, and slips of paper with numbers to determine gift exchange turns.

How to play: Each person receives a small paper gift bag. At the start of the game, everyone must find a random item to put in their gift bag to give someone in the group. It can be toilet paper, a spoon, or any other thing.

Once everyone has a gift ready, they return to the circle and choose a piece of paper with their number. Next, players will sit in a circle on the floor in their numbered order to exchange gifts. Person 1 will give Person 2 their bag, and Person 2 will have to think of a way to show gratitude for the random gift. For example, I love receiving spoons because it means I can eat my soup more easily at lunchtime.

38. Yoked for Christmas
What you’ll need: XXXL sweater or t-shirt, and a timer.

How to play: Divide the youth group into pairs and have them put on the shirt as one person. Once fitted, they must perform tasks together, such as walking across the room for a glass of water, drawing a picture together, or tying their shoes.

39. Christmas Balloon Frenzy
What you’ll need: Red and green balloons.

How to play: Separate the youth group into two teams where one team has red balloons and one team has green balloons. Blow them all up and have the teams try to keep their balloons in the air as long as possible while trying to knock down the other team’s balloons. Once a balloon hits the floor, it is out. The team that has the last balloon in the air wins.

It helps to have someone assigned to pick balloons up off the floor to avoid stepping or tripping on them.

40. Christmas Commercials
What you’ll need: Random Christmas or winter items to use as props.

How to play: Separate everyone into teams of two to four people and give them a Christmas prop. They will take 15 minutes to develop a funny sales commercial for the item to act out in front of the group together.

Each team will act out their hilarious commercials for the group to convince them to buy their product.

Conclusion

Planning a youth holiday party at church can be challenging, especially when following a budget. However, these 40 fun youth group games will provide tons of fun for any age at your next church event without breaking the bank.