Christmas Charades
Traditions, festive characters and winter words to act out — the game that gets everyone off the sofa
Christmas charades is the easiest way to get a room full of relatives playing something together. The words come from the holiday everyone in the room has already lived through — wrapping presents badly, untangling lights, arguing about the tree — so nobody needs to have watched anything in particular to join in.
Below are word packs for every part of the day, mime challenges that work after a big meal, and a random prompt generator you can pass around on one phone. All free, nothing to print unless you want to.
Want charades ideas for the rest of the year? Browse all our charades ideas
Random Christmas mime
Tap the button, act out whatever appears, and let the other team guess. Ideal when half the family is too full to fetch a pen.
Wrapping a present that is entirely the wrong shape
Christmas charades word packs
Read a pack out loud and let each player pick, or write the words on slips and drop them in a hat. Everything here is something the whole table can picture, which is what makes a round go quickly.
Holiday traditions
Decorating the tree, wrapping presents, hanging stockings, sending cards, carol singing, secret gift exchange, midnight service, family photo, watching the same film again, the big meal
Festive characters
Father Christmas, reindeer, elf, snowman, angel, nutcracker, carol singer, ice skater, the relative who falls asleep, the one who insists on party games
Food and drink
Roast dinner, gingerbread, candy cane, hot chocolate, mince pie, chocolate coins, roasted chestnuts, iced cake, mulled drink, the leftovers sandwich
Decorations and objects
Fairy lights, bauble, tinsel, wreath, advent calendar, gift ribbon, sleigh, chimney, snow globe, cracker
Songs and sounds
Jingling bells, a choir singing, a cracker banging, wrapping paper tearing, someone humming a carol, sleigh bells outside, the same song in every shop, a door knock, a chorus everyone joins, an out-of-tune singalong
Winter words
Snowflake, icicle, frozen pond, woolly hat, mittens, scarf, sledge, snow angel, frosty window, log fire
Funny Christmas mime challenges
Designed for the sleepy half-hour after the meal: everyone can do them, and they look ridiculous. Give the actor 60 seconds and no words.
- Mime opening a present you clearly already own
- Act out putting up a tree that is far too tall for the room
- Be a snowman slowly melting next to a radiator
- Mime eating a whole meal in ten seconds
- Act out wrapping a present with only one usable hand
- Be a reindeer trying to land quietly
- Mime singing a carol you do not know the words to
- Act out finding a decoration you lost last year
Christmas cracker jokes
Read one out between rounds. They are exactly as bad as the ones in the crackers.
- What do you call an old snowman? Water.
- Why did the turkey join the band? It already had the drumsticks.
- What is the best Christmas present? A broken drum — you cannot beat it.
- Why was the snowman rummaging in the carrots? He was picking his nose.
- What do reindeer hang on their trees? Horn-aments.
- Why did the gingerbread man go to bed early? He was feeling crummy.
How to play Christmas charades
Ordinary charades with a holiday word list. Four players is enough, and mixed-age family groups need only one adjustment.
- 1
Split into two teams
Mix generations across the teams rather than adults against children — the guessing goes much faster and nobody gets stuck watching.
- 2
Pick a word from a pack
Use the packs above, the random prompt generator, or slips in a hat. For younger children, stick to the decorations and winter packs, which mime themselves.
- 3
Act it out in 60 seconds
No speaking and no pointing at the actual tree in the corner. One point per word guessed; most points after an agreed number of rounds wins.
Christmas charades FAQ
What is Christmas charades?
It is charades played with a holiday word list — traditions, festive characters, food, decorations and winter words — instead of films and animals. The rules are unchanged; only the words are seasonal.
What are good Christmas charades words?
Anything with an action attached: wrapping a present, decorating the tree, building a snowman, carving the roast. Objects like a bauble or a stocking work too. Abstract words like "goodwill" leave the actor with nothing to do.
How do you play Christmas charades with a mixed-age family?
Put children and adults on the same teams, give younger players 90 seconds instead of 60, and let them pick from the decorations and winter packs. Everyone stays in the game and the rounds keep moving.
How many words do we need?
About 5 to 10 per player. The packs on this page hold roughly sixty words between them, which covers a family gathering comfortably, and the generator will produce more.
Can we play without printing anything?
Yes. Use the random prompt generator above on one phone and pass it round the table, or simply read a word pack aloud. Nothing needs printing, writing or cutting up.
What else can we play at a holiday gathering?
The same word packs work for the hat game, taboo and pictionary, so one list covers a whole evening. Our Christmas party games guide collects the other options if charades runs its course.
Ready to play?
Gather everyone round the table, pick a word pack and start acting. The rules take a minute to read and the game runs on one phone.
See how to play
