Christmas is quickly approaching, kids will begin their winter vacation soon, and the family will be getting together for dinners, brunches, and cozy nights in. While eating loads of delicious food is one of the defining activities of this holiday season, it’s a good idea to have some “reindeer games” and family fun lined-up to keep you all entertained””especially when it’s freezing cold outside!  

Here are some Christmas games that will bring the whole family together””unlike Monopoly, which can lead to dramatic board flipping, lifelong grudges, and other travesties.

Christmas Movie Bingo

Whether you’re more into the classic Christmas movies or the cheesy Hallmark channel originals, this holiday genre is jam-packed with hilarious cliches. To play this Christmas game, just Google search “Christmas Movie Bingo,” and you’ll find loads of different printable bingo cards with hilarious captions like:

• Old curmudgeon says he hates Christmas
• Someone holds a mug with both hands
• Main character returns to their humble hometown

Pick a movie, and have small prizes lined up for the first person to get a line, the first person to get an “X,” and the first person to get all the boxes around the edge of the card. Save a grand prize for the first person to fill their card or whoever has the most squares ticked off by the movie’s end.

Pssst”¦ once the kids are in bed, this Christmas game can be turned into a really hilarious drinking game. Take a sip for each square, and finish your drink if you get a line!

Gingerbread House Decorating Contest

If you want to have some fun over a Zoom call, this is an awesome option for families spread out across different cities. Prepare your gingerbread house structure ahead of time, turn on your webcams, and spread out all your decorating supplies. Try to keep your gingerbread house out of view so you can have a grand reveal at the end! Set your timers to 60 or 90 minutes, then when the time is up, everyone can show off their creations!

Our pro gingerbread decorating tip: get creative and think outside the box! Weird is good. Think of a theme that could make your gingerbread house extra cool, like “Star Wars.”

Christmas Headbands

You’ve probably heard of the game Headbands, or “Heads Up,” as some like to call it, but this version has a Christmas twist! Everyone gets a card with a name or object on it, and without looking at the card, they stick it to their forehead. Go around in a circle, and one at a time, each player must ask the group one question about their card. Whoever can guess their card first wins that round!  

For the Christmas Headbands game, get everyone to write a bunch of holiday characters, decorations, foods, or Christmas carols onto individual cards. Shuffle the deck, and get some tape to make the cards stick to your forehead””or stick them to the paper crown that came in your Christmas cracker!

White Elephant

This classic Christmas game requires everyone to bring a small wrapped gift. One at a time, someone must pick a gift and can choose to unwrap it or keep it wrapped. The following person has the option to steal someone’s gift or pick a new one from the pile. Continue to go around the circle, so everyone has the chance to steal at least once. No single gift can be stolen more than three times, so if there’s one amazing gift in the mix, this will make things interesting! It’s always fun to toss a few gag gifts in the mix, too””you can never go wrong with a good laugh!

Christmas Carol Humdinger

We love this alternative to charades””it will save Grandma from having to get up and try to perform theatric, physical acrobatics! Nobody wants to break a hip during Christmas game night. Write down every Christmas carol you can think of onto little strips of paper, fold them up and toss them into a bowl!  

Split up into teams, and then take turns, with one person from each team taking a song from the bowl. Set a 30-second timer while the player hums their Christmas song. If their team can guess the Christmas carol before the timer goes off, they get one point! The first team to 10, 20, or however many points you choose will win the Christmas Carol Humdinger game!

We hope you enjoy this collection of our favourite games for Christmas 2021! From all of us at Salisbury Greenhouse, have a warm, happy holiday with family, friends, and all those near and dear.