11 Fun Holiday Games for School Events
The school Christmas party is truly an eagerly anticipated event. It becomes a highlight of the academic year, as loved as lunch breaks after challenging classes.
Activities at the Christmas party can be as exciting as those lively games during school recess. Engaging entertainment will create an atmosphere of joy and festivity, making the farewell to the old year unforgettable.
This article explores 11 interesting activities adapted for Christmas events. Customize the rules to "unwrap" them and use them all year long for kids' parties at preschool, school, and even university.
“Santa Says”
A fun game of attention and quick reactions, perfect for school parties, family gatherings, and team celebrations.
The host interacts with the players on behalf of Santa, pretending to be the famous wizard. They give commands like, "Santa says: jump twice and clap your hands behind your back," and players must follow them. The key is if a command doesn't start with "Santa says," players shouldn't follow it. Those who mistakenly perform the wrong action gradually get eliminated until one winner remains.
The older the participants, the more complex the commands you can give them. Shorten the introduction phrase to make it more thrilling, giving players less time to think. Let the action accompany just one word: snowman, elf, Santa. For example, "Elf says: shake hands with the person to your right."
Command ideas for the game
Santa says pretend you're skiing
Elf says try to roll your tongue
Snowman says laugh convincingly
Mrs. Claus says don't move for ten seconds
Santa says say today's date
Holiday Treasure Hunt
An active game to find holiday treasures, involving interesting tasks. Suitable for any Christmas event.
Choose several leaders who will guide players to their goals. These goals could be gifts, other items, or actions, like finding and photographing someone wearing a Santa hat. Participants can play individually if the group is small or compete in teams. The incentive is the grand prize, which you'll need to consider.
Throughout the game, you can motivate players with bonus challenges or hints.
It's fun to divide the game into several locations: the school, the backyard, or the gym if it's located in a separate building.
What to hunt for at school
Christmas ornaments
Mini-gifts
Artificial snowballs made of cotton with clues or small toys hidden inside
Abstract items: a photo of a plant with a Christmas star or a blue scarf hanging somewhere in the school
Kids or teachers who have hidden in classrooms and closets in advance
Holiday Quiz
A challenge to test intellect and awareness. Depending on the difficulty of questions, it's suitable for elementary students, high schoolers, and teachers alike.
Don't limit younger students to completely childish questions. Solving complex tasks is delightful, and it raises students' expectations of their average knowledge level and encourages them to learn more.
The person in charge of questions prepares a list of interesting facts about the holiday, information on themed movies, or songs. Students answer them, harnessing the collective wisdom in teams.
You can also use any ready-made quiz designed for home or school play. Stay updated with popular quiz channels.
Quiz Blitz: Christmas Trivia Quiz
YoYo Quiz: Popular Christmas Songs Quiz
Cunning Quizzes: Christmads Trivia Quiz
Christmas Charades
A dynamic game for groups that easily takes on a festive twist.
Ask kids to split into several teams to make it more exciting. The players' task is to whisper words or phrases related to Christmas into their opponents' ears. Opponents must act out the guessed words to their teammates without using words or obvious hints—just body language and emotions. Guess the word within the time limit, and you've earned a precious point for your team.
Increase the game's difficulty by using the concept from charades with cards: make participant interaction harder with additional tasks. For example, a player must not only explain a word but do so with their eyes closed or standing with their back to the rest of the team.
Words and phrases to use in the game
Spiced punch
Coals under the tree
Holiday fever
Holiday Express
Little reindeer
“Home Alone”
Elf delivery
Snow ice cream
Gift from dad
Draw the Words
A creative activity that everyone can enjoy. Stretch your imagination, show your creativity, and try to convey the meaning of guessed words with just one drawing.
Prepare cards so students don't create impossible tasks for each other.
Divide kids into teams so each has at least one creative child, but don't let one team consist entirely of young artists.
It's also important to convey that regardless of each individual's artistic skills, art is a broad concept, defying categories and ratings, and even the most bizarre illustration is beautiful if it achieves the game's main goal—explaining the guessed word's meaning.
This game is popular with people of all ages. Even world-class celebrities enjoy playing it—on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, actors, singers, and comedians draw cards for their entertainment colleagues to guess the depicted words.
Funny Holiday Stories
A festive twist on the classic fill-in-the-blanks game, where players complete a prepared story with random words. The result is always absurd and hilarious.
Prepare a short excerpt from a winter or holiday-themed story. Beforehand, remove several words and replace them with parts of speech — noun, adjective, or verb. The goal isn’t to pick the most logical words, but the funniest ones — as long as they fit the Christmas or winter theme.
Excerpt from “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” by Clement Clarke Moore
Blanks version
’Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the [noun] Not a [noun] was [verb], not even a [noun]. The stockings were hung by the [noun] with care, In hopes that [proper noun] soon would be there.
Filled-in version
’Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the office Not a penguin was dancing, not even a snowman. The stockings were hung by the microwave with care, In hopes that Taylor Swift soon would be there.
Read the finished story aloud so everyone can hear how ridiculous it sounds — and have a good laugh together!
Secret Santa
An excellent Christmas classic, popular worldwide during the winter holiday season. The names of players participating are shuffled by the host to create "Santa-recipient" pairs. Everyone exchanges gifts so no one knows who is gifting whom. Mystery is the essence of the game.
When choosing the traditional Santa for a school event, remember it requires planning: after the draw, students need to take name cards home, meaning the game spans over time. Cards are easy to lose, forget, or mix up, which might cause confusion and disrupt the fun.
The online version is more convenient—it doesn't require storing paper cards, is faster to execute, and reduces organizational risks.
Register on the MySanta platform using any email you can remember the password for—this is important for account confirmation and interacting with players.
A simpler option is to use the Telegram bot for playing "Secret Santa," making it convenient for everyone. Invite players via messenger broadcast and conduct the draw with a single click. Your school game can look like this: when kids join using their invites, you conduct the draw, and the results immediately appear on the players' phones. This way, you can exchange surprises the next day or immediately if universal gifts were prepared in advance.
Christmas Reindeer
A simple and fun game that will appeal to younger elementary students.
Print or draw a reindeer's face or body. The sheet should have minimal empty space to make the game successful—the reindeer will be large and fluffy. Blindfold participants and ask them to pin prepared items onto the image: stickers with a reindeer nose, ear, or tail.
Kiddos who can pin items closest to the correct spot will compete for victory in the second round, after which you can reward the most accurate players.
Holiday Bingo
A festive version of bingo—a game where participants mark symbols on their cards as called out by the host.
Prepare cards in advance with colorful images: small trees, snowmen, reindeer, and elves arranged chaotically on paper in several rows.
The host reads words or shows images related to the holiday, and participants mark these elements on their cards if they have them. The game's goal is to be the first to complete a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line on your card.
Snowball Fight
A Christmas twist on dodgeball using soft rubber balls or "snowballs" made of stuffed fabric.
Players divide into two teams, such as "Playful Reindeer" and "Daring Snowflakes."
The playing area should be spacious enough for participants to move freely and avoid bumping into each other. The field is divided into two halves, and each team occupies its side.
Place several balls in the center of the field. At the signal, players from both teams rush to grab the balls. Once players have the balls, they can throw them at members of the opposing team.
Players who are hit step aside. The game ends when one team has knocked out all the players of the opposing team.
Spice up the game with an extra task
Do not knock out "planted" players from other classes, who can be identified from the main lineup by minor apparel details, such as red socks or bandanas. Anyone who accidentally hits such a player must either complete a physical or mental challenge to return to the game or is immediately out.
Christmas "Who Am I?"
An engaging game of deduction where each player must guess who they are.
Prepare cards with classic winter characters. Ask the kids to shuffle the "deck" and select one card at random.
Each player holds a card in hand or attaches it to their forehead, so they can't see the image. Players take turns asking yes or no questions. Examples: "Is this character male?", "Is this character from a holiday movie?" or "Is it a wizard?". The game ends when the last participant guesses their character.
Draw the cards manually—you'll have a wide variety of characters from folklore, movies, or cartoons. If any classmates own a Christmas-themed "Who Am I?" game or you order it from any major marketplace, you won't need to prepare for the entertainment in advance.
Conclusion
We've shared 11 exciting games for a school Christmas event. These activities will appeal to children of different ages and even adults. If you adapt and conduct them in a bright and lively manner, they can become your class or school's holiday tradition.