40 simple, fun games to entertain kids during winter break

Rosie Colosi
·7 min read

There's a reason the classic song "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas" includes the line "and Mom and Dad can hardly wait for school to start again."

Don't get us wrong, we LOVE the precious family time together. There's just a lot of it.

And let's be honest — while talking about work drama, family gossip and binge-worthy television is endlessly fascinating to adults, it can turn kids into whiny complainers in three minutes or less.

So set the kids up for success — and drink an entire glass of mulled wine in peace — by introducing a simple game and pick an idea from this list of Christmas games for kids.

All of the ideas here take very little prep and need few supplies, and you can likely get the game rolling without putting down your egg nog.

Chances are that once they start playing one of these Christmas games for kids, their imagination will kick into gear and they'll be able to pivot to something else independently afterward. So those five minutes you invest in getting them started will pay back in spades.

And as an added bonus, the kids will burn off some of that Christmas cookie energy before bedtime.

Christmas games for kids

  • Ask the kids to stack up all the extra plastic cups you can find. See how tall they can make the stack. Have the littlest kids knock it down. Have a race to stack and unstack the cups in a specific formation. So. Many. Options.

  • Place 10 of those plastic cups on the ground and use them to bowl. If you don't have a ball handy, make one from leftover aluminum foil or wrapping paper.

  • Reuse the bows from your Christmas present wrappings by placing them on a table. Give one of the kids a spatula and a paper plate, and then blindfold them. See how many bows the child can scoop onto the plate (while blindfolded) in 20 seconds.

  • Once it's dark out, grab a flashlight and force all the kids outside. Turn on the flashlight and point it at a specific point on the ground see which kid can be the first to stomp on the circle of light. Before they get there, though, move the spot to a new location. Let someone "win" by stomping on the light every once in a while, but for the most part, just keep them running, like cats with a laser pointer. After they get the hang of it, hand off the flashlight to the oldest child and go back to the party for more appetizers.

  • Draw pictures of classic Christmas characters or objects (like a tree, a snowman or Rudolf) on sticky notes and attach one to every child's forehead. Have them ask yes or no questions until they guess the image on their head.

  • Spin the (nail polish) bottle! Have the kids sit in a circle. Place a bottle of nail polish on its side and spin. Whoever the bottle points to has to get one of their fingernails painted in that color. Swap in a second color and play again. The child whose nails are painted first is the winner.

  • Place several candy canes in a bowl. Ask a child to grip the straight end of an extra candy cane in their mouth. See how many candy canes they can "hook" with the curved end of the candy cane.

  • Set up boots, heavy socks, snow pants, a jacket, a hat and gloves and see how fast each child can get in and out of snow gear. To add some laughs, use adult snow gear.

  • Play name that tune: Christmas carol edition.

  • Sardines! It's like reverse hide-and-seek. One person hides while everyone else closes their eyes. Whenever a child find the hider, they quietly join them in the hiding place. The last person to find the hider is "The Grinch."

  • Using the back side of a roll of wrapping paper, draw a big Christmas tree and label the widest section as "3," the middle section as "2" and the top as "1." Use a small stuffed animal (or that trusty ball of wrapping paper) to play bean bag toss.

  • Stretch painters tape across your hallway to create a "Mission Impossible" style laser maze. See if the kids can get from one side to the other without touching the tape.

  • Place a random household item (like soap or toilet paper or a fork) in a gift box and tape it shut. See if the kids can figure out what's inside.

  • Hide wrapped candy canes throughout the house and see how many the kids can find.

  • Try to wrap a present wearing oven mitts.

  • Divide the kids into pairs. One child can toss small candies (like Hersey kisses) into a stocking held by the other child. Whichever pair catches the most candy wins.

  • See how many balloons you can pop while wearing mittens.

  • Turn someone into a snowman by wrapping them up in toilet paper.

  • Play limbo with Christmas garland.

  • Place a wreath on the floor. Try to toss as many small candies inside the wreath as you can.

  • Play charades using Christmas movie titles.

  • If you have a white Christmas, fill a large shallow container with snow and bring it inside for the kids to play with. Like a sandbox, but with snow. A snowbox!

  • If you like to prep in advance, freeze LEGO figures in ice cube trays. See which kid can "rescue" their LEGO figure the fastest.

  • Play musical chairs with Christmas songs.

  • Play "Santa Says" just like you would "Simon Says."

  • If your kids like card games, play "Candy Canes" just like you would "Spoons." Place one less candy cane than you have people in the center of the table. Hand each player four cards. The dealer takes one new card from the deck and passes one card to the player on their left. That player discards to the person on their left. The dealer keeps picking up a new card and the players continue discarding to the left until one player gets four of a kind. Then that player sneakily grabs a candy cane. Everyone else does the same. Whoever doesn't get a candy cane sits out the next round, just like musical chairs.

  • Make a Charlie Brown Christmas tree. Find branches or twigs on the ground outside and dress them up with any random craft supplies you have lying around.

  • Guess the number of candies in a jar.

  • Place a cookie on each child's forehead and see who is the first to move the cookie to their mouth just by making different facial expressions.

  • Pick one reindeer's name and write it on sticky notes — one letter on each piece of paper. Hide the sticky notes and have the kids find the notes and unscramble the name.

  • Hot chocolate pong! Place several (empty) mugs in a triangle. See how many giant marshmallows the kids can toss into the mugs. Give everyone hot chocolate afterward as a reward.

  • Give each other Santa beards with whipped cream and vote on "Most Realistic Santa."

  • Throw a piece of tissue paper in the air. As it drifts to the ground, tell all the kids to fake laugh. Once the tissue paper hits the ground, everyone must be silent. Anyone who laughs after the paper hits the ground is out. Keep playing until there's only one person left.

  • Put a Christmas twist on "I'm going on a picnic." The first person will say, "I'm going on a sleigh ride and I'm going to bring an angel." The second person will say, "I'm going on a sleigh ride and I'm going to bring an angel and Buddy the Elf." The third person will say, "I'm going on a sleigh ride and I'm going to bring an angel, Buddy the Elf and a caroler." Continue playing until someone forgets the order.

  • Cut a handful of Christmas cards into pieces (the bigger the kids, the smaller the pieces!). Mix all the pieces together and see if everyone can put the cards back together again.

  • Play hot potato with a small wrapped box.

  • Challenge the kids to line up in birthday order (or height order, age order or any order at all) without talking.

  • Have an indoor "snowball" fight with all your used wrapping paper.

  • Stack plastic cups into a pyramid and use a wrapping paper ball to knock them down.

  • Blindfold all the kids and ask them to draw a Christmas item (like Santa or a Christmas tree) on a blank sheet of paper. Then ask someone who did not know what the kids were trying to create to pick the best drawing.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com