Easy Christmas Games for Kids: Print Once, Play in 5 Minutes

By Tess Marlow · Last updated: September 30, 2026

It is a rainy day, the children are stuck indoors, and you have nothing prepared. That is what these easy Christmas games for kids are for, at home with two or in a classroom with a whole group. Each of the 10 games below needs one sheet of paper at most. You can set up any of them in about five minutes. Three need no printer at all.

Christmas Bingo: Print Once, Play in 5 Minutes

• Print: one sheet with a 3 by 3 grid. You draw a tree, star, bell, sock or candy cane in each square, in a different order for each child.
• Play: you call out the pictures and children cover them with pennies or torn paper. First full row wins.
• Switch when: the same child wins twice. Swap cards and go again. A ready-made set skips the drawing.

Ages, Pages and What Each Game Needs

A group of 3 to 8 year olds stays with one game for roughly 10 to 20 minutes. Plan two or three, not one long one.

Every game prints on one sheet or none. The ages below are the ones the mechanics ask for, not the ones on a box.

Want the sheets drawn for you? A ready-made Christmas set covers several at once. For a bigger room, see the games that hold 25 kids; for home, nine family games on one sheet.

Where a sheet is the wrong answer: a three year old will not wait for a turn in Charades and usually pulls a blindfold straight off, so give the youngest Bingo, Memory Match or the snowball bucket instead. Check the spices against any allergy in the room before Guess That Smell, and keep the cups covered so nobody tastes them.

Pass the Parcel: One Sheet Per Layer

• Print: one sheet, cut into strips. You give each strip one small task, such as hop twice, name a reindeer or sing one line of a carol.
• Play: you wrap a small treat in paper and tuck a strip under every layer. Your group passes the parcel while the music plays.
• Switch when: the parcel is down to its last layer and everyone leans in.

Candy Cane Hunt with Clue Cards

• Print: one sheet of picture clues, cut apart. If your group cannot read yet, you can draw a window, a shoe or a bookshelf.
• Play: you hide a candy cane at each spot and hand out the first clue. Each clue sends you to the next place.
• Switch when: the last candy cane is found.

Santa Says: The Zero-Print Game

• Print: nothing. You are Santa.
• Play: call “Santa says wrap a present” or “Santa says ring the sleigh bells”. If you leave out “Santa says”, anyone who moves sits down.
• Switch when: half the group is sitting. It is a no prep game for a rainy afternoon.

Christmas Memory Match: Print Two Copies

• Print: two copies of one sheet with six small Christmas pictures. You cut the cards apart.
• Play: you lay all the cards face down. Your children flip two at a time and keep the pairs.
• Switch when: all the pairs are found. Shuffle and let a different child go first. For younger children, pick a shorter sheet from the activities sorted by attention span.
• Want more pictures? This set has memory cards already drawn, along with tic-tac-toe charts and a board game.

Pin the Nose on Rudolph

• Print: one sheet with a reindeer face and a separate red nose for each child. You write each name on the back.
• Play: tape the face to a wall and blindfold one child. You spin them once and let them stick the nose where they think it goes.
• Switch when: every child has had one turn. The closest nose wins.

Paper Snowball Toss

• Print: nothing. Scrap paper crumpled into balls is all you need. For a bigger room, pair it with a relay game sorted by setup time.
• Play: set a bucket across the room and give every child five snowballs. Move the bucket back a step after each round.
• Switch when: the bucket is too far for anyone to land a snowball.

Roll and Draw a Christmas Tree

• Print: one sheet with a blank tree outline. You add a key that matches each dice number to a part: trunk, branch, star, bauble, light, present.
• Play: roll one die and draw the part it names, then pass the die. The first tree with every part wins.
• Switch when: someone finishes.
• Need a quiet version? Black and white colouring games keep a calm table busy.

Guess That Smell

• Print: nothing. Raid your kitchen for cinnamon, orange peel, a pine sprig, ginger and vanilla.
• Play: put each one in a small cup with a cloth on top. Your children sniff with their eyes closed and whisper a guess.
• Switch when: every smell has been guessed.

Christmas Charades Cards

• Print: one sheet of picture cards: snowman, reindeer, present, sleigh, elf. You cut them apart and fold them into a bowl.
• Play: one child picks a card and acts it out without a word. The others guess.
• Switch when: every child has acted once. Younger children can whisper the card to you first, and you act it out with them.

A class kept indoors by rain does not need a perfect game. You need rules that fit in three sentences and a set-up that fits on one sheet.

Games for the Whole Evening: Ready-Made Sheets

One printed sheet carries you through one round. For a full evening you can order the games by energy, so your group never tips over:

• First: a seated game with clear turns, such as Bingo or Memory Match, while children arrive and settle.
• Middle: a moving game, such as Candy Cane Hunt or Paper Snowball Toss, to use up the wiggles.
• Last: a quiet guessing game, such as Guess That Smell or Charades, so the room is calm at pick-up.

More no-prep ideas: our indoor games sorted by setup time, the scavenger hunt lists by age the printable activities sorted by attention span and every Christmas game for kids on the site.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best fun easy Christmas games for a class?

Bingo, Santa Says and Pass the Parcel suit a full class best, because every child plays at once or takes a short turn. You will find Memory Match and Charades work better in small groups.

What age are these games for?

All ten suit 3 to 8 year olds, and the table above gives the age each game’s mechanics really ask for. Roll and Draw and Charades want 5 and up, because one needs dice matching and the other needs waiting for a turn.

Which games need no printer?

You only need yourself, scrap paper and a few spices for Santa Says, Paper Snowball Toss and Guess That Smell.

What are good easy Christmas party ideas for kids?

Mix one running game, one quiet game and one game with a prize. Candy Cane Hunt, Christmas Bingo and Pass the Parcel cover all three, and you can set them up in one evening. Ready-made Christmas game sets save you the drawing.

Can I reuse the printed sheets?

Slide a sheet into a page protector and use a dry-erase marker. Bingo, the tree game and the clue cards all survive several rounds that way.

Key Takeaways

• Ten easy Christmas games for kids, each set up from one sheet or none.
• Three games need no printer: Santa Says, Paper Snowball Toss and Guess That Smell.
• Ages 3 to 8, and a group holds one game for about 10 to 20 minutes, so line up two or three.
• Keep the rules to three sentences and switch before the room loses interest.
• A ready-made Christmas game set saves you the drawing. Check the listing to see whether you can print it for a group.

About the author: Hi, I’m Tess. I taught preschool for nine years and now make the printables I used to photocopy at 7am. Every game here has been played with a real group of kids before it goes up, and I tell you how long it actually held their attention, not how long it should have.