Four kids on the sofa, one wet afternoon, and a box of board games with half the pieces missing. Somebody says “let’s do charades”, and then nobody can think of a single word to act out, how long a turn should last, or who counts the points.
That is the gap this page fills. Below you get 100 ideas for christmas charades in three levels for kids, a way to run the turns without arguments, two small board games that print on the same sheet, and a list of prizes for whoever wins.
A charades list fails on the evening, not on the words. If you fix the turn length and the score before the first card, the game runs itself.
Quick answer: Print one sheet of 24 charade words, cut it into cards and keep them in an envelope. Play in two teams with a 60 second turn. For a second game from the same paper, add the Candy Cane Path board and a small prize for the winning team.
If you would rather not write the words yourself, a ready-made Christmas games bundle already has the charades pages laid out.
Christmas Charades Ideas for Kids: Print the Cards and Play
These 100 christmas charades for kids need almost nothing. You need one sheet, a pair of scissors and a bowl. The christmas charades printable is a grid of 24 boxes with one word in each, large enough to read from across a room. You pick 24 from the 100 below, and the sheet changes every game.
- On the sheet: 24 boxes, one word per box, a small drawing next to each word so a child who guesses the clue can check it at a glance.
- How to play: one child draws a card and acts it out without a sound. The team guesses before the timer ends. A correct guess scores one point.
- Holds: about 15 minutes with two teams, longer if you let everyone have a second go.
- Sheets: 1 sheet for the whole group. Print it in black and white and nothing is lost.
Cut the boxes apart once and keep them in an envelope. Next December the game is ready in ten seconds, which is the reason to print it rather than read words off a phone. If you would rather skip the cutting, the Christmas Games Bundle comes with the charades pages already laid out.
Most lists online hand you the words and stop there. Of nine pages that rank for this search, only two say anything about prizes and only one mentioned a board game. Scoring and turn length are barely there. That is the half of the evening that decides whether the game works.
Easy Charades Words for Little Kids Who Cannot Read Yet
A five-year-old who cannot read is not out of the game. You draw a small picture beside each word, read the card quietly into their ear and let them act. The picture is the clue for the child, and the word is the clue for the adult.
- Santa Claus: a big laugh and a round belly
- Christmas tree: stand tall with arms out like branches
- Opening a present: rip imaginary paper and look surprised
- Building a snowman: roll big snowballs and stack them
- Reindeer: hands on your head like antlers
- Eating a candy cane: hold it and lick it
- Sleeping on Christmas Eve: hands under your cheek
- Ringing a bell: shake one fist
- Hanging a stocking
- Decorating the tree
- Baking cookies
- Wrapping a gift
- Ice skating
- Making a snow angel
- Throwing a snowball
- Drinking hot chocolate
- Singing carols
- Writing a letter to Santa
- Feeding the reindeer
- Riding in a sleigh
- Putting the star on the tree
- Hanging up lights
- Shaking a snow globe
- Eating a gingerbread man
- Playing in the snow
- Putting on mittens
- Waking up on Christmas morning
- Hugging a teddy bear
- Carrying a big gift
- Looking up at the stars
- Pulling a cracker
- Sweeping the snow
- Blowing out a candle
- Hiding a present
- Dancing with an elf
- Catching a snowflake
- Pulling a sleigh
- Cutting out a paper star
- Knocking on a door
- Waving goodbye to Santa
Allow sound effects for this age group, because a reindeer who may not snort is a hard task for a four-year-old.
If the youngest player still stalls, switch to reverse charades: the whole team acts the card together and one child does the guessing. You can also pick up a mixed-age Christmas game for the moment the little ones tire of acting.
Short on time? Ten party games that need no prep sit one tap away.
For a bigger group of small children, keep the cards to one word each and let two children act at once.
Nobody stands alone in front of the room, and the turn passes before anyone gets self-conscious.
For more quiet things to do between rounds, pull from Christmas activities sorted by how long they hold, or play free printable christmas bingo with 24 black and white cards.
Funny Christmas Charades Words for Older Kids
Every printable pack, one licence
The bundles I use for classroom and party printables live in one subscription — commercial use included, no per-file checkout.
From about seven, the easy words get boring fast. Older kids want a challenge and a reason to laugh, which means actions with several steps and a few silly situations.
- Stuck in the chimney
- Untangling the Christmas lights
- Wrapping a present with too little paper
- The Nutcracker marching
- Trying to carry too many gifts
- Sledding down a steep hill
- A reindeer with a cold
- Singing in the Christmas choir off key
- Santa stuck in a traffic jam
- An elf sneezing glitter
- A snowman melting
- Falling off the ladder while hanging lights
- A turkey running away from dinner
- Opening a gift that is socks again
- Cat climbing the Christmas tree
- Santa trying on a too small suit
- Dancing like a gingerbread man
- Reindeer learning to fly
- Elf stuck in a gift box
- Tasting very sour eggnog
- Snowball fight in slow motion
- Wrestling with the wrapping tape
- Searching for the last present
- A grumpy Grinch
- Rudolph with a sore nose
- A penguin in a Santa hat
- Fighting over the last cookie
- Waking up too early on Christmas morning
- Skiing downhill
- Putting up a tent in the snow
- Frosty the Snowman coming to life
- Opening a present with oven gloves on
- Sneaking down the stairs at night
- Pulling a very long Christmas cracker
- Parking a sleigh
- Delivering gifts in a rush
- Tasting a brussels sprout
- Reading the same Christmas story again
- Carrying a tree that is too big
- A snowman with a carrot nose that falls off
Mix these into the same envelope as the easy cards and let each team pick the level of the next card. Teams that choose a harder card can score two points for it. Everyone has something to aim for, and you keep the smaller kids happy with easy ones.
If you want movie and song titles on top, keep them to a short extra batch. Here are 20 that kids know:
- Frosty the Snowman
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
- Jingle Bells
- The Grinch
- Home Alone
- The Polar Express
- Elf
- Silent Night
- Deck the Halls
- Santa Claus Is Coming to Town
- We Wish You a Merry Christmas
- Let It Snow
- The Nutcracker
- A Christmas Carol
- Frozen
- Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree
- Jingle Bell Rock
- The Snowman
- Winter Wonderland
- Twelve Days of Christmas
Pick eight at a time. Long titles slow the turn down and the guessing falls apart. If you want the extra batch printed and ready, the party planner set includes charades pages with movie-style cards.
How to Play: Turn Timer, Teams and Scoring
Most arguments in charades are about time and points, not about the words. You fix both before the first card, and the rest of the evening takes care of itself.
- Teams: two teams for four to ten children. Three teams once you pass ten.
- Timer: 60 seconds for ages 4 to 6, 45 seconds from age 7. A kitchen timer or a phone placed face down works.
- Rules: no talking, no pointing at objects in the room, no mouthing words. Sound effects are fine for the under-sevens.
- Points: one point per card guessed. A skipped card scores nothing and goes back in the envelope.
- Length: eight turns per team, then add up. About 15 minutes.
One adult holds the timer and the envelope. That adult is also the judge, which means the argument ends with one voice instead of ten.
A good first round: the child who acts first takes “building a snowman”. It has three clear steps, so even a shy child gets their team to the answer in under half a minute. If you want the timer, the rules and the score all on one page, a printable game set already has them.
Two Christmas Board Games on the Same Printed Sheet
When charades has had its turn, the same table needs something quieter. Two board games fit on one printed sheet and need only a die and a few small counters. Buttons, coins and folded paper scraps all work.
Candy Cane Path
- On the sheet: a winding path of 20 squares, start at the top and finish at a drawn tree. Four squares say “act it out”.
- How to play: roll the die and move that many squares. Land on an “act it out” square and you draw a charade card. Guess it right and you roll again.
- Holds: 10 to 15 minutes, two to four players.
Gift Grid
- On the sheet: a three by three grid with a small gift picture in each square.
- How to play: two players take turns. One marks a square with a star, the other with a bell. First to get three in a row wins the round.
- Holds: 5 minutes a round, so play best of five.
Both games are drawn on the same page, so the cost is one sheet of paper. Candy Cane Path keeps the charades cards in play, which is why the two belong together.
Drawing a clean path by hand takes longer than the game itself. That is where a prepared set earns its place, and you will find three below.
Unlimited creative assets. Access to AI tools.
Commercial licence included.
Get downloadsSix family games in one download, with charades, trivia, word search and ten bingo cards, in A4 and US Letter. Pick it when you want the charades pages already laid out.
A group game of light challenges and questions for kids and adults together. Pick it when the room has mixed ages and you want something past charades.
A party planner set with a games and activities list, bingo and charades pages. Pick it when you are organising a whole party, not only one game.
Prize Ideas for Christmas Game Winners
A prize does not have to be a purchase. For children, the prize is mostly about being chosen: you give them first pick, a small honour, a thing to carry out of the room.
- Choose the next game: the winning team picks what you play next. Free and surprisingly popular.
- First card next round: the winners draw first and pick the level.
- A paper medal: print a round certificate on the same sheet, cut it out and tape on a ribbon.
- Stickers or a pencil: one each, small and quick to hand out.
- A candy cane or a wrapped sweet: keep it small so nobody is sent home hyper at bedtime.
- Be the elf: the winner hands out the prizes for the next game.
Give everyone something. A small thing for the team that did not win keeps the evening friendly. One sticker each costs next to nothing and ends the sulking.
For a party with several rounds, collect points over all of them and give the big prize only at the end. That keeps everyone in the game until the last round. If you want certificates and score sheets already drawn, a Christmas games bundle saves the drawing.
Pick the Game by How Many Kids Are in the Room
The number of children decides more than the age. You can use this table before you choose.
| Children | Best game | Sheets to print |
|---|---|---|
| 2 to 3 | Gift Grid, then charades in pairs | 1 |
| 4 to 6 | Charades in two teams, then Candy Cane Path | 1 |
| 7 to 10 | Charades, two teams of four or five | 1 |
| 11 and up | Charades in three teams, reverse charades for the youngest | 1 |
The sheet count stays at one. You carry the envelope of cards, which is the point of making them once.
More ideas for a bigger evening live in our Christmas party games for kids, and Christmas games for kids sorts the rest by setup time. For a whole school day, see classroom Christmas games for 25 kids.
A Score Sheet So Nobody Argues
Children will argue about points. You end the argument before it starts when the score is visible, so put one on the wall.
- Layout: two columns, one per team, with a row for each round and a total at the bottom.
- Marks: a tally mark per card. Five-bar gates are quick to count and children enjoy drawing them.
- Who writes: a child from the team that just finished, so the writing job also rotates.
Hang it where everyone can see it. When the last round ends, you already know the winner, and the prize goes out without a debate.
This score sheet fits in the corner of the same page as Candy Cane Path, so it does not use a second sheet.
Ready-Made Christmas Game Sets for Kids
Writing the words, drawing the path and laying out the grid is a pleasant hour once. It is a tiring one when you need three games before your guests arrive.
A prepared set solves the layout and leaves you only the printing, so you can spend the hour on the guests.
If you would rather stay entirely free, start with the free printable Christmas games with no email wall, then the five-minute set in easy Christmas games for kids.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are good charades for kids?
Short actions with a clear first move: Santa Claus, a snowman, opening a present, a reindeer. Add a picture next to each word for children who cannot read yet.
What are some good Christmas words for a guessing game?
Start with characters (Santa, elf, reindeer), then objects (candy cane, stocking, sleigh), then actions (decorating the tree, baking cookies, ice skating). Twenty-four words fill one sheet.
What are good prizes for Christmas party games?
Small and quick: choosing the next game, drawing the first card, a paper medal, stickers or a pencil. Give the losing team a small thing as well so the evening ends friendly.
How long should each turn be in charades for little kids?
Sixty seconds for ages four to six, forty-five from seven. Allow sound effects for the younger group and play in reverse charades if one child freezes.
Can I print the cards without a colour printer?
Yes. Black and white works because every card has a drawing and a word. If you want colour sheets already laid out, a ready-made Christmas games bundle has them.
Key Takeaways
- 100 christmas charades ideas in three levels cover kids from age four to age ten, 24 words to a printed sheet.
- Fix the timer and the score before the first card: 60 seconds for young children, 45 from age seven.
- Candy Cane Path and Gift Grid are two small board games that fit on a single sheet and need only a die and counters.
- A prize can be a privilege: choosing the next game or drawing the first card works as well as a sweet.
- Short on time before guests arrive: the Christmas Games Bundle has the charades pages ready to print.
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.
