20 Festive Family Christmas Party Ideas!
Planning a family Christmas party? Your Christmas party entertainment is now sorted! We have collated a sleigh-full of the best Christmas family party ideas just for you! Let the merriment begin!
Do also have a look at our Free Christmas Countdown Activities for Children and make sure to claim your FREE Christmas activity pack! And of course explore Busy Things for a sleigh-load of kids Christmas learning games and activities brimming with festive cheer.
Family Christmas Party Entertainment Ideas:
1. Have a Gift Wrapping Race
Give participants a range of shaped gifts. Ready steady, wrap! Points for fastest to wrap, neatest wrapping and bonus points for creativity and style! Did you know, children can wrap Christmas presents on Busy Things?
2. Christmas stocking game
Fill a stocking per team with a set of Christmassy items (same in each stocking) e.g. a jingle bell, a candy cane, a santa figurine, a pine cone etc. Include a range of different sized items, around 10/15 items in total. The games master calls out which item to search for in the stocking, first to find it wins! Return the items back into the sacks after each round.
3. Snowball Shootout
Aim snowballs into different-sized containers, give each a different point score depending on the size of opening and distance for thrower. We’ve even got a free snowball shootout scoreboard for you!
4. North Pole dash
Divide into teams and provide each with a ‘Santa’s’ sack. Teams must race to fill their sacks with presents (balloons) and deliver them to the ‘North Pole’ (the other side of the room/another room).
5. Cracker Tug of War
Who will win the cracker pull? Attach a cracker to the middle of a rope. Two teams compete in a tug of war, trying to pull the cracker towards their side. Be sure to check out our FREE Cracker stackers game!
6. Frosty’s Freeze Dance
Blast out the Christmas tunes and have the kids dance like snowflakes. When the music stops, they must freeze like Frosty. The last snowflake dancing wins!
6. Sleigh Ride Obstacle Course
Set up an obstacle course for children to take turns navigating (with their carboard sleigh?). You could include snowflake stepping stones, wrapping paper tunnels, a Christmas lights pathway, jingle bell hula hoops to crawl through. Perhaps have presents that they need to collect and deliver to somewhere else on the course.
Children can also guide Santa’s sleigh in our Christmas learning game series Santa’s Sleigh Dash Games. AND make sure to check out our free activities: Christmas Countdown: Santa Crossing! and Christmas Countdown: Santa’s Sleigh Dash Printable!
7. Christmas Tree Bowling
Decorate empty drinks bottles as Christmas trees and use a small ball to bowl them over. Each tree knocked down equals points.
8. Play a game of Santa Says…
Put a Christmas twist on the classic “Simon Says” game. Santa can give commands like “Santa says dance like an elf” or “Santa says roll like a snowball.” “Santa says fly like a reindeer.” It’s a holly-jolly version of a timeless game.
9. Reindeer Ring Toss
Create a festive ring toss game using antlers, create a set out of cardboard. Toss rings onto the antlers, give each prong a different score.
10. Christmas Scavenger Hunt
Here’s three variations of the Christmas scavenger hunt:
- Hide Christmas-themed items or cardboard cut-outs around the house. Teams can either check them off on a list or gather and bring them to you. The first team to find them all wins a special Christmas treat! (There’s a ready made list in our free Christmas activity pack)
- Christmas Tree Scavenger Hunt Hide ornaments (real/cardboard/felt) for children to search for and decorate the Christmas tree (real/cardboard/felt) as they find them.
- Candy Cane Scavenger Hunt Hide candy canes around the house for a sweet scavenger hunt. Children can collect them in baskets or stockings for a festive treat.
11. Jingle Bell Limbo
Decorate the limbo stick with jingle bells and play festive music. How low can they go without letting the bells jingle?
12. Christmas Karaoke Extravaganza
Hand out the song sheets and spread some festive cheer with a good old Christmas sing song! Add some extra magic doing it by torch or candlelight. You can also test out your Christmas lyric knowledge with our Free Jolly Jingles activity.
13. Rudolph’s Red-Nose Relay Race
Incorporate that infamous red nose into a relay race. Colour the first person’s nose with red face paint. Pass on the red nose by rubbing noses with their teammate. The first team to have a complete team of Rudolphs win!
14. Snowball Fight (Indoor Edition)
Use soft, plush snowballs for an indoor snowball fight. Create forts, divide into teams, and let the snowy battle commence! Play a game of Snowball Shootout on Busy Things too!
15. Christmas bingo
Design bingo cards with festive symbols like ornaments, snowflakes, and Santa hats. Call out Christmas-themed clues for a cheerful game of bingo. Or there’s a ready-made Christmas bingo set in our free Christmas activity pack!
16. Snowman Building Contest
Whether it’s real snow, crafting supplies or marshmallows, it’s time to showcase those snowman-building skills! Award prizes for the most creative, classic, and hilarious snowmen. Then why not build a snowman in Busy Things? Or design snowmen in our free winter activity pack!
17. Candy cane fishing
For this game you need a bowl full of candy canes. Using a candy cane ‘hook’ in their mouth, participants compete to see how many candy canes they can fish out of the bowl within a certain time.
18. Elf Workshop Craft Corner
Set up an elf workshop with craft supplies for children to create personalised ornaments and festive decorations, Santa’s little helpers will love getting crafty! Our FREE Christmas activity pack and FREE winter activity pack will make perfect additions with festive games, delightful crafts, and joyful puzzles!
15. Musical Snowflakes
Just like the classic musical chairs but instead of chairs, place snowflake print outs / cut outs on the floor to sit on. Remove 1 each round until the winner is crowned.
20. Busy Things online Christmas games
Well we couldn’t miss out on the Christmas fun could we! There are so many Christmas games and activities on Busy Things to add dash of festive magic to learning!
- Festive maths in Miners birds Christmas edition and Feed the Christmas monkey
- Santa’s sleigh dash adds sparkle to shapes, reading and maths
- Get creative making Jolly jingles, plus festive drawing challenges and Christmas colouring
- Creative Christmas challenges including making snowmen, decorating Christmas trees and many MANY more!
If you’re a Busy Things subscriber, log in now for a sleigh-full of Christmas activities.
Not a Busy Things subscriber? You can access all our children’s learning games free! Thousands of schools and families trust Busy Things to make learning fun! Take your free Busy Things trial to explore our Christmas activities and much more.
Merry Christmas from Busy Things!
We hope these Christmas family party ideas will add to the joy and laughter in your home this Christmas! Which one is your favourite? Share your festive moments with us in the comments below. Wishing you a Merry Christmas and happy celebrations!