Christmas charades: 110 ideas, easy to hard

How to play Christmas charades

1. 1

   Make two teams

   Mix the ages: a grandparent, a parent and a kid on each side keeps it fair.

2. 2

   Pick a word

   The actor takes a word from the list (or from a hat) without showing anyone.

3. 3

   Act it out

   No talking, no pointing at things in the room. Their team has 60 seconds to guess.

4. 4

   Score it

   A point for a right guess. Swap teams and keep going until the pudding is served.

Easy Christmas charades (for kids)

One thing, easy to act out. Good for little ones.

Santa, reindeer, snowman, present, Christmas tree, elf, bells, stocking, candy cane, star, angel, sleigh, cookie, bauble, snowball, hug, wrapping paper, carols, chimney, teddy bear, sleeping, swimming, mittens, gingerbread man, wreath, penguin.

Medium Christmas charades

Things to do at Christmas: more to act, more to guess.

opening presents, pulling a Christmas cracker, hanging a stocking, decorating the tree, building a snowman, eating too much, wrapping a present, singing carols, baking cookies, a snowball fight, waiting for Santa, kissing under the mistletoe, feeding the reindeer, ice skating, writing a letter to Santa, a Christmas photo, putting the star on top, a paper crown, leaving out a snack for Santa, a sleigh ride, peeking at presents, a wobbly Christmas jumper, hanging the lights, carol singers at the door, a Christmas parade, a snow angel.

Hard Christmas charades (for adults)

Ideas, feelings and things that go wrong. Good luck.

the Christmas lights won't work, regifting, a food coma, last-minute shopping, the Boxing Day sales, a long queue, assembling a toy with no instructions, falling asleep on the couch, the family photo, a Secret Santa reveal, a dad joke from a cracker, tangled tinsel, the batteries aren't included, a present you don't like, counting down the sleeps, washing up after lunch, a burnt roast, the first sip of eggnog, trying to stay awake for Santa, a power outage, the cat in the Christmas tree, New Year's resolutions.

Aussie Christmas charades

For a Christmas at the beach, with a few from the Gold Coast.

prawns on the barbie, Santa in boardshorts, a backyard cricket match, swimming at the beach, putting on sunscreen, a pavlova, the cricket on the telly, a sausage sizzle, a sunburnt Santa, surfing on Christmas Day, a cold drink in the esky, the ceiling fan, a Christmas picnic, swatting a fly, a thong on the hot sand, a koala in a Santa hat, a lifesaver on the beach, a mango, a road trip to the coast, a water fight, an ibis stealing a sandwich, a summer storm.

Christmas songs to act out

Act out the title, word by word.

Jingle Bells, Silent Night, Deck the Halls, Frosty the Snowman, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Away in a Manger, Joy to the World, The Twelve Days of Christmas, Up on the Housetop, Little Drummer Boy, O Christmas Tree, Here Comes Santa Claus, Let It Snow.

Tips for Christmas charades

• Agree the signals first. Fingers for the number of words, a tap on the arm for "sounds like".
• Let little kids whisper to a grown-up. They act it out together, so nobody gets stuck.
• Keep a timer. 60 seconds for easy words, 90 for the hard ones.
• Play it as a drawing game too. When the actors are tired, switch to Doodle Dash with the same words.

Play a Christmas game on your TV

Doodle Dash puts the drawing on the TV while everyone guesses on their phones. For a quiz, there's a ready-made Christmas quiz in the quiz library, and our Christmas quiz questions with answers.

Doodle Dash

One player draws on their phone. Everyone else races to guess what it is. The TV shows every line as it is drawn.

• 2–30 players
• About 10 minutes

Read how to play →

Quiz

A quiz on the TV with phones as buzzers or answer pads. Choose a ready-made quiz, write your own or build one with AI.

• 1–30 players
• Depends on the quiz

Read how to play →