29 Christmas Ice Breakers & Adult Christmas Party Games🎉

Holiday parties and get-togethers are fun, but can bog down when people either know each other too well, or are unfamiliar with each other. Our list of Christmas icebreakers includes super short and easy icebreaker games to get your party moving. We also have team Christmas icebreaker games, and some special icebreaker games for dinner parties and gift giving. Some even can be modified and used for any occasion.

You may also like 120 Christmas Trivia Questions & Answers, Games + Carols

Super Short and Easy Christmas Icebreaker Games

Ornament Guess

Have guests guess the total number of ornaments on the tree as they arrive. The closest guess wins.

Holiday ABCs

Give each person or team a piece of paper and instruct them to write the alphabet vertically from A to Z. When you say, “Go!” they are to write a holiday word that starts with each letter. The first one to complete the list wins.

Christmas Memory Game

Put Christmas items on a tray and give people one minute to memorize the items. Take the tray away and have them write as many down as they can remember in 30 seconds.

Name That Carol

Make a list of lyrics from Christmas carols, but only provide 3 to 4 words from each song. The person who names all or most of the songs in a certain amount of time wins.

Emoji Carol Quiz

Prepare a sheet with carol titles written as emojis. Example: ❄️👦🏻➡️⛄ equals Frosty the Snowman. First to decode the sheet wins.

Snowball Name Toss

Crumple white paper into 10 to 15 “snowballs.” Guests form a circle and toss snowballs while calling out the recipient’s name. Anyone who drops 2 is out. Last player in wins.

Holiday Bingo

Make 5×5 bingo cards with prompts like “baked cookies this week” or “owns an ugly sweater.” Players mingle to find people who match and sign squares. First bingo wins.

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Christmas Icebreaker Games for Teams

Gift Wrap Challenge

1. Provide gift wrap and rolls of ribbon.
2. Divide the group into teams of two.
3. Each pair stands side by side with the hands next to each other tied together.
4. Each team must wrap a package using only their untied hands.
5. Additionally, they must tie it with a bow.
6. The winning team is the one that ties the package correctly first.

Unwrap It Fast!

You will need a Santa or elf hat, a pair of bulky gloves or oven mitts, one gift wrapped in multiple layers of paper, and one or two dice depending on how many people are playing.

1. Set the wrapped prize in the center of the room with the hat and gloves next to it.
2. Have players sit in a large circle.
3. The first person rolls a die and if a six shows, they run to the center, put on the hat and gloves, and start unwrapping the gift one layer at a time.
4. The dice continue to be passed until another six is thrown.
5. When someone rolls another six, they run to the center, take the hat and gloves, and continue unwrapping the gift.
6. The person who unwraps the last layer of paper keeps the prize.

Christmas Balloon Burst

1. Divide the group into two teams, one with red balloons tied to their ankles, and one with green balloons.
2. When team members hear, “Go!” they start popping the other team’s balloons.
3. When a player’s balloons are popped, they are out of the game.
4. The last team with one or more unpopped balloons wins.

Reindeer Antlers

In this game, teams are given a paper bag with the following items:

• One unused pair of pantyhose, a five inch hole cut in the tummy panel, and the feet cut off
• Red ribbon
• 14 small balloons

Set a timer for five minutes. One member of the team volunteers to be the reindeer. They slip the pantyhose on their head, with their face showing through the hole cut in the tummy panel. The team blows the balloons up and slips them through the open end of the pantyhose until they resemble antlers. Use the ribbon to tie the legs of the pantyhose closed and to decorate the antlers. The team that makes the best antlers within five minutes wins.

Wreath Hoops

1. Attach a hanging hoop to the ceiling. A large embroidery hoop works well.
2. Divide the group into pairs.
3. Have a large basket with 30 to 40 ping pong balls or paper balls.
4. One person in each duo is blindfolded and their partner gives instructions on how to throw the balls through the hoop.
5. Set a specific amount of time. 30 seconds works well.
6. After time expires, count how many balls went through the wreath.
7. The winning team is the one who throws the most through the hoop.

Christmas Card Match

1. Before your party, gather old holiday cards and cut each either in halves for pairs or fourths for teams of four.
2. Throw all the pieces into a basket, mix them up, and place the basket near the entrance.
3. As people arrive, have them select a card piece from the basket and find the person or people with matching pieces.

This is an excellent way to create small teams for other games or to seat people randomly at card tables for dinner.

Speed Wrapping Relay

Split into teams of 3. Player 1 wraps, Player 2 adds a bow and tag, Player 3 carries the gift on a serving tray through a simple obstacle path without dropping it. Fastest team with intact wrap wins.

Carol Code Breakers

Each team gets 10 short trivia or rebus clues that decode to carol titles. Solve them to earn small prizes or advantages for the next game.

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Christmas Dinner Table Games for Adults

Share a Favorite Holiday Memory

Try this icebreaker game at the dinner table after everyone is finished eating. As the name implies, people share a favorite holiday memory. Use our list or create your own.

• What was your best or worst Christmas gift as a child?
• What is your favorite holiday song?
• When do you open and exchange presents?
• What is one gift you will never forget receiving?
• What is your favorite kind of Christmas cookie?
• What is one of your family’s Christmas traditions?
• It would not be Christmas without _______________.
• What is one thing you really want for Christmas?
• What Christmas TV special or movie is a must in your family each year?
• Are you traveling for Christmas? If so, where are you going?
• What is your favorite kind of Christmas candy?
• What is your favorite Christmas food?
• What is your favorite Christmas ornament? Why?

Message Under a Plate

Perfect for a dinner party. Prepare slips of paper with strange phrases that would not normally fit into dinner conversation. After everyone sits, tell them to read the message under their plate and try to insert it into the conversation without getting caught. If a player accuses another of using their message but is incorrect, the accuser is out. At the end of dinner, reveal who succeeded.

• I saw a monkey at the zoo.
• I only did so once, when I was in France.
• The flowers were blooming profusely.
• Then my computer stopped working.
• My great aunt died on a Monday in May.
• I do not know about you, but I plan to be cremated.
• The electricity suddenly went out and it was very dark.

Topics Tables

Instead of letting everyone sit with the people they know, have them sit at tables that match their interests. Examples: travel lovers, dog people, home cooks, crafters, gamers. This seating method assures everyone has a shared topic.

Holiday Fortunes

Place a small blown up red or green balloon at each place setting with a slip of paper inside with a funny fortune. After dinner, have each person pop their balloon and read the fortune.

• You will kiss someone under the mistletoe before the party is over.
• You have a big surprise coming to you in the next three days.
• You are going to eat too many Christmas cookies tonight.
• You will go on a vacation to an unexpected place.
• Someone you are thinking about is thinking about you.
• You will get a new pet next week.
• You will get a job promotion next year.
• That gift you really want has been purchased for you.
• You will like all your gifts this year so much that none will need to be returned.
• You will have to return almost all your gifts this year.
• You will meet a famous movie star.
• You will find something valuable lying on the street.

Two Truths and a Tinsel

Around the table, each person shares two true holiday facts about themselves and one festive fib. The group guesses which is the fib.

Around the World Traditions

Place small tent cards with short descriptions of global holiday traditions on the table. Guests pick one and share whether they would adopt it and why.

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Fun Christmas Icebreaker Games

Sticker Stalkers

1. When guests arrive, give each a page with ten Christmas stickers.
2. The object of this game is to get rid of your stickers by sticking them on someone else, but only one sticker on each person.
3. If a player gets caught, they must take their sticker back.
4. They must also take a sticker from the person who caught them, but they can try to give these stickers back later in the game.
5. If someone falsely accuses you of stickering them, you can automatically put one of your stickers on that person.
6. The first person to get rid of all 10 of their original stickers is the winner.

Holiday Pictionary or Charades Holiday Game

1. Print and cut out individual song or movie titles within your selected theme.
2. Fold each title in half and place them in a bowl.
3. Individuals or teams pull a slip and act out or draw the title.

Popular Christmas Carols and Songs

• All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth
• Away In a Manger
• Chestnuts Roasting On an Open Fire
• Deck the Halls
• Frosty the Snowman
• Go Tell It on the Mountain
• Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer
• Here Comes Santa Claus
• Holly and the Ivy
• I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
• I Saw Three Ships
• Jingle Bell Rock
• Jingle Bells
• Let It Snow
• Little Drummer Boy
• Little Town of Bethlehem
• Oh, Christmas Tree
• Rocking Around the Christmas Tree
• Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer
• Silver Bells
• Sleigh Ride
• The Christmas Shoes
• The Twelve Days of Christmas
• Up On the Housetop
• We Three Kings of Orient Are
• What Child Is This?

Popular Holiday Movies

• A Charlie Brown Christmas
• A Christmas Carol
• A Christmas Story
• Babes in Toyland
• Christmas in Connecticut
• Christmas Vacation
• Christmas with the Kranks
• Elf
• Ernest Saves Christmas
• Frosty the Snowman
• Home Alone
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas
• I’ll Be Home for Christmas
• It Happened One Christmas
• It’s a Wonderful Life
• Jack Frost
• Jingle All the Way
• Meet Me in St. Louis
• Mickey’s Christmas Carol
• Miracle on 34th Street
• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
• The Christmas Kid
• The Kid Who Loved Christmas
• The Little Drummer Boy
• The Man in the Santa Claus Suit
• The Miracle of the Bells
• The Night They Saved Christmas
• The Nightmare Before Christmas
• The Nutcracker
• The Polar Express
• The Santa Clause
• White Christmas

Guess the Gift by Sound

Wrap small objects in identical boxes. Shake for 3 seconds and guess what is inside. Use beans, bells, crayons, marshmallows, puzzle pieces, or a tiny ornament.

Photo Booth Prompt Jar

Set up a simple backdrop and a jar of prompt cards like “everyone who loves cocoa,” “goofiest face,” or “reenact a carol lyric.” Take quick group snaps to kickstart mingling.

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Christmas Games for Gift Giving

Right and Left Gift Giving

If guests have brought gifts for a gift exchange, this game provides a fun means of distribution. You could also use it to pass out wrapped party favors. This game works with any age as long as they know their right from their left.

Read the following story while the group either stands or sits in a circle. Every time you say, “left,” packages pass to the left, and when you say, “right,” the packages pass right. When the story is done, each player keeps the gift they are holding. You can make the story longer if you wish.

The Story

Mr. Right said that his left hand was hurting.

“Your right hand?” said Mrs. Right.

“No, my left hand,” said Mr. Right.

Mrs. Right left the room to get a bandage for Mr. Right’s left hand. When she returned, she realized that she had left a pot boiling on the right burner of the stove. She left the room again, and right after she left, Mr. Right left to follow her.

“I left the stove on,” said Mrs. Right.

“That’s all right,” said Mr. Right as he left the room. “We can eat right after you fix my left hand.”

Dicey White Elephant

Sit in a circle with wrapped gifts in the center. On your turn roll one die and follow the result: 1 take from center, 2 steal, 3 swap with left, 4 swap with right, 5 unwrap any one gift, 6 wild card choose any of the above. Play to a timer like 10 minutes.

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Virtual and Inclusive Adaptations

• Virtual play – do Ornament Guess, Emoji Carol Quiz, and Holiday Bingo via screen share. Use breakout rooms for Team Pictionary.
• Low mobility options – run tabletop versions of Wreath Hoops using paper rings and pom poms tossed by hand.
• Non winter locales – rename snow themed games to “Cotton Ball” Relay or “Foam Ball” Toss.
• All ages – mark kid friendly prompts with a star and keep adult humor for a late session.

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Quick Setup Tips

• Prep a host basket with tape, scissors, markers, sticky notes, spare pens, and a basic first aid kit.
• Print simple scorecards and a 5 minute, 3 minute, and 1 minute timer set on a phone.
• Have a few small prizes like ornaments, cocoa packets, or candy canes to boost energy.

Christmas icebreaker games help people relate to each other, relax, and enjoy themselves. Try ours to make your party or get-together an occasion to remember.