Christmas Dinner Games Your Guests Will Love

When I began hosting my family's Christmas dinners a few years ago, I wanted to think of some traditions we could keep coming back to around the table. Inspired by ice breakers, I created some fun and easy holiday themed activities. These conversation prompts have created so many fun memories and laughs for our family, and they'll likely do the same for yours.

Whether you're looking to break the ice, create some structure, or, quite frankly, give everyone something other than the pandemic to talk about, here's a few ideas:

Christmas Cracker Legend

For this activity you'll need Christmas crackers. Traditionally, Christmas crackers are opened at the start of the meal in a joint effort. Everyone receives a surprise token inside.

If you are using store-bought crackers, you'll need to know what's in them. Most Christmas cracker boxes will have a preview of what surprises are within. Create a legend and have each token correspond with an activity.

Alternatively, you can easily make your own with toilet paper rolls, tissue and string. If you're making your own, simply print out each activity on small pieces of paper and stuff inside before sealing up.

And, what would 2021 be if we didn't have a virtual alternative? Create an activity legend with numbers 1 through 6 and have everyone roll a dice for their activity.

Some of the activities we have done in the past include:

Open a gift with oven mitts on.
Act out a Christmas scene using the Christmas cracker token item as a prop. (I like to make sure multiple people have this activity.)
Sing a Christmas song of your choice. (I also like to make sure multiple people have this activity so no one has to sing alone.)
Read an excerpt from a Christmas story with magnifying glasses. For example, I've printed out slips of paper with excerpts from How the Grinch Stole Christmas, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, and The Night Before Christmas in a size 4 font. I don't know why, but we always end up laughing over this.
Share a Christmas memory with the table.
Start a game of telephone using a holiday quote. We've used "Hang a shining star upon the highest bough" in the past.
Find an item and bring it back to the table in 30 seconds. Ex. A Christmas orange, AA battery, or bow.
Build a human Christmas tree (like a human pyramid). (You'll need to give this activity to 3-6 individuals.)
Name that carol. Provide a short excerpt from a Christmas song and have the guest guess what song it is from.

Sneak-a-Phrase

This one is my favourite. Write out short holiday sentences and place them at random under each guest's plate. Once everyone is seated, invite them to read the message privately. Challenge them to incorporate the phrase into conversation at any point during the dinner without being caught. Whoever is not caught, wins. Wins what? I don't know, bragging rights, or whatever you decide. This is also an easy activity to do virtually. Simply text or email each guest’s message privately prior to the call.

Here are some of my favourites over the years:

Dasher and Dancer, Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid, Doner and Blitzen.
Was that the gingerbread man?
Then I ate fifteen sugar cookies.
I don’t know about you but I wish I had eight tiny reindeer to drive me around.
I think I’m going to have to exchange all of my Christmas gifts this year.
One time I tried to jump over a snowman.
Quick, get those chestnuts roasting on the open fire.
Let’s get some candy canes and figure this out.
I keep forgetting Santa doesn’t exist.
Mr. Hanky the Christmas Poo. He’s small and brown and comes from you.
How many elves does it take to screw in a light bulb?
I only did so once, and it was under the mistletoe.
It was snowing profusely.
The electricity suddenly went out and I heard, “Ho Ho Ho”.
I think I’ll be exchanging that gift.
Sometimes I look at the sky and wonder what it would be like to fly a sleigh with eight tiny reindeer.
Where’s the meatloaf?
There’s nothing left to say, I love buttery meatballs at Christmas.
Now that’s a good stocking stuffer.
I’m only a morning person on December 25th.
Don’t get your tinsel in a tangle.