American Christmas Traditions and Customs: How Americans Celebrate Christmas
September 28, 2026
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Every family has that stretch of the holidays when the presents are open, the food is cooling on the counter and someone asks, “So what do we do now?” Printable Christmas games are the easiest answer. They cost nothing or next to nothing, they work for mixed ages, and all you need is a printer, a few pens and a flat surface.
This guide collects 25 printable Christmas games that actually get played rather than ignored on the coffee table. For each one you will find what it is, which ages it suits, how long it takes and how to run it. Several of the games include ready-made content, such as trivia questions and word scrambles, so you can copy the text into a document and print it straight away. There are also tips on paper, printing and prizes, plus ideas for classrooms, parties and video calls.
Screens are everywhere in December, but paper games have a few advantages that are hard to beat.
Before printing a stack of pages, think about who will be playing.
| Group | Best game types | Tips |
|---|---|---|
| Toddlers and preschoolers (2 to 5) | Picture bingo, I Spy, coloring, matching | Use pictures instead of words and keep rounds short |
| Young kids (6 to 9) | Word search, mazes, scavenger hunts, simple trivia | Add small prizes and team play |
| Tweens (10 to 12) | Word scrambles, crosswords, Would You Rather, Mad Libs style stories | Let them compete; a leaderboard helps |
| Teens | Emoji Pictionary, Finish the Lyric, trivia, This or That | Use humor and pop culture |
| Adults and mixed groups | Trivia, Who Am I, gift-exchange dice games, family feud style surveys | Teams mixing ages work best |
As a rule, choose one “loud” game, one quiet game and one team game. That mix keeps energy balanced.
Christmas bingo is the most popular of all printable Christmas games, and for good reason. Print a set of cards with holiday pictures or words, such as stocking, reindeer, candy cane, snowman, star, ornament, gingerbread and sleigh. Call items at random from a separate list and use candy, buttons or cereal as markers.
Among printable Christmas games, a word search is the classic quiet, independent activity that works well while dinner is being made. Include 12 to 20 words for younger kids and 25 or more for older kids. Hide words backward and diagonally to raise the difficulty.
Print a busy picture full of holiday objects and a list of items to find: three bells, five candy canes, two penguins. It is ideal for preschoolers and for keeping little ones busy at a restaurant table.
Mazes such as “Help Rudolph find the sleigh” are printable Christmas games that suit ages 4 to 8. Print a few levels of difficulty so siblings can play together.
Turn coloring into a game by adding a challenge: color by number, color only with red and green, or finish the picture in five minutes. Give a prize for the most creative page.
Print a grid and use tree and star symbols instead of X and O. Laminate or use a plastic sheet protector with a dry-erase marker so it can be reused.
A word scramble is one of the easiest printable Christmas games to create yourself. Here is a ready-to-print list with answers.
| Scrambled | Answer |
|---|---|
| NOWMSAN | Snowman |
| DREINERE | Reindeer |
| GINSTOCK | Stocking |
| LETSIETMO | Mistletoe |
| TTEAINSIOP | Poinsettia (hint: a red plant) |
| DYNACCAEN | Candy cane |
| BREADGINREG | Gingerbread |
| GIELSH | Sleigh |
| NATSA | Santa |
| MANTORNE | Ornament |
| SENTPRES | Presents (hint: under the tree) |
| GGONEG | Eggnog (hint: a holiday drink) |
Print the scrambled column only and keep the answers for yourself. Give a small prize to the first person to finish.
Crosswords are printable Christmas games that suit tweens, teens and adults. Use clues like “Rudolph’s most famous feature” (nose) or “Frosty is one” (snowman). Free crossword makers let you type clues and answers and print a clean grid.
Write a short story with blanks for nouns, verbs and adjectives, for example: “On Christmas Eve, Santa loaded his ___ (noun) onto the ___ (adjective) sleigh.” Players fill in the blanks without seeing the story, then read the result aloud. Expect a lot of giggling.
Print “MERRY CHRISTMAS” at the top of a sheet and give players five minutes to write as many words as they can using only those letters. It is simple, quiet and surprisingly competitive.
Assign a symbol or number to each letter and encode a holiday message, such as “Santa is coming tonight.” Older kids love cracking codes.
Trivia is the most flexible of all printable Christmas games for mixed-age groups because you can adjust the difficulty. Here are 15 questions to print, with answers.
Split into teams and keep score on a printed sheet.
This is one of the easiest printable Christmas games to prepare. Print a list of questions such as “Would you rather be an elf or a reindeer?” or “Would you rather eat only candy canes or only gingerbread for a day?” It needs no scoring, and it gets quiet relatives talking.
Similar to Would You Rather, but quicker: hot cocoa or eggnog, real tree or artificial, Elf or Home Alone. Players circle their answers and compare.
Print rows of emojis that represent Christmas movies or songs, such as a snowman plus a sun for “Frosty the Snowman” or a house and a boy alone for “Home Alone.” Teams race to decode them.
Print the first half of well-known Christmas song titles, not full lyrics, like “Rockin’ Around the…” or “All I Want for…” and have players complete the title. It works well for teens and adults.
Print names of Christmas characters on cards: Santa, Rudolph, the Grinch, Buddy the Elf, Frosty, Clarice, Scrooge. Tape one to each player’s back or forehead; they ask yes-or-no questions to guess who they are.
A scavenger hunt is one of the few printable Christmas games that gets kids moving, which makes it ideal when they have extra energy. Print a list of items to find around the house or yard: something red, something that jingles, a pine cone, a candy cane, a picture of Santa. For older kids, write rhyming clues that lead from one location to the next, with a small gift at the end.
Crumple scrap paper into snowballs and toss them into buckets labeled with points. The printable part is the score sheet and bucket labels.
Print a large reindeer head and red circle noses on card stock. Blindfold players, spin them gently and let them try to place the nose. It is a classic party game for ages 3 to 8.
Charades cards are simple printable Christmas games to make at home. Print cards with actions like “wrapping a present,” “building a snowman” or “decorating a tree.” Keep a separate set with movie titles for older players.
Of all the printable Christmas games for gift swaps, this one gets the most laughs. Everyone sits in a circle holding a wrapped gift. The host reads a printed story filled with the words “left” and “right,” and players pass their gift in that direction each time they hear the word. Whoever holds a gift when the story ends keeps it.
Print a chart that assigns an action to each number on a die: 1 means take a gift from the pile, 2 means swap with someone, 3 means pass left and so on. Set a timer for ten minutes and play until it goes off.
Print a simple rule card for your white elephant or Yankee swap exchange, including the number of steals allowed, so nobody argues about the rules.
Before the party, ask guests to answer questions like “Name something you hang on a Christmas tree.” Tally the answers and print a scoring board. Split into two families and play.
Teachers rely on printable Christmas games because they are quick to prepare and easy to adjust for different reading levels. Word searches, bingo and scrambles fit into a 20-minute slot before winter break. For inclusive classrooms, choose “winter” themed versions that focus on snow, mittens and hot cocoa so every child feels included.
For the workplace, trivia, emoji Pictionary and Who Am I translate well to an office party. Our dedicated guide to office Christmas party games everyone will love has more ideas built for coworkers.
For long-distance family, share the PDF by email before a video call, have everyone print their own copy and let one person be the host. Bingo and trivia are the printable Christmas games that work best over video because nobody needs to see anyone else’s sheet.
A little preparation makes printable Christmas games feel more special, and it saves stress on the day.
If you need a better home printer or other small tech upgrades, our roundup of tech gadgets under $100 is a good starting point.
Prizes for printable Christmas games do not need to be expensive. Candy canes, chocolate coins, stickers, small ornaments and dollar-store toys all work. For adults, try a “winner picks the next movie” rule or a small gift card. Our guide to Black Friday gift card deals shows how to stretch a prize budget.
Free printable Christmas games are perfect for a single evening. Paid sets, usually a few dollars on marketplaces for teachers and small designers, tend to offer more polish: matching designs across several games, editable files, answer keys and larger bingo sets with 30 or more unique cards.
| Free printable Christmas games | Paid printable Christmas games | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | $0 | Usually a few dollars per bundle |
| Design | Varies widely | Consistent, polished themes |
| Editable | Rarely | Often editable in PDF or Canva |
| Answer keys | Sometimes | Almost always |
| Best for | One-off family nights | Classrooms, parties, yearly traditions |
If you host every year, a paid bundle of printable Christmas games can be worth it because you can reuse the files for many seasons.
You can find free printable Christmas games on teacher resource sites, parenting blogs, library websites and craft sites. Look for sets that print cleanly on US letter paper and include answer keys. Free puzzle generators let you build your own word searches, crosswords and bingo cards in minutes, which is the easiest way to customize games with family names or inside jokes.
When downloading, stick to reputable sites, avoid anything that asks you to install software and check the file is a PDF or image rather than an executable.
Not sure how to combine the games? Here are three ready-made plans you can copy.
The logic behind each plan is the same: start with printable Christmas games people can join as they arrive, put the loudest game in the middle and end with something that has a clear winner or a gift.
Good printable Christmas games are easy to adapt so nobody feels left out.
The best printable Christmas games become family traditions. Some families keep a folder of the same games every year and add one new game each December. Others run a small “Christmas Olympics” with a scoreboard and a homemade trophy. If your family already has a big tree and matching pajamas (see our family Christmas pajamas guide), a game night on Christmas Eve fits right in.
Christmas bingo, word searches, I Spy, mazes and scavenger hunts are the most reliable choices for kids because they are easy to understand and work for different reading levels.
Yes. Many teacher, library and parenting websites offer free printable Christmas games, and free puzzle generators let you create your own bingo cards, word searches and crosswords.
Trivia, Finish the Lyric, emoji Pictionary, Who Am I and family feud style surveys work well for adults and mixed groups.
Use a word processor or a free puzzle generator, type your word list or questions, and print on regular paper or card stock. Add an answer key for the host.
For a two to three hour party, plan three or four games of about 15 to 30 minutes each, mixing quiet and active games.
Yes. Email the files ahead of time, have each household print a copy and let one host call bingo numbers or read trivia questions.
Printable Christmas games are one of the simplest ways to bring people together in December. Pick a few that suit your group’s ages, print them a day early, add a handful of small prizes and let the games do the rest. Whether you play at the kitchen table, in a classroom or over a video call, the laughter usually matters more than the scores.
Looking for more holiday reading? Explore our guides to American Christmas traditions, traditional Irish Christmas customs and the story of the traditional English Christmas dinner, which make great sources for your own trivia questions.
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