‘Tis the season when Christmas games and holiday games start showing up in the classroom as teachers look for fresh ways to engage their students. We get it. The kids are ready for that winter break, and you are too. And you want to send them off for a happy holiday season.
Whether you’re planning a winter party before students head off on their holiday break, or you’re looking for some fun games with a seasonal twist, we’ve got you covered with a mix of games that are purely Christmas, plus secular winter games that you can add to your repertoire.
The teachers on the Teach Starter team (you know, the ones who create all the fabulous printables you know and love?!) pulled together some of our favorite holiday games to play in the classroom to save you serious planning time. We’ve tried to focus on games that are fun but bring in an educational element — from incorporating math skills into a jingle bell toss to adding a wintry snowman twist to hangman that gives students a chance to work on vocabulary.
The games that made the list are great for your holiday party, for those last few days before the break when half the class is already out or even just to give those fast finishers something fun (and educational) to do with a holiday theme.
Best Christmas Games for Kids to Play in the Classroom
Merry Christmas Word Game
Write the words “Merry Christmas” on your whiteboard, set a 2-minute timer and challenge students to make as many words as they can with the letters of the two words. When the timer goes off, have students count up the words on their list and hand out prizes for the most words created and the longest words created.
This is one of the simplest games you can play in the classroom this time of year, as it requires no prep, and you don’t need much more than your whiteboard marker, some paper and pencils. It can also be done as an individual activity or in small groups.
Want to take Christmas out of the equation? Substitute “Happy Holidays” or “Winter Break” as the words you write on your whiteboard.
Pin the Nose on Rudolph
We’re big believers that simple is always best — especially when you’ve got approximately 1,000 things to do before you flip the lights off and head out of the classroom for your own winter break.
With that in mind, what can be simpler than taking a traditional party game and making it holiday-themed for your classroom? Instead of “pin the tail on the donkey,” bring Christmas into the equation with a fun game of pin the nose on everyone’s favorite red-nosed reindeer, Rudolph.
Holiday Picture Drawing Challenge
This is a drawing challenge with a fun catch! Some students’ drawings can look a bit abstract at the best of times… but what if they were drawing without looking at what they were doing?
Using paper plates and a pencil, this fun “draw without looking game” can be played any time of the year, but it’s perfect for some winter fun during your end-of-year party.
What You Need to Play
- 1 paper plate per student
- 1 pencil per student
How to Play
- Give each student a paper plate and a pencil.
- Instruct the students to place the paper plate on their heads. This becomes their drawing canvas.
- Give your students a drawing challenge to draw on the paper plate while it’s up top — no peeking!
- The best/most accurate picture is the winner. (You may want to call in a third party, such as a teacher from another classroom, to judge.)
Ideas for what to draw can be incredibly simple — you don’t want to make it too difficult, or students will get frustrated. You can choose Christmas characters such as Santa or a reindeer. Or — with winter upon us — why not ask students to draw a snowman or a cup of hot cocoa?
Jingle Bell Toss
This Christmas-themed game for kids has a mathematical twist that makes it fun AND educational. Of course, the jingle bells come from the Christmas song, so if you want to avoid the holiday overtones, you can substitute other small items for the bells.
What You Need to Play
- Jingle bells (enough for each student to have 1)
- A set of 10 cups with a value written inside
- Painter’s tape
How to Play Jingle Bell Toss
- Set up a set of paper cups with values written inside of them for each group. The values can be as simple as single-digit numbers (for younger students) or as complex as mixed fractions (for those wanting a challenge!).
- Place a piece of painter’s tape at a specific distance from each set of cups.
- Split your class up into small groups.
- Give each student in each group a jingle bell to play with.
- Have students take turns throwing their jingle bell into a cup.
- Once everyone has had a turn, add up the numbers that have a jingle bell inside. The group with the highest total is the winner!
Escape Room — Holiday Style
Escape rooms are a big hit these days, with logical challenges that keep students’ minds whirring, and your classroom working together as a team.
Work on class collaboration this holiday season with some digital escape rooms created specifically for the season:
- Elf Escape — designed for 1st grade through 3rd grade
- Save Santa’s Workshop — designed for 3rd grade through 5th grade
- The Elf Investigation — designed for 4th grade through 6th grade
Holiday Bingo
Who doesn’t love Bingo? The age-old game promotes teamwork in the classroom, helps students build cognitive skills and — of course — it’s plain old fun.
Print out copies of our free blank Bingo card template and add holiday-themed characters. You can keep it secular with Frosty the snowman and other winter themes, or add Santa, his reindeer and more to focus on Christmas.
Want a pre-made game that will save you the time of creating a bingo board? Try these fun snowman bingo cards! You can print them out or project them on your screen!
Decorate a “Tree” Relay
Decorating the tree is a classic activity for the season, so why not bring it into your classroom for a fun game? Before your brain starts whirring over the logistics of carting a tree into the classroom, don’t worry. The “tree” in this fun relay game for kids is actually a student! As for the decorations, you can keep things simple with printed ornaments with tape on the back to help them stick to the “tree.”
The goal is for students to decorate a classmate, racing against a clock to get as many ornaments in place as they can before time runs out. You can allow teams to decorate together or run this as a relay, with the decorator swapping out throughout the allotted time.
What You Need to Play
- Decorations for your “tree”
- Tape to help them stick
- Classroom timer
How to Play
- Break your class into small teams. The teams should each designate one member to act as the “tree.” This student will have to remain frozen as a statue and cannot help their team with the decorating.
- Provide each team with an array of Christmas decorations.
- Say “freeze” to let your trees know it’s time to stand in place.
- Start your classroom timer and let students know it’s time to start decorating.
- At random intervals, yell “swap” so the decorator from each team has to change out.
- When the timer sounds off, the team that has managed to attach the most decorations is the winner!
Winter Games for Kids to Play in the Classroom
Want some games that are purely winter-themed? You can play these fun winter games at a holiday party or stick them in your pocket to play in the new year. We’ve even included some fun brain breaks!
Snowball Bowling
This game can be played inside or outside the classroom! This simple take on 10 pin bowling has a fun holiday twist with bowling skittles that have a wintry theme.
To prep, you’ll need to create snowman bowling skittles out of tin cans or cups. Empty water bottles can also be upcycled for this purpose. It’s a great idea to ask your class to bring in clean tin cans to decorate for the day leading up to your holiday party so that it’s a whole class effort.
What You Need to Play
- 8-10 bowling skittles per group.
- One bowling ball per group (You can use a real ball or just something white, such as a large pair of white socks rolled into a ball.)
How to Play
- Break your class up into groups of 4 or 5.
- Allocate a “lane,” a set of skittles and a “bowling ball” to each group. You can make your lanes by drawing chalk lines on a sidewalk, placing jump ropes lengthwise on the ground or using painter’s tape on the floor.
- Have students take turns bowling the ball down the lane toward their skittles. For each skittle they knock down, they receive a point.
- The person who has the most points at the end of 3 rounds of bowling is the winner!
Snowman Name Game
This is silly fun at its absolute best! Use our free snowman naming template to help your students find their snowman name using their initials and the month they were born!
Frostbitten Fireplace and Snuggly Icicle have a nice ring, don’t you think?
Disappearing Snowman
This is a fun — and secular — holiday game for the classroom that’s educational to boot! A twist on the old classic “hangman” that’s a lot more kid-friendly, kids practice guessing and spelling words in this interactive game … but instead of a stick figure hanging from a noose (shudder), you have a fun and friendly snowman with accessories that disappear when kids make the wrong guess. Set it up on a computer for kids to play alone or project on your whiteboard for the whole class!
Snow Shovel Race
This wintry minute-to-win-it game pits your students against the clock in a race to clean up their snow (aka cotton balls!). The aim of this game is for students to tidy up as many snowballs as they can using nothing but a set of chopsticks. The twist? They can only shovel up one ball at a time, so they have to work quickly.
What You Need to Play
- Classroom Timer
- 1 set of chopsticks per team
- A pile of cotton balls for the students to collect (how many depends on the fine motor skills of your students!)
- 1 bowl for the “snow” collection per team
How to Play
- Divide your students into small teams of 4 or 5.
- Provide each team with one set of chopsticks and one bowl.
- Scatter a pile of cotton balls on each group’s table.
- Direct students to elect one member of their group to be the first snow shoveler.
- Turn on your timer, giving the snow shoveler from each team 1 minute to “shovel up” as many cotton balls as they can, using only the chopsticks to move the “snow” from the table and into the provided bowl. Remind students they can only shovel up one snowball at a time, so they have to be quick!
- At random intervals, call out “swap,” allowing the shoveling student to hand off their chopsticks to a teammate who must try shoveling.
- When the timer goes off, the team that has collected the most snowballs is the winning team.
Snowman Slapjack
Some teachers call this game Slaps — although we promise there is no violence in the actual game! Snowman Slapjack involves matching families to test students’ observation skills, with the fun of fast-paced play thrown in. Print your own slapjack cards here!
Snowman Says
Simon Says is a classic party game for kids, and it makes a great brain break in the classroom. But have you tried putting a winter twist on the old favorite? We have!
Try these printable “Snowman Says” task cards, designed for students from pre-K on up, to get your class out of their seats for a movement break.
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