Hosting family and friends for a Christmas game night is one of the most fun ways to create lasting holiday memories. The best part? It doesn’t have to be stressful! With a little planning, you can put together an evening filled with laughter, great food, and games that everyone will enjoy. To make it even easier, we’ve created a FREE download of Christmas-themed game samplers so you can dive right in with your loved ones.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to hosting your own unforgettable Christmas game night—whether you use our lineup or customize it to fit your style.

Step-by-Step Blueprint for a Fun Christmas Game Night

1. Warm-Up Games for Arrivals

When guests are arriving at different times, it’s helpful to have a simple game ready to go. Choose something with minimal rules that people can join in as they arrive.

For our game night, we picked Crokinole. Not only is it easy to jump in on a game, but it also sets a festive tone for the evening. Inspired by my family’s Canasta tournaments (complete with a traveling trophy!) we created our first-ever Crokinole Christmas Tournament! Writing a quick bracket on our dry erase board made it competitive, fun, and memorable. Congratulations to Adam, the 2024 Crokinole Christmas Party Champion!

Making a fun tournament is a great way to start an annual tradition with your family and provides an easy excuse to host these parties again!

Our Crokinole Board

2. Mixing Ages and Keeping Everyone Engaged

Hosting a group with kids and adults? Choose games that bridge the age gap and include moments to move around.

We kicked off our sit-down games with Wits and Wagers, a trivia game perfect for all ages. To make it special, we created holiday-themed trivia questions ahead of time—this simple tweak turned the game into a personalized highlight of the night.

A game like this is perfect for playing with both kids and adults. Your youngest can join on a team, and for the rest, it doesn’t matter whether kids or adults are good at trivia — in Wits & Wagers, you’re betting on which answer you this is closest to the correct answer. (kind of like the Price is Right!) So no one has to feel bad about not knowing something and everyone’s able to get some points.

3. Adding Excitement with High-Stakes Fun

There’s nothing like a little friendly competition to amp up the fun. Next, we played a “winner-takes-all” round of Chase the Ace. (Watch our video to learn how to play!) Using quarters as markers adds a playful betting twist, and the winner gets to take home the entire pot. Simple, fast, and so much fun!

Another great game for this is Left Center Right! Give everyone a little money to use as their counters and watch your party’s energy skyrocket!

4. Active Breaks for Kids (and Fun for All)

Keeping kids entertained is key to a successful family game night. Attentions and interests for games can wane after a while so plan to have an intermission. We planned an active break with a game we called Silent Night, using a few jingle bells and a Nerf gun. (This little one was has some power!) This turned out to be the kids’ favorite activity—and a great way to burn off some energy before dinner!

5. Keeping Dinner Simple but Delicious

When it comes to feeding a crowd, simplicity is your friend. For dinner, we prepared a selection of soups that simmered all day, paired with a toppings station so everyone could customize their bowls. This setup was stress-free and perfect for a cold winter evening. (okay, it’s Florida so it was definitely not cold, but we’re getting in the spirit!)

For dessert, we served a platter of cookies alongside a few quick and playful rounds of cards. We ran two tables, one group playing Cover Your Cookies and the other playing Gnomin’ A Round. (My dad’s choice!) This served as a fun way to recapture everyone’s attention and prepare for the last game of the day.

6. Ending the Night with Laughter and Relaxation

To wind down the evening, we played the holiday expansion of Green Team Wins. This low-key, conversational game was the perfect way to transition from structured gameplay to casual chats and laughter that lasted late into the night.

Tips for Hosting Your Own Game Night

Keep it simple: Choose games you already have, know and love. To help, we made this FREE PRINTABLE with Christmas-themed samplers of three different party games perfect for these types of occasions.

You can download it for free here!

The games we modeled these for are:

Just One
Wits and Wagers
Connected Clues (play this one in the car on your travels!)

Balance the energy: Mix active games with sit-down ones to keep everyone engaged.

Focus on fun, not perfection: The best part of a game night is the time spent together, so don’t stress about every detail.

Hosting a Christmas game night is about connection, laughter, and making memories with the people you love. Don’t wait for the house to be perfect or each and every detail to be in place. Just invite people over and I promise everyone will be so grateful that you did.

Happy hosting!

If you enjoyed this post on How to Host a Memorable Christmas Game Night (Without the Stress!) you may also enjoy:

The Complete Christmas Gift Guide
Christmas & Holiday Themed Games
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