106 Christmas Charades Ideas for Kids & Adults (2026)
106 Christmas charades ideas sorted by difficulty: easy words for kids, Christmas movies and songs, and hard scenes for adults. Plus how to play and the hand signs everyone uses.
Charades is the one party game that works for the whole family at once:
no board, no rules to read, and grandparents can play with five-year-olds.
Below are 106 Christmas charades ideas sorted from easy to hard, so you
can pick the right ones for your group, along with how to play and the
hand signs everyone uses.
🎯
Quick Answer
The best Christmas charades ideas are things everyone can picture straight away: Santa Claus, a reindeer, building a snowman, wrapping a present, Home Alone or Jingle Bells. Give kids single words and adults whole scenes, like untangling the Christmas lights.
⭐ Easy Christmas charades for kids (20)
One clear thing to act out. Good for ages 5 and up.
Santa Claus Reindeer Snowman Christmas tree Elf Present Candy cane Snowball Stocking Star Bell Gingerbread man Sledding Penguin Cookies Hot chocolate Mittens Angel Sleigh Polar bear
🎅 Christmas characters (12)
From stories, films and the North Pole.
Rudolph Frosty the Snowman The Grinch Mrs. Claus Ebenezer Scrooge The Nutcracker Jack Frost Buddy the Elf Kevin from Home Alone A toy soldier Tiny Tim A carol singer
🎁 Christmas actions and traditions (18)
Things everyone has done in December, so they're easy to recognise and fun to act.
Wrapping a present Decorating the tree Building a snowman Hanging a stocking Writing a letter to Santa Kissing under the mistletoe Singing carols Baking cookies Ice skating Opening presents Snowball fight Lighting candles Pulling a cracker Putting the star on top Shaking a present to guess what's inside Leaving milk and cookies for Santa Making snow angels Opening an advent calendar door
🍪 Christmas food and drink (10)
Act out cooking it, eating it, or what happens after.
Roast turkey Eggnog Mince pie Christmas pudding Gingerbread house Mulled wine Yule log Brussels sprouts Christmas ham Candy canes
🎬 Christmas movies (16)
Start with the movie sign, then act out the title word by word.
Home Alone Elf The Polar Express Love Actually Die Hard How the Grinch Stole Christmas A Christmas Carol The Nightmare Before Christmas Miracle on 34th Street It's a Wonderful Life Frozen The Holiday Jingle All the Way The Santa Clause Arthur Christmas Klaus
🎶 Christmas songs (15)
No humming allowed, which is exactly what makes these hard.
Jingle Bells Silent Night Last Christmas All I Want for Christmas Is You Let It Snow Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Feliz Navidad White Christmas Deck the Halls Santa Claus Is Coming to Town Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree Winter Wonderland Jingle Bell Rock We Wish You a Merry Christmas The Little Drummer Boy
🔥 Hard Christmas charades for adults (15)
Whole scenes rather than single things. Expect wild guesses.
Untangling the Christmas lights Assembling a toy at midnight Regifting a present Burning the Christmas dinner Hiding presents from the kids Last-minute shopping on Christmas Eve Pretending to love a gift Falling asleep after Christmas dinner The dog stealing the turkey Arguing over a board game Office Christmas party Ugly Christmas sweater contest The Christmas tree falling over Queueing to return gifts Carving the turkey
How to play Christmas charades
1
Make two teams
Mix ages on each team, so every team has someone who can act out the
movie titles and someone young enough to get away with being a penguin.
2
Fill a hat with slips
Write ideas from the lists above on slips of paper, fold them and drop
them in a bowl or a Santa hat. Keep the easy ones in a separate pile for
the youngest players.
3
Act it out, silently
60 seconds
One player draws a slip and acts it out for their own team. No talking,
no mouthing words, and most families ban pointing at things in the room.
4
Score and swap
A correct guess before the time runs out earns a point. Teams take turns
until the slips run out, and the team with the most points wins.
Charades hand signs
These are the classic signals. Agree on them before the first round so
nobody can claim they didn't know.
To show…
Do this
Movie
Crank an old film camera next to your head
Song
Open your mouth and move a hand as if singing
Book
Hold your palms together, then open them like a book
TV show
Draw a rectangle in the air
Number of words
Hold up that many fingers
Which word you're on
Hold up fingers again: one for the first word, two for the second
Number of syllables
Lay that many fingers on your forearm
Sounds like
Cup a hand behind your ear
Short word (a, the, of)
Hold your thumb and finger close together
The whole thing
Sweep both arms in a big circle
Skip the paper slips: play it on a phone
If you'd rather not cut up slips at all, our iPhone app
Game Night has charades built in. Hold the
phone to your forehead, your team acts out the word on screen, and you tilt
down when you guess it or up to pass. Rounds are 30, 60 or 90 seconds,
and the app keeps score for each team.
In December a Christmas pack of 70 cards sits on the home screen, and with
AI packs you can make a deck about your own family and its in-jokes.
Game Night is a free download with free decks; the Christmas pack and the
AI packs come with Game Night PRO.
Get it on the App Store.
Christmas charades questions
What are good Christmas charades for kids?
Single things they can see or do: Santa, a reindeer, a snowman, a candy cane, sledding or opening presents. Young children do best with words they can act out with their whole body, and with an adult on their team to help.
How do you play charades at Christmas?
Split into two teams, write Christmas words on slips of paper and put them in a hat. One player draws a slip and acts it out without speaking while their team guesses before the timer runs out. Each correct guess is a point, and teams take turns.
How many people do you need for charades?
Four is a comfortable minimum, two teams of two, but charades works with any number. With a big family group, make two large teams or play everyone against the actor.