How to Play Christmas Charades: free printable games!

Christmas Charades is a fun party game to play with a group of people, especially family members. Not only does it make for an amusing night in, but it also tests character and can often reveal a person’s true personality.

Over the years there have been several adaptions of the game of charades. According to Wikipedia, its original goal was to act out a riddle in the form of a verse or poem by using one syllable. Today, however, it is played totally mute with only actions being allowed. It has even gone electronic, with apps suggesting topics. Even talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres has created her own version of charades in an app-form.

Nothing beats good, old-fashioned charades especially when it is theme driven making it Holiday Charades.   If you already know how to play, then you may want to check out our holiday word lists on our Word Game Generator.  Below you’ll see our Christmas Charades printables for Christmas songs, Christmas movies, etc.  If you don’t know how to play, don’t worry! Just follow the guidelines for setup and game play below the printables section, and you’ll be ready to go before you can say ho ho ho.

Christmas Charades Setup

Before you begin make sure you have enough people to play with. It is advisable to have an even amount of people so that you can choose to play as two teams, but if you don’t you can play as individuals. All you’ll need to start is a piece of paper and a pen.

Firstly, you’re going to have to choose how you want to play the game: you can choose to set a theme, such as pop songs, and every person will have to write the name of a pop song on a piece of paper. These papers will then be put into a bowl to be drawn out of by players. Alternatively, you can leave the field open and players can create a mixture of topics to add to the pool. Ehow.com recommends a 3-minute time limit in order to make this game even more exciting.

How to Play Team Christmas Charades

  1. Firstly, you’re going to choose a player from your team to draw a piece of paper from the bowl.
  2. Secondly, the player has to act out what topic it falls under. Ehow.com suggests a few gestures, but you can alter these actions as you wish:
    • a book: put your hands together, palms facing upwards.
    • a movie: pretend like you’re winding up an old recording camera.
    • a person: put your hands on your hips.
    • a song: put your hands in the air and pretend to sing.
  3. Next, the person has to indicate the number of words in the object he is going to act out. This can be done by showing the number of words with your fingers.
  4. The person then has to act out the object without making a sound. If there are more than 1 word, indicate which word you are going to act out. The team who gets the most words right is the winner.

How to Play Individual Charades

The rules for individual charades remain exactly the same; the only difference here is that there are no teams to compete against. Every player is playing against every other individual.

This makes for a fun game when the cold is creeping up outside. Make a nice cup of hot chocolate and let the games begin!

Holiday Charades Video Tutorial


Christmas Charades Printables

Simply click on the images below, print, cut out the white squares, and use them to play Charades. Game on!

Christmas Songs Charades Printable

Check out this free Christmas Charades Songs Printable! Get more free Christmas Charades printable games and learn how to play Christmas Charades with our Christmas Charades game tutorial: www.GameOnFamily.com/christmas-charades. Game on!

Christmas Movies Charades Printable

Check out this free Christmas Charades Movies Printable! Get more free Christmas Charades printable games and learn how to play Christmas Charades with our Christmas Charades game tutorial: www.GameOnFamily.com/christmas-charades. Game on!

Christmas Words Charades Printable

Check out this free Christmas Charades Words Printable! Get more free Christmas Charades printable games and learn how to play Christmas Charades with our Christmas Charades game tutorial: www.GameOnFamily.com/christmas-charades. Game on!

Christmas Charades Tutorial Printable

Christmas Charades Instructions Printable