Looking to liven things up in your house this Christmas? Do you want to encourage your family to put down their devices, turn the TV off and spend time together? Are you used to hearing the phrase “I’m bored” every minute of the day? Don't panic, we have you covered - these Christmas family games and Christmas activities are guaranteed to bring some joy to your house and celebrations this holiday season.

Here are our top picks for a fun and memorable holiday season.

1. Christmas Friendly Feud

You've seen the TV show, probably, now you can play yourself at home. Add a little friendly competition to the holidays, compete in teams and play Friendly Feud. Each feud begins with a FACE OFF. A question card is selected and a player from each team is invited up to the podium to try and take control of the board by giving the most popular answer.

Grab yourself some buzzers (anything that makes a noise), make a mock podium, pick the player with the best Steve Harvey impression to act as host and play!

Here’s are some free Christmas friendly feud question cards to warm you up - fingers on the buzzers. We asked a 100 people to ...

Name a word or phrase that begins with snow. Our survey says ...

• Snowflake - 30
• Snowman - 29
• Snowball - 26
• Snow White - 8
• Snow Angel - 4
• Snowfall - 3

Name something Santa wants for Christmas. Our survey says ...

• Night Off - 30
• New Sleigh - 22
• Peace and Quiet - 20
• More Elves - 7
• Mrs. Claus - 6
• Cokies - 5
• Good Weather - 5
• New Suit - 5

Name one thing people complain about during Christmas. Our survey says ...

• Expense - 25
• Relatives - 24
• Traffic - 20
• Crowds - 16
• Food - 13
• TV - 2

If the player who buzzed in first doesn’t get the highest ranked answer the competitor gets a chance to answer and steal control. Players on the controlling team take turns guessing an answer, each player has five seconds to answer and there is no conferring. If the team can guess all of the answers on the board they win the round and all the point revealed ; 100 points.

Sounds easy? Not so fast. If they fail to answer or give an incorrect answer they gain a STRIKE. Three STRIKES and the team looses control of the board and play passes to the opposing team. The opposing team can confer and has one chance to come up with ONE of the remaining responses. If they guess correctly they win all the points revealed so far. 

Christmas Friendly Feud has been an absolute blast every time we've played - our family still joke about some of the silly answers we buzzed in with. This fast paced family game is packed full of fun and guaranteed to get everyone laughing - give it a go.

2. Christmas Jeoparty

Inspired by the popular TV gameshow Jeopardy players work together in teams to answer questions, wager points and outsmart their opponents in this fast paced trivia game.

Choose someone to be your gameshow host, they will read a question aloud, the first team to buzz in answers. If the team answers the question correctly they earn the associated points on the board and gets to choose the next spot to play. If the team answer incorrectly deduct the points from their total and play passes to another team to buzz in and answer.

Here's where it gets exciting ... if a team land on a DAILY DOUBLE spot they can choose how many points to wager before the question is read. If they answer correctly they score the designated number of points. If they get it wrong the amount gets deducted from their points total.

The final Jeoparty round gives the teams one last opportunity to wager, earn points and win the game. Each team decides how many points (from their current total) to wager and records it down on a piece of paper. The question is read aloud, all teams have 30 seconds to confer and write their final answer down. When the time is up all answers are revealed. Teams who answered correctly earn the point wagered, teams who got it wrong have the points deducted instead. The team with the most points wins!

3. Christmas Gift Exchange

Do you have a large family? Are you organizing a big meet up? A Christmas family reunion? In need of a Christmas work party game? No problem, we have just the game. There is nothing better than Christmas gift exchange - often called a yankee swap.

A yankee swap, also called a white elephant exchange (why so many names!), is the perfect way to exchange gifts with family, friends or work colleagues. Invite your guests to bring a wrapped gift and pile them all together in the centre of the group. For added fun, it is Christmas after all, pick a theme for the gifts. We've found not only does it help guests with a little direction when shopping but its also a heap of fun seeing the creative directions people go when searching for the perfect gift. Here are a few ideas ...

Christmas gift exchange themes ideas :

• Gifts from a charity of a thrift shop.
• A gift that is red.
• The theme 'Home Sweet Home'
• The theme 'Fun in a Box'
• The best book you've read.
• Young at heart.

Yankee Swap Rules :

You'll find a heap of different yankee swap rules online, the one we always come back to as it is the most fun is to use cards. You can either write your own or purchase our carefully curated set. You can do that here.

Print and cut out all of the cards and mix them in the bowl or Santa hat. Form a circle and place all the gifts in the centre. Ask guests, one at a time, to pick a gift. Strictly no opening, peaking or shaking of presents.

4. Christmas Puzzles

Christmas is the perfect time for quizzes and puzzles - test your family over Advent, keep the kids quiet on a rainy afternoon or invite friends over for a game night. Our Christmas puzzle bundle includes our best selling Christmas emoji quizzes - can you name the Christmas songs? Films? Carols? or Cities? Some are harder than you think. Emoji quizzes not your thing, no worries, how about dingbats, alpha-numerical and missing letter puzzles?

Give some Christmas puzzles a try :

Here are some Christmas alpha-numericals puzzles - can you guess the correct answer. Here is an example 5 G R is 5 Gold Rings.

1. 3 W M
2. 31 D in D
3. 364 G in the T D of C
4. 70 M from N to B

Answers:

1. 3 Wise Men
2. 31 Days in December
3. 364 Gifts in the Twelve Days of Christmas
4. 70 Miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem. 

Emoji's more your bag - how about these? Five points if you can name the Christmas carols represented by emojis.

Looking for more and want to keep working that brain or testing your family? Our best selling Christmas picture quizzes are popular every holiday season, people love them - I can see why. I love a picture quiz, don't you?

5. Christmas Blankety Blank

Blankety Blank was a staple family gameshow in the UK when I was growing up. This Christmas game interpretation requires no general knowledge and can be enjoyed by all the family. No really, from your little sister to your grandma everyone can participate in this one.

How to play Christmas Blankety Blank :

The object of the game is to match your answers with as many of the other players on your team possible and score the most points. Sounds easy? Not always! The game is all about filling in blanks, for example, someone might read out the card :

"My partner cooks Christmas dinner for me every year. It's not that I don't appreciate the effort, but I wish they knew how to turn the BLANK on."

What word would you use to fill in the blank? - Oven? Stove? Microwave? Each answer that matches another player on your team scores points.

Here's another example - I'm thinking of a word, let's see if you can match me.

"Billionaire Jeff has so much money that he gold plated his BLANK this Christmas."

What did you write down? My answer was tree.

6. Christmas Connections

Next up is Christmas Connections, a fast paced word association game. This one is perfect for large groups. What do you think of when I say the word 'Elf', what about 'Tradition' or 'Frosty'? You must keep the chain of connected words going or risk being eliminated.

You can either write your own cards or purchase our curated set, you can do that here.

The first player selects a card and reads it to the group. The player to their right must quickly say a word that has some connection with the word said aloud. Play continues around the group with each player saying a new word connected to the last. What counts as a connection is down to the group to decide ; if a player isn’t happy with a word connection they may challenge it. In the instance of a challenge the group votes on whether, or not, to allow the word and continue. Play continues until a player is eliminated in one of three ways ;

1. They take more than 3 seconds to make a connection.
2. They repeat a word that has already been said in this round.
3. They are challenged and lose the vote.

When someone is eliminated the player to their right draws a new card and starts a new round. The last player standing is the winner. 

Rounds of Christmas connections are quick and snappy, it is perfectly suited for larger groups or whilst waiting for people to arrive for the party as anyone can jump in and out. Simple, quick and fun.

Christmas Activities for Children

Christmas is a magical time of the year, right? Yep, mostly, aside from the 100 jobs to do before the big day - decorate the house, make cards, present shopping, wrapping, food shopping, knitting that jumper for grandma, cooking the turkey, cleaning up ... the list continues. 

Keep the kids occupied this holiday season with our huge collection of games and activities. Banish the phrase ‘I’m Bored’ and encourage kids to put away devices and enjoy the real spirit of the holiday season.

Here are out top picks to keep the kids occupied and happy this Christmas :

1. Christmas Boredom Jar

A boredom jar is a low cost way to provide entertainment and a place children can go for inspiration, tasks, games and crafts.

Our Christmas boredom jar includes 104 cards and a mixture of activities and household chores - the only rule is you have to complete the card before drawing another. Will your children find themselves tidying their rooms, designing a magic key for Santa Claus, going on a scavenger hunt for stars, donating toys, inventing a secret code, hovering the house, researching something, holding an ugly Christmas jumper drawing competition and many more ... 

2. Christmas Candy Challenge Game

Take it in turns to pull out a card from the bowl - will you be lucky and get a treat card or will you have to perform a challenge, a swap or give one of your treats to another player. 

Example Christmas challenge cards :

• Rap the '12 Days of Christmas'.
• Do an impression of someone who is trying to wrap up an animal that keeps moving.
• For each letter in your name say a word associated with Christmas.
• You have 45 seconds to find five stars.
• Pretend to be wrapping an unusual present, can the group guess what it is?
• Act out the story of a Christmas movie you love in 30 seconds.
• You have one minute to perform a snow angel in every room of the house.

Write your own cards or purchase our ready made set and you can purchase, print and play in minutes.

3. Christmas Escape Room

Escape rooms are a heap of fun but expensive and not always practical for children. Have you ever tried a DIY paper escape room instead? They are a great activity for Christmas especially as can be used to reveal, or "unlock", an extra special gift. Purchase, print and play at home.

Take your children on a festive adventure as they solve puzzles, crack codes and save Christmas. 

Christmas Puzzle Game Story :

I really need your help! We have all been so busy at the North Pole ; the elves have been busy in the workshop making toys, the reindeers have been getting in shape, Mrs Claus has been busy making hot chocolate and cookies and Santa has been checking the nice list, twice.

I was just checking over the sleigh and giving it a fresh coat of red paint when I noticed it was padlocked! I’ve forgotten the combination! Can you help solve the puzzles, crack the code, unlock the sleigh and save Christmas?

Does this sound like a job your family would be up for? Here are a few examples of the puzzles included.

4. Christmas Daily Elf Note Cards

If there is a person on the planet who hasn't heard of the Elf on the Shelf, well, I'm yet to meet them. The craze that has take the world by storm and created a huge amount of work for Mums and Dads every December.

Take the pressure of yourself this year and purchase a set of daily elf cards. Our collection of Christmas elf note cards features activities, positive notes, suggestions for acts of kindness, jokes, warnings, countdowns to Christmas and more. 72 different cards and 8 blank cards so you can write your own, if you can find the energy ;-)

All you have to do is print them out and hide them around the house each day. Phew, that's one thing you can cross off your list. 

5. Creative Christmas Activities

A Christmas activity bundle packed full of creative ideas for your children to enjoy - spark curiosity in being creative and learning. Can they complete the alphabet treasure hunt? Design a board game about the North Pole? Complete 13 reading challenges? Write some creative short stories? Design an ugly Christmas jumper and more ... phew, there isn enough here to last all Christmas.

6. Christmas Conversation Cards

Last on the list but certainly not least are Christmas conversation cards.

Conversation cards promote meaningful conversations and connections for the whole family and are a perfect addition to a family dinner table. Cut your question cards up and mix them together in a jar on the dining table. After dinner take it in turns to pull out a card and answer the question. Chances are you won't be able to stop at one each and will find out more about each other than you first thought.

Spending time together as a family like this over Christmas is delicious, trust me and enjoy.

So there we have it ...

We've come to the end of the list, 12 games and activities for the whole family. Fun guaranteed. I hope these have sparked something within you and you'll take these ideas with you as you spend the holiday with friends, family, coworkers, pets, neighbours and anyone else on your list.

Life should be fun so make more time and play more games! Happy Christmas!