Christmas Classroom Party Games and Free Word Bingo

Put the materials for the first game on desks before the children come back from lunch. One bingo board and one pencil per pair are enough to get started. Save the moving and building for the middle of the party, when a little classroom noise is welcome.

Holiday dates for planning

Christmas Day date reference

For Christmas Day in 2027, the holiday date is Saturday, December 25, 2027; the federal observed date is Friday, December 24, 2027.

Open with Christmas word bingo

Give each pair a different board. One partner listens for the word and the other checks the squares. Switch roles after every three calls. Show the caller slip as you read it. A straight line of three, including the free center if it falls on that line, earns a bingo. Check the marked words together and allow simultaneous wins.

For students learning the words, show an example of a wreath, mitten or bell before you mix the slips. If a child would rather watch, offer the job of putting each called slip on the teacher’s desk. The deck has more words than any one board, so sometimes a pair will have nothing to mark.

Build the cup tree

Give each table six empty paper cups. Show a bottom row of three cups, a middle row of two and one cup on top. Take the tree apart. Each child now places one cup per turn until the table rebuilds it. Challenge the group to take the tree apart from the top down and pass every cup to a new builder for round two.

If reaching over the row is difficult, build on a tray that a partner can turn. To extend the game, offer four more cups and ask the table to work out the bottom row for a ten-cup tree. Four on the bottom leaves room for three, two and one.

Guess the wrapped shape

Slip a classroom object into a reusable gift bag. Give three clues, starting with the broadest. A ruler might be “I belong on a desk,” then “I have numbers,” then “I help you draw straight lines.” Let each table submit one guess before the reveal. For a second round, partners choose a familiar object and whisper clues to the teacher.

Fit it into half an hour

Use three minutes to settle and explain, eight for bingo, eight for cup trees, six for the guessing game and five to collect cups and pencils. For a bigger class, let pairs share the sixteen bingo boards and hand out extra caller jobs. The Christmas minute-to-win-it guide has more short games if the class has a longer celebration.

Get the printable

Christmas Classroom Word Bingo includes 16 different word boards, 24 Christmas caller slips and a teacher guide. The PDF is free.

Optional supplies

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Funtery Christmas paper cups double as the building pieces for each six-cup tree. Set aside unused clean cups for the game.