15 DIY Christmas Games You Can Make from Dollar Store Finds

If you have been Googling christmas games diy for the last hour trying to find something that doesn’t cost a small fortune or require a craft room the size of a warehouse, hi — you found your people.

Every single game on this list can be built from dollar-store supplies and things you probably already have in your recycling bin, and the best part is that the making is half the fun.

Seriously, grab a hot glue gun, pour yourself some eggnog, and let’s get building.

Whether you are throwing a neighborhood holiday bash, a family get-together, or just want to keep the kids entertained while you pretend the house is clean, these 15 christmas games diy ideas have got you covered.

They photograph beautifully for the ‘gram, they cost next to nothing, and they will have every single person at your party playing, laughing, and probably getting a little too competitive. (No judgment — we are all a little extra at Christmas.)

Speaking of keeping costs low, check out these 7 ways to budget for Christmas so you can spend less on party supplies and more on the good stuff.

1. DIY Reindeer Antler Ring Toss

This one is an absolute crowd-pleaser and it looks SO cute set up on a table or the floor.

The idea is simple: you build a cardboard reindeer head with big branching antlers, and guests take turns tossing rings onto the antlers from a designated throwing line.

Each antler tip scores a different number of points — think 5 for the outer tips, 10 for the inner ones — and the player with the highest score after three rounds wins a little holiday prize.

It plays fast, it’s silly, and even the adults get weirdly invested.

To build it, grab a large cardboard box and cut a reindeer head silhouette from the front panel — round ears, big snout, the works.

Draw on a friendly face with a black marker and hot-glue a big red pom-pom onto the nose for Rudolph’s signature look.

For the antlers, cut two branching shapes from a separate piece of cardboard (or foam board from the dollar store), spray-paint them brown, let them dry, and slot them into slits cut at the top of the head.

Prop the whole reindeer up against a wall with a few stacked books or a cardboard easel on the back.

For the rings, bend six to eight pipe cleaners into circles and twist the ends together — two pipe cleaners twisted together make a sturdier, easier-to-throw ring, and you can make them in red and green for each team.

Host tip: mark the throwing line with a strip of washi tape so guests know where to stand, and move it back for the adults who think they are secretly athletic.

This game also doubles as decor — the reindeer looks adorable propped in a corner until it is game time, which means zero extra decorating effort on your end. A win before the party even starts.

2. DIY Christmas Bingo Cards

Christmas Bingo is one of those christmas games diy classics that works for literally every age group at the table — grandma, the five-year-old, and the teenage cousin who swore they were too cool for party games (they are not).

Each player gets a unique 5×5 bingo card filled with holiday images: Santa, a snowflake, a candy cane, a stocking, a Christmas tree, an ornament, a gingerbread man, a present, a reindeer, a star, a bell, an elf, hot cocoa, a wreath, mistletoe, a sleigh, mittens, a snowman, Rudolf’s nose, and lights — with a FREE space in the center.

A caller draws image cards one at a time, calls them out, and players mark their boards. First to get five in a row shouts ‘Bingo!’ and wins a small prize.

To DIY the setup, print this sheet and cut the calling cards apart — store them in a small holiday gift bag for easy shuffling.

For markers, skip buying anything extra and just use whatever is in your Christmas candy bowl: M&Ms, Hershey Kisses, small peppermints, or even pennies wrapped in gold and silver foil work perfectly.

If you want to make the cards last for multiple years (great idea, tbh), print on cardstock and run through a laminator — then players can mark squares with a dry-erase marker and wipe clean between rounds.

You can print one card per player or let a big group share cards in pairs for a more social experience.

The secret to keeping Bingo exciting for adults is adding a prize twist: instead of a boring candy prize, winner gets to pick first from a white elephant pile, or they earn a ‘skip a chore’ coupon if you are playing at a family Christmas dinner.

You can also play multiple rounds — full card blackout, corners only, or an X pattern — to keep the game going longer and give everyone more chances to win. Your holiday guests will absolutely thank you.

3. DIY Snowman Cup Bowling

Think bowling alley, but make it festive and free.

You decorate ten plastic cups to look like little snowmen, line them up in a triangle formation at one end of the hallway or living room, and guests take turns rolling a small rubber ball to knock them down.

Each cup is worth one point and a strike — all ten cups knocked in one roll — earns a bonus candy prize.

It is fast-paced, endlessly repeatable, and absolutely adorable to look at, which makes it a Pinterest-worthy christmas games diy project even before anyone starts playing.

Here is the build: grab two packs of white plastic cups from the dollar store (you will want spares in case any get destroyed — and they will).

Use a black permanent marker to draw two dots for eyes, a small triangle for a carrot nose, a wide smile of dots for the mouth, and three buttons down the front of each cup.

Cut thin strips of colorful felt or paper to wrap around the rim of each cup as a scarf, securing with a tiny dot of hot glue. Bonus: add a small circle of black foam sheet on top as a top hat.

Stand cups upright and fill each one with a tablespoon of dry rice or sand so they stand firmly without tipping in a breeze.

Set them up in the classic 4-3-2-1 triangle and use a soft rubber ball, a tennis ball, or even a rolled-up pair of socks as the bowling ball.

Why it works so well at a party: it is a craft AND a game, so if you want to do a pre-party activity, guests can decorate their own snowman cup before play starts, which means they are immediately emotionally invested in knocking everyone else’s down.

The cups also make the most satisfying clatter when they fall — genuinely one of the most fun sounds at a holiday party. Set up two lanes side by side for head-to-head competition and things get delightfully intense.

4. DIY Roll-a-Snowman Sheet

Roll-a-Snowman is one of those christmas games diy gems that is equally fun for a table of five-year-olds and a table of adults who have had two glasses of mulled wine. Every player gets a copy of this sheet and a single die.

On your turn, you roll and add the corresponding body part to your snowman — roll a 1 for the big bottom snow ball, a 2 for the middle ball, a 3 for the head, a 4 for a top hat, a 5 for the scarf, and a 6 for the face (two dot eyes, a carrot nose, a big smile).

You must roll a 1 before any other piece can go on, which adds a brilliant layer of strategy-meets-chaos. First player to complete their snowman wins!

The DIY setup for this game is truly as easy as it gets: print one sheet per player, grab a handful of dice (one per two people works fine — players can share and take turns), and set out pencils or crayons so guests can actually draw each piece into their snowman outline as they roll it.

If you want to make it extra cute, pre-cut a small paper snowflake to give each winner as a trophy — took me five minutes and cost approximately zero dollars.

You can also laminate the sheets and use dry-erase markers so the game can be played over and over throughout the evening, which is great for a long party where guests arrive at different times and need something to jump into quickly.

Want to make it wilder? Add a second die designated as the ‘chaos die’: roll a 1 and steal a piece from another player, roll a 2 and lose your hat, roll a 3 and roll again.

This variation works brilliantly with bigger groups and turns a calm drawing game into a surprisingly dramatic battle over who gets to keep their snowman’s nose. (Spoiler: everyone gets weirdly attached to their paper snowman.

It is adorable and slightly chaotic, exactly what every good holiday party needs.)

5. DIY Ornament Toss Board

Picture a giant decorated game board propped against the wall with numbered holes cut into it — guests take turns tossing small lightweight ornaments through the holes to score points.

The hole at the top of the board (the hardest to land) is worth 50 points, the middle holes are worth 25, and the big easy bottom hole is worth 10.

Each player gets three tosses per turn and the first to reach 100 points wins. It is a carnival-style christmas games diy build that looks impressive hanging on the wall and plays even better than it looks.

To build the board, you need one large piece of foam board or a cardboard box flattened out — dollar stores often sell foam boards in holiday colors, or you can use a plain white one and decorate it yourself.

Cut three to five round holes of varying sizes (bigger at the bottom, smaller at the top) using a box cutter or scissors.

Now decorate the board to look like a giant ornament: paint or color it red or green, add a glittery gold top, and write point values in white paint marker next to each hole.

Label each hole with festive text: ‘Nice — 10 pts,’ ‘Naughty or Nice — 25 pts,’ ‘Straight to Santa — 50 pts.’

For the tossing ornaments, use lightweight plastic ball ornaments from the dollar store (a pack of 12 is usually $1.25) — they are the perfect weight for an indoor toss and will not break anything if they miss.

Pro host tip: prop the board at a slight angle (lean it against the back of a chair or a stack of books) instead of flat against the wall — it makes the holes easier to see and gives the balls a better chance of staying through the hole instead of bouncing back out.

You can use two boards side by side for head-to-head play, and keep a simple tally sheet nearby so guests can track their scores across multiple rounds all night long.

6. DIY Candy Cane Fishing

This one is a Minute-to-Win-It style game that is equal parts hilarious and surprisingly difficult (honestly great for all ages because it humbles people fast).

Each player gets a fishing rod made from a craft stick with a ribbon ‘line’ and a candy cane ‘hook’ tied to the end.

They must use the hook — hands-free, holding only the stick — to fish candy canes out of a pile on the floor in front of them. Whoever hooks the most candy canes in 60 seconds wins.

You will never laugh harder at a Christmas party. Never.

Making the fishing rods takes about two minutes each: grab jumbo craft sticks (popsicle sticks work too) from the dollar store, tie a 12-inch length of thin ribbon or twine to the end, and secure a candy cane to the bottom of the ribbon with a small loop of string or a twist-tie so it hangs like a hook.

Pile 20 to 30 individually wrapped candy canes in a low bowl or directly on a festive placemat on the floor.

Players must stand upright, hold only the stick, and maneuver their candy cane hook to scoop up as many candy canes as possible — no bending down, no hands on the hook.

For large groups, run two players at a time side by side and compare scores for tournament-style play.

Why does this one always bring down the house? Because nobody is good at it the first time, which means there are about thirty seconds of pure chaos and hysterical concentration before anyone actually catches a candy cane.

It also doubles as a party favor station — each player takes home whatever candy canes they hooked, so the game is literally its own goodie bag. If you are looking for a zero-waste, zero-extra-budget party favor solution, this is it. (You are welcome.)

7. DIY Christmas Scavenger Hunt List

A Christmas scavenger hunt is the kind of christmas games diy activity that gets the whole crowd moving, talking, and exploring — which makes it perfect for breaking the ice at the start of a party or burning off kids’ energy mid-event.

Players (solo or in teams) race to find or photograph every item on the holiday-themed list. The list is a mix of things they might spot around your decorated house, in their own pockets or bags, or out through the window.

First team to check off all 20 items and return to home base wins a prize. It is genius because you are basically getting guests to admire your Christmas decorations as part of the game.

Print one sheet per team (or per player for a solo version) and hand them out at the same time — say ‘Go!’ and watch the chaos unfold.

For a photo-hunt version (fantastic for teens and adults), players snap a photo on their phone of each item instead of physically collecting it, then show the host at the end.

This version keeps your decorations safe and means people can split up and cover more ground. For younger kids, pair them with an older sibling or parent so it becomes a collaborative family activity — which is honestly adorable and great for mixed-age groups.

The list on this sheet is designed to use things found at a typical decorated holiday home, so you don’t need to hide any items beforehand — the hunt works out of the box.

That said, you can add three to five ‘bonus’ items written on a separate slip of paper that ARE hidden (a mini elf figure, a candy cane tucked behind a book, a tiny jingle bell) for an extra layer of fun.

Give bonus items a higher point value to reward the most thorough hunters. Set a 10-minute time limit to keep the energy high and prevent anyone from disappearing into the basement for twenty minutes.

8. DIY Pin the Nose on Rudolph Poster

Pin the Nose on Rudolph is the Christmas answer to Pin the Tail on the Donkey — and if you have never watched a blindfolded adult wobble across the living room trying to stick a red pom-pom onto a cartoon reindeer face, you have not truly lived.

It is laugh-out-loud funny every single time, works for ages three to ninety-three, and the poster you build is genuinely cute enough to hang as decor before and after you play.

This is easily the most photogenic of all the christmas games diy projects on this list.

To build the poster, lay a large piece of poster board flat (dollar stores sell these) and draw or paint a big friendly Rudolph face — oval head, big brown ears, wide cartoony eyes with lashes, a huge open smile, and antlers branching from the top.

Leave the nose area as a blank circle outlined in pencil so guests know exactly where to aim. Write ‘Pin the Nose on Rudolph!’ in chunky letters across the top.

For the noses, cut ten to fifteen circles from red cardstock or use red pom-poms with a small loop of tape on the back. Write each guest’s name on their nose before the game starts.

Blindfold each player with a festive scarf or a sleep mask decorated with holly stickers, spin them around three times, and point them in the direction of Rudolph.

Score it by measuring how far each nose lands from the real nose circle — closest wins.

Keep all the noses stuck to the poster after the game and take a group photo with it, because the finished result (noses scattered all over Rudolph’s face, on his antlers, on the wall next to the poster) is genuinely hilarious and makes for the best holiday party photo.

Hang the poster on the wall at a slight angle with some removable adhesive strips and you are completely set up in under two minutes.

9. DIY Jingle Bell Toss Buckets

This is a one-minute-to-win-it style christmas games diy game that is dead simple to build and absolutely chaotic to play — which is exactly the combination you want at a holiday party.

Five small buckets or cups are lined up in a row, each labeled with a point value (10, 20, 30, 40, 50 — highest at the back, hardest to reach).

Players stand behind a tape line and get 10 jingle bells to toss, one at a time, trying to land as many as possible in the highest-scoring cups.

The metallic clink of bells hitting plastic cups is deeply satisfying, and the sound effect alone makes the whole room look up.

Build this in under five minutes: grab five small plastic buckets or cups — holiday-themed ones from the dollar store work perfectly, or just use red and green plastic cups.

Use a white paint marker or label sticker to write the point values (10 through 50) on the outside of each cup.

Line them up in a straight row about six inches apart, with the lowest-value cup closest to the throwing line and the highest-value cup farthest away. Tape the cups to a piece of cardboard or a cutting board so they don’t slide around during play.

Buy a bag of jingle bells from the dollar store — a 40-count bag costs about $1.25 and gives you plenty of bells for multiple rounds. Give each player 10 bells and 60 seconds to toss them in.

To keep score across a full party, grab a small chalkboard sign or a piece of cardstock and write everyone’s name with a marker — tally points after each round and crown a champion at the end of the night with a silly prize like a candy cane crown or a gift card.

For a team version, alternate players from two teams and add up the combined scores — the team with the most points after everyone has had a turn wins.

The jingle bells are loud enough to keep drawing people over from other parts of the party, which is an accidental but brilliant way to keep foot traffic flowing through your game area.

10. DIY Gingerbread Bean Bag Toss

A gingerbread-themed bean bag toss is one of those christmas games diy projects that looks like it came from a party rental company but actually took you thirty minutes and about eight dollars.

You cut a gingerbread man shape out of a large piece of cardboard, paint it brown, add royal icing details in white, and cut holes where the eyes and buttons would be — those are the scoring holes.

Guests take turns tossing small bean bags (or fabric balls) through the holes from a marked distance, scoring more points the harder the hole. It is cute, it is competitive, and it photographs beautifully against any holiday backdrop.

Here is the full build: flatten a large cardboard box (appliance boxes from behind a hardware store are free and perfect, or tape two large shipping boxes together).

Freehand draw or project a gingerbread man silhouette — big round head, stubby limbs, chubby body — and cut it out with a box cutter. Spray paint the whole thing brown.

Once dry, use a white paint marker to add zigzag icing around the edges, two round eyes holes (3 inches in diameter), three button holes (2 inches diameter) down the center of the body, and a wavy smile across the face.

Assign point values: eye holes = 25 points, button holes = 10 points. Prop the board upright against a fence, wall, or wooden frame made from PVC pipe or wooden dowels from the dollar store.

For bean bags, fill six small holiday gift bags (the tiny treat-bag size) with dried beans, tie shut with ribbon, and decorate with a quick drawn smiley face.

This game holds up beautifully outdoors too, which makes it a great choice if your party spills into the backyard or driveway.

If you want to skip making bean bags, those small rubber bouncy balls from the dollar store vending machines work perfectly — they are lightweight enough to be safe indoors but still satisfying to throw.

Lean the board against a chair instead of building a full frame if you want a quicker setup, and add a festive wreath around the gingerbread man’s neck for maximum photo-worthiness.

11. DIY Wreath Ring Toss

Here is a christmas games diy twist on classic ring toss that is more festive, more photogenic, and honestly more fun: instead of tossing rings onto a peg, guests toss rings onto a dollar-store wreath hung on the wall.

You hang three wreaths at different heights (low, medium, high), and each height scores differently — low wreath is worth 5 points, medium is 15, high is 30.

Getting a ring to stay hooked on the top wreath requires real skill, and watching people launch rings toward the ceiling with increasing desperation is genuinely one of the best things you will witness all season.

Build it like this: buy three small artificial wreaths from the dollar store (they usually have them in the seasonal aisle starting in November). Decorate them with a few extra ornament picks or ribbon from the same aisle to make them look extra festive.

Hang them on the wall using removable Command hooks at three different heights — about knee height, waist height, and head height work well.

For the rings, you have a few great options: use glow bracelets snapped into circles (dollar store holiday packs), pipe cleaner rings twisted into circles, or those plastic diving rings from the toy section.

Give each player five rings per turn and have them stand behind a tape line about six feet back.

The key to making this game iconic at your party is the presentation: hang a little painted sign above the wreaths that says ‘Ring the Wreath!’

with the point values listed, and weave some battery-operated fairy lights around the hanging area so the whole game station glows. It becomes the most photographed corner of the party, guests pull others over to show them, and suddenly everyone is playing again. And again.

And somehow again after that. (This game has staying power. Consider yourself warned.)

12. DIY Snowball Bucket Game

This is an indoor snowball fight — controlled, safe, and deeply satisfying.

You set up a row of buckets or baskets labeled with point values across the room, and guests take turns lobbing soft ‘snowballs’ (white pom-poms, white socks rolled into balls, or white foam balls from the dollar store) into the buckets from behind a tape line.

The smaller and farther the bucket, the higher the points. Play it as a timed game — 60 seconds per player — or as a round-by-round competition where the highest total score wins a prize.

Either way, it is chaotic, it is festive, and it brings out a competitive streak in everyone.

Setup is a five-minute job: grab three to five buckets, pots, or baskets of different sizes (mixing bowl, colander, a small bin — whatever you have in the kitchen works perfectly).

Line them up in a row about two to three feet apart, with the biggest closest and the smallest farthest from the throwing line. Use a white paint marker or label tape to write point values on the side — 5, 10, 25, 50.

For snowballs, pick up a bag of white pom-poms from the dollar store (they come in huge packs) or roll up white athletic socks and tie them loosely.

You will want at least 15 to 20 snowballs per player so the game feels fast and continuous — nobody wants to stop and pick up balls mid-round.

For a team version, divide guests into two teams and give each team a different color: one team uses white snowballs, the other uses silver or sparkly snowballs (find metallic pom-poms at the dollar store).

After 90 seconds, count only the balls in each bucket by team color — the team with the most points wins that round.

This version works brilliantly for large groups because multiple people can play simultaneously, the game runs quickly, and the room gets loud in the best possible way.

If you really want to lean into the whole ‘indoor snowball fight’ energy, give everyone a small bucket as a shield and let them block each other’s throws. Pure holiday chaos. Absolutely recommend.

13. DIY Stocking Guess Boxes

This is the christmas games diy version of a classic sensory guessing game and it is perfect for slowing the party energy down between rowdier games.

You fill five to eight Christmas stockings with mystery objects — one object per stocking, opening sealed shut — and guests reach in (no peeking!) to feel the item and write down their guess. Whoever correctly identifies the most items wins.

It sounds simple, but people get genuinely stumped and fascinated by how different things feel when you cannot see them — a pine cone feels completely alien, a candy cane is surprisingly hard to identify, and a bouncy ball keeps people guessing for a full minute.

To build the game, grab a set of small Christmas stockings from the dollar store (they usually come in a three or four-pack). Fill each one with a single item and pin or clip the top shut so guests cannot peek.

Good mystery items: a jingle bell, a small pinecone, a bouncy ball, a mini ornament, a candy cane, a coiled piece of ribbon, a small cookie cutter, a wooden clothespin, a rolled-up piece of felt, or a walnut.

Number each stocking with a small tag (1 through 8) and set them out on a table.

Print or hand-write a small answer sheet with numbered lines where guests write their guesses — you can reveal the answers at the end by opening each stocking dramatically one by one, which is surprisingly suspenseful.

This game works beautifully as a self-serve station: set it up in a corner and let guests wander over whenever they want throughout the party, without needing a host to run it.

It also doubles as a conversation starter — people naturally gather around the stocking table and compare guesses, which is perfect for guests who are meeting each other for the first time.

For kids’ parties, swap the mystery items for very easy-to-guess things (a rubber duck, a small toy car, a bath sponge) so everyone feels like a winner.

(Which, honestly, is how I feel about all christmas games diy in general — everyone wins when you made it yourself.)

14. DIY Christmas Photo Props

A DIY photo prop station is less of a game and more of a guaranteed party highlight — the kind of thing guests will still be texting each other photos of in January.

You build a set of silly and festive handheld props on craft sticks (think giant ‘Nice List’ signs, elf ears, Santa beards, reindeer antlers, speech bubbles saying ‘Ho Ho Ho!’)

and set up a designated photo corner with a backdrop of wrapping paper or a holiday tablecloth. Guests grab props, strike a pose, and take their own photos — or rope in a friend for a duo shot.

The station runs itself, costs almost nothing, and the photos become the best party favor imaginable.

Here is how to build the prop kit: cut shapes from cardstock or foam sheets (dollar store foam sheets work great and come in holiday colors).

Make a Santa hat shape, a pair of oversized glasses with candy cane arms, a big red nose circle, elf ears on a headband shape, a ‘Dear Santa I Can Explain’ speech bubble, a giant candy cane, a ‘Naughty’ sign and a ‘Nice’ sign, and a pair of antlers.

Outline with a black marker, add glitter glue or sticker embellishments, and hot-glue each one to a jumbo craft stick or a wooden dowel from the dollar store.

Fan them out in a mason jar wrapped in burlap and tied with a red ribbon bow for the most Pinterest-worthy display you will ever spend fifteen minutes making.

For the backdrop, tape three to four sheets of festive wrapping paper (dollar store, obviously) to the wall in a grid pattern — shiny, bright, and reflective wrapping paper looks incredible in photos.

Add a small ring light if you have one (your phone’s front-facing flash works in a pinch) and a handwritten sign that says ‘Strike a Pose!’ so guests know the station is open.

Post the best photos to your group chat during the party so people can see them in real time, which always causes a second wave of prop-grabbing. It is self-perpetuating fun, which frankly is the hallmark of the very best party game.

15. DIY Giant Christmas Jenga

Giant Jenga at Christmas is one of those christmas games diy builds that looks wildly impressive, takes about 45 minutes to make, and will absolutely be the most-played game at your party for the entire night.

You stack large painted wooden blocks in the classic Jenga tower formation, but each block has a holiday dare or question written on it — pull a block and do what it says before balancing it back on top.

Pull ‘Do your best elf impression’ or ‘Everyone takes a sip of their drink’ or ‘Sing one line of a Christmas carol’ — the tower gets taller, the dares get funnier, and the whole room watches and cackles whenever it wobbles dangerously close to toppling.

To build it on a budget: buy three to four packs of large craft wood blocks or plain 2×4 lumber cut into pieces.

Dollar stores sometimes carry packs of wooden craft blocks in the craft section; alternatively, a single 8-foot 2×4 from a hardware store costs around $4 and can be cut into 48 blocks (ask the store to make the cuts).

Sand any rough edges, then use a paint marker or permanent marker to write a different dare or prompt on every third block — leaving the other two-thirds blank so that most pulls are clean and the dares feel like a surprise.

Some great prompts: ‘Hum a carol — others guess it,’ ‘Switch seats with someone,’ ‘Tell your best Christmas memory,’ ‘Do a holiday dance move,’ ‘Give someone a compliment.’

Stack your blocks in the classic formation — three blocks per row, rotating direction with each layer — and you are ready to play.

Standard Jenga rules apply: use one hand to pull a block from anywhere below the top two rows, then place it on top.

If the tower falls on your turn, you lose (or give out a fun penalty like wearing a paper Christmas hat for the rest of the game).

The holiday prompts turn a familiar game into something uniquely festive and personal, and it creates those golden ‘remember when you had to sing Jingle Bells in front of everyone?’ party memories that people talk about for years.

If you are shopping for more fun ideas this season, check out the 2025 Christmas Gift Guide for stocking stuffers that pair perfectly with a game-night prize basket.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to make these DIY Christmas games?

Most of these games cost between $1 and $8 each to build when you shop at the dollar store. Items like foam boards, plastic cups, pom-poms, jingle bells, small ornaments, craft sticks, and cardstock are all dollar-store staples.

If you already have a hot glue gun, spray paint, and basic craft supplies at home, many games cost under $3.

The entire set of 15 games can realistically be built for under $50 total — less if you shop smart and use things you already have.

What is the best DIY Christmas game for large groups?

For large groups, DIY Christmas Bingo is hard to beat because everyone plays simultaneously and you can print as many cards as you need.

DIY Jingle Bell Toss Buckets and DIY Snowball Bucket Game are also great because they run quickly and guests rotate through fast.

For maximum crowd energy, DIY Giant Christmas Jenga works brilliantly because the whole room watches and reacts together even when it is not their turn.

Which of these games work best for kids?

DIY Snowman Cup Bowling, DIY Candy Cane Fishing, DIY Pin the Nose on Rudolph, DIY Roll-a-Snowman Sheet, and DIY Christmas Scavenger Hunt are all fantastic for kids. They are physical, simple to understand, and require zero reading for very young players.

The DIY Stocking Guess Boxes sensory game is also wonderfully engaging for little ones. Adjust the throwing distance and difficulty for younger players on any of the toss games.

Can these DIY Christmas games be used outdoors?

Yes! Several of these work beautifully outdoors — especially the DIY Gingerbread Bean Bag Toss, DIY Wreath Ring Toss, DIY Reindeer Antler Ring Toss, and DIY Giant Christmas Jenga.

For outdoor play, weight down any boards with rocks or tent stakes so wind doesn’t knock them over, and avoid foam board builds on rainy days. The printable games (Bingo, Roll-a-Snowman, Scavenger Hunt) work better indoors or under a covered patio.

How long does it take to build these DIY Christmas games?

The quick builds — like Jingle Bell Toss Buckets, Snowball Bucket Game, and Candy Cane Fishing rods — take 5 to 15 minutes each.

Mid-range builds like the Reindeer Antler Ring Toss, Pin the Nose on Rudolph Poster, and Wreath Ring Toss take 20 to 35 minutes.

The bigger projects — Gingerbread Bean Bag Toss, Ornament Toss Board, and Giant Jenga — take 45 minutes to 1 hour but are reusable year after year. The printable games take zero build time — just print and cut!

What prizes should I give out for Christmas party games?

Dollar-store Christmas candy is always a hit — candy canes, chocolate coins, and mini candy bars are cheap, festive, and universally loved.

Other great options include mini hand lotions, holiday chapsticks, small ornaments, scratch-off lottery tickets, gift cards (even $5 is exciting), or printed ‘certificates’ for silly titles like ‘Official Reindeer Wrangler.’ For kids’ parties, small toy prizes from the dollar store go down a treat.

You can also let winners pick first from a communal white elephant or gift bag pile.

There you have it — 15 christmas games diy projects that prove you absolutely do not need to spend a fortune (or have a crafting degree) to throw a holiday party that people will be talking about until next December.

Build one or build all fifteen — either way, you are officially the most fun host on the street, and your dollar-store receipt will be your proudest accessory.

Pin this list so you can find it again next year, print out those game sheets, fire up the glue gun, and go make some memories.

And hey, while you are in full holiday planning mode, don’t miss these 7 smart ways to budget for Christmas and our full 2025 Christmas Gift Guide so your gift game is just as strong as your party game.

Happy building — and even happier holidays! 🎄

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