Christmas Games for Seniors: 10 Ideas for a Warm, Lively Afternoon

The best Christmas games for an older crowd are not new games. They are the ones everyone played at their own grandparents’ table: dominoes clicking, someone shuffling two decks for Canasta, a cheer when the dice come up five of a kind. Familiar games let people talk while they play, and the talking is half the point.

Whether you’re planning an afternoon at home, a party at the senior center or a family gathering with three generations, here are ten ideas that work sitting down, with large print, and with people who haven’t played in years.

The games at a glance

Card games

1. Hand and Foot

If one game fits a family Christmas, it is this one: Canasta’s bigger, friendlier cousin, played in teams with five or six decks shuffled together. Every player has two piles, the hand and the foot. Pair a confident player with a newer one on each team. Hand and Foot rules · score sheet.

2. Canasta

For a table of four who like a game with a bit more thinking. Two decks plus jokers, partners across from each other, melds of seven called canastas. Canasta rules. Unsure which your family plays? Canasta vs Hand and Foot.

3. Cribbage

For two people who want a quieter corner while the room is busy. Twenty minutes a game. No board in the house? Print one.

4. Phase 10

Everyone works through ten phases at their own pace, so there is no waiting for a partner. The 10 phases.

Dice and dominoes for a big table

5. Mexican Train dominoes

Up to eight players with a double-12 set, and everyone can add to the shared Mexican Train. Turns are short; nobody sits for long. The tiles are big and easy to pick up. Mexican Train rules · score sheet.

6. Yahtzee-style dice

Five dice, three rolls, thirteen boxes. A great-grandchild who can add can play next to a great-grandmother who has played for sixty years. Free Yahtzee score sheets.

7. Dice gift swap

Everyone brings a small wrapped gift (agree on a price limit). Put the gifts in the middle and set a kitchen timer for ten minutes. Pass one die around the circle:

• 6 — take a gift from the middle
• 5 — swap any gift with the person on your left
• 4 — swap with the person on your right
• 3 — pass all your gifts one place left
• 2 — roll again
• 1 — give one of your gifts to someone who has none

When the middle is empty, keep rolling: now a 6 lets you take any gift from anyone. When the timer rings, open what you hold. Big foam dice are easier to throw and read.

Party games that need no cards

8. Christmas trivia

Read the questions aloud and play in teams. Older guests are often the stars here. Our printable has twelve questions, with answers at the bottom of the page.

9. Name that carol

One person hums or plays the first few notes of a carol on a phone or piano; first to name it gets a point. Use familiar ones: “Silent Night,” “Jingle Bells,” “O Come, All Ye Faithful.”

10. Memory lane

Pass a bowl of folded questions: your first Christmas you remember, the best gift you ever got, the dish your mother always made. Not a competition, but often the part of the afternoon people remember.

Free printable: holiday game night kit

Two Letter pages in large print and black ink: a score sheet for up to eight players across four games, and the twelve-question Christmas trivia sheet.

Free printable: holiday game night kit

Print the kit (2 pages)Large print, black ink, US Letter. To keep a PDF, pick “Save as PDF” in the print window.

Holiday Game Night — Score Sheet

Date:At the home of:

#	Player	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Total
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Write the name of each game at the top of its column. Highest total wins the evening — or lowest, if you agree on that before the first deal. House rules we agreed on: ____________________________________________

Christmas Trivia — 12 Questions

Team or player:Score: ____ / 12

1. How many gifts are given in all in “The Twelve Days of Christmas”?
2. Which red holiday plant is named after Joel Poinsett, the first U.S. minister to Mexico?
3. In what year did Christmas become a U.S. federal holiday?
4. “A Visit from St. Nicholas” (“’Twas the Night Before Christmas”) was first printed in which year?
5. How many reindeer are named in that poem?
6. Bing Crosby first sang “White Christmas” in which 1942 film?
7. Prince Albert helped make the decorated Christmas tree popular in Britain. Which country did the custom come from?
8. In “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946), what is the name of George Bailey’s town?
9. Who wrote “A Christmas Carol” in 1843?
10. What is Scrooge’s first name?
11. Name the three gifts the Wise Men brought.
12. In which city does a giant tree stand every year at Rockefeller Center?

Answers: 1. 364 · 2. The poinsettia · 3. 1870 · 4. 1823 · 5. Eight · 6. Holiday Inn · 7. Germany · 8. Bedford Falls · 9. Charles Dickens · 10. Ebenezer · 11. Gold, frankincense and myrrh · 12. New York City

Making the afternoon easy for everyone

• Seat by game, not by family. A table of four for Hand and Foot, a big table for Mexican Train, a quiet corner for cribbage.
• Large print cards and a card holder help anyone who finds small numbers hard. More in our guide to large print playing cards.
• Good light beside the table, not just overhead.
• One practice round, face up, before anyone keeps score.
• Keep games under an hour and leave time for pie.
• Relatives far away? Pick a game you can each play online on the same afternoon and call between rounds.

Looking for more? See card games to play with family by group size, or our games for seniors with big cards.