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Get the family together for a Naughty or Nice Christmas Game! Easy rules make it fun for all ages. Let the holiday fun begin with this DIY Christmas Game! This post contains affiliate links.
Every year, my side of the family has a Christmas party.
We all get together to eat, have a lesson, play family Christmas games, have a white elephant gift exchange, and exchange gifts.
The entire celebration is full of laughter and fun.
This year I was put in charge of the game. That is a lot of pressure when you have nearly 50 people participating of all ages!
That is how this Naughty or Nice DIY Christmas Game was born.
The amount of supplies you'll need depends on how many people will be playing.
There are 50 people playing my game, so if you have more or less, take that into account.
Grab the Free Printable Game Strips:
The PDF is 4 pages long with lots of options for both 'Nice' and 'Naughty'.
Assembling the Boards:
It all starts with the foam core boards that I got at my local dollar store.
In Cricut Design Space, cut "Are you naughty or are you nice?" out of vinyl and place it at the top of the foam core boards.
Red plastic cups are used as the cylinders that hold the prizes and are covered with tissue paper.
Glue the base of the cup to the foam core board. I found I could fit 25 cups per board.
Here is what the boards look like when all of the cups are glued into place.
Filling the Cups:
Now we need something fun to put inside the cups!
This is also when you'll need that Naughty and Nice PDF.
Print the sheets from your print and use a paper trimmer or scissors to cut the sheet into strips.
Many of the word strips include family jokes so feel free to create your own Naughty or Nice game strips to include your own family jokes.
Here are all of the little slips of paper.
Inside each cup, I would put a slip of paper along with a little prize.
Fun things for 'Nice' and bugs and candy coal for 'Naughty'.
Here is what one of the Naughty cups looked like before it was covered. A naughty strip, lumps of coal chocolate, a bug, and a mini candy cane.
I added a mini candy cane to every cup so everyone got a little Christmas cheer.
To cover the cups, use some tissue paper and lots of rubber bands.
Cut squares of the tissue paper into about 4x4 inch squares, lay a square on top of a cup, and then put a rubber band over it to hold it in place.
How to Play Naughty or Nice:
To play the game, explain that this game is to help Santa decide if you are on the Naughty List or on the Nice List.
Allow everyone to take a turn punching through the tissue paper on a cup and pull out what is inside. Request that everyone read their Naughty or Nice Slip out loud so everyone can join in on the fun.
My family had so much fun with this DIY Christmas game, and it was so fun to see who was naughty and who was nice!
While this is a Christmas themed game, I think this could easily be adapted to fit any theme or party. It is a fun game for large crowds of any age.
Our Crafting Essentials:
- The Cricut Cutting Machine is easily our favorite crafting tool. We use it in so many of our tutorials!
- These MakerX Crafting Tools are perfect for keeping in the craft room and are always ready when needed!
- This Fiskars Paper Trimmer is easy to use and cuts nicely without frayed edges.
- These Scotch Precision Scissors cut like a dream, and you get multiple pairs in a pack!
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Julie
Sound like loads of fun, it's always nice to have games to play in the holidays.
nessie
it is nice to be on the nice list!
Lindsey
This is a great idea! Love it!
Katie
Thank you Lindsey, it was so much fun to play!
Shurayah
Love it!!! Thank you! I'll be using this for my party next week!
Katie
Have tons of fun!
Mindy
This looks like so much fun! You are very creative. I would love the Google doc if you have it to share.
Katie
Here is the link for the free file. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a47IgU881fdQzs-YRK7cnbFfvXk_4c0QwNW9qZ3v0a0/edit
Have fun!!
Debbie Forthofer
Love the idea but in my family everyone wants a winner of the game. How would I do that?
Katie
Debbie, Inside one of the cups you could put a strip of paper that said something like "You baked Santa his favorite cookies. Of course, you are nice, and his most favorite. WINNER!!"
Just a thought. 🙂
Janet
Another way would be to do a ticket drawing. Make two-part, numbered tickets and put one inside each cup along with all the other items. As each person punches their cup and takes their items, have them tear the numbered ticket in half and drop one half (with their number) into a container of some kind. They keep the other half, which shows the same number. At the end of the game, have someone draw a winning ticket number out of the container. The person holding the other half of the winning ticket is the winner. You're not in the drawing til you choose a cup and find out if you're naughty or nice, and this way the winner is chosen at the end after everyone has had their turn. Maybe the winner gets a small prize of some kind.
Katie
I love this idea, Janet! So fun! Thank you for sharing.
Jennifer
I am absolutely going to do this game with my husband's family. They get so competitive and cutthroat they had to quit doing the gift exchange because there was always hard feelings after the "stealing" !
Katie
Then this game is perfect! Still fun with a little bit of competing of who is naughty and who is nice!
Sara reed
How do u figure out what to put inside
Katie
Inside the post are links to some ideas, but really the possibilities are endless. You can put whatever you want inside the cups.
Robin
How does a player know whether to pick a naughty cup or nice cup? Is it just random, or is there some kind of assigned way?
Katie
The player picks whatever cup they want and the slip of paper inside the cup will tell them whether they are naughty or nice and what they did to be naughty or nice.
Wendy cranford
Oh my gosh Katie this is so cute! I am totally going to do this for Christmas Eve this year!
Katie
Thanks Wendy, I hope you have fun!
Sheila
What a great idea for a group game. This sounds like so much fun! I'm definitely going to do it with my family.
Catherine
What a great idea! I totally could see doing this for a church, kids, Christmas party. Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
Janis Collins
I think we will try t5hat this year .we have a total 15 in our family .Thank you for sharing.... Janis
Katie
I hope you have so much fun Janis!
Alayna @AlaynasCreations
Such a fun game idea! It would take a bit of thought to put together all of those funny slips of paper but I bet everyone was laughing the entire time.
Dianne Adams
These game idea's are awesome!
Christia Colquitt
This is so creative. I love it. I wish I had an ounce of your creativity! Blessings and Merry Christmas!
Lisa
What did you use to prop up your board?
Katie
Lisa,
I sat the boards in a chair and leaned the board against the chair back. I hope this helps. Have fun!
Jane
This looks like an amazing game since I have such a big family - however if they can pick any one what if it doesn't relate to that person? i.e my mum picks a cup that says ' you put your feet in your sisters face' and she doesn't have a sister?
What exactly happens in that situation?
Katie
Great question Jane. The best thing you could do is just laugh it off. The game is supposed to be silly.
Jamie
Did you miss the naughty and nice slips of paper or kept all on each side?
Katie
I am not quite sure what you are asking Jamie. Here is the link for the download: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a47IgU881fdQzs-YRK7cnbFfvXk_4c0QwNW9qZ3v0a0/edit All of the word strips are there.
If I'm not answering the question correctly, let me know and I'll try again. 🙂
Sue
I think she mixed the Naughty and the Nice cups up on both sides of the board. Each person can "punch" any cup they'd like.
Katie
Yes, that is exactly what I did Sue. Thanks!
Terrie
Thank you Katie. I was looking for inspiration for our girlfriend's ornament exchange. I've done some creative games in the past years and now I feel like I have to keep it going. Last year was the best - "What Kind of Santa Are You?" I bought odd things (soap, disco ball, Cosmo, Snickers, Devil's food cake mix) and put them all in the center of the table. Everyone then picked what they wanted and it determined what kind of Santa they were. I then used different clip art of Santa Claus & wrote little descriptions of each one. Example: The soap was for Smelly Santa & the Devil's food cake was for Sinful Santa. It was a hoot!
I think I can personalize this game well for us and they will enjoy it. Thanks so much for sharing.
Katie
What Kind of Santa Are You? sounds like so much fun! Thanks for sharing your idea, Terrie! I hope you have just as much fun with naughty or nice!
Jennifer
I took your idea and tweaked it just a bit for our adult Christmas party. I had our party-goers roll dice and whoever got doubles got to punch a hole. In the hole I didn't have a naughty or nice paper, but I had a pocket pack of tissues for the "naughty" person to dry their tears and a $1 scratch off holiday lottery ticket for the "nice" person.
Last year, I just didn't have the time to commit to all the cute naughty and nice sayings. The dice idea (which I, of course, stole from someone else too) added a level of competition that the adults liked while making it fair for everyone. Also, I just hot glued the tissue paper to the rim of the cup (and then trimmed the excess paper) instead of using the rubber bands; it seemed to work fine.
I felt this went well with our small group because tissues in the wintertime (in Central Illinois) can come in handy anyway, but it was fun to watch the "nice" people scratch their ticket to see if they were a winner again.
Thank you for the idea; I will use it again this year. And, I might have the time to devote to the cute naughty or nice sayings =)
Katie
I love this Jennifer!! I love how you adapted the game to work best for your group and the dice do sound like a lot of fun!
Konni A
Hi Katie!
So cute! Will be using this for my next year's party, or maybe before Christmas! Great idea!
Thanks,
Konni
Katie
Awesome! I am so glad you like this idea Konni! I hope you have so much fun!
Shirley Shaw
We had the most fun with this game...several of us adapted this for office and family....fun fun fun
Katie
Thank you Shirley! I am so glad that you had fun and were able to adapt it to fit your party.
Royal Lancer
Seems to me everyone would take the nice cup. How do you determine which cup one takes? I must have missed a step
Katie
The Naughty and Nice cups are mixed on the boards. The player chooses a cup and they may pick a nice or they may pick a naughty. The strip of paper inside and the contents of the cup will tell them if they are naughty or nice.
jackie
so just because they go to the naughty side it may not be a naughty saying inside correct?
Katie
Correct, you don't know if you are naughty or nice till you pull out what is inside. I just needed two boards to fit all of the cups for my entire extended family, but you might not need that many for your party.
Nancy
I love this I am planning a kids naughty/nice since we have so many little ones and another for older teens and adults as i think hey will understand the sillyness of the sayings.
Carol
I can't wait to play this game at my annual Moms club party. For the naughty I plan on using condoms, mini bottles, aspirin......you get the picture! snicker snicker! and for the nice....pampering items such as lip gloss, lotion, nail polish, chocolate, etc.
Katie
Oh, I love that idea!! So fun!! Thanks for sharing Carol!
Wendy
Hello,
We are playing this game for our work Christmas party dec 15th 2017, and I am trying to think pf naughty or nice reasons/sayings for a Human Resources group. The ones on your link is mostly for kids. Any ideas that are more adult, but clean? I've tried to Google them, but I'm not having much luck. Any ideas?
Thank you!!
Katie
I would suggest to base it off of your group. Each group is different. Maybe put some real-life experiences into the cups to make it more fun.
Rhonda
Trying to figure out how to adapt this for a smaller group...about 10. And a couple of those are maybes. Any suggestions?
Katie
I would suggest to base it off of your group. Each group is different. Maybe put some real-life experiences into the cups to make it more fun.
Patti
If you pick “you put your feet in your sisters face”, shouldn’t the people try to figure out who the culprit is and then hand the “gift” to that person? Or is it just made-up stuff?
Katie
That would be a fun variation! Most of the lines in my version are made-up, so they aren't real.
Diane
This was a fun activity at our Family Christmas party today ? Lots of laughs
Katie
Thank you! I am so glad you enjoyed the game!
Amy Olson
Hi Katie! I found your game last year and played it with my family. It was a hit so I am creating the game again with a little variation. I want to say thank you for sharing! This game is so much fun!!
Katie
Thank you Amy! I am so glad that you and your family enjoyed playing the game. Thanks for sharing with me! <3
Lisa g
What would be a added fun would be at thanksgiving give people 6 strips of paper and write 3 things they did Naughty and 3 nice. At Christmas game you could try to guess who it was.
Katie
Great idea Lisa! That would be a lot of fun!
Gracie
I used the game for a staff party and put real situations. Ex: Naughty - You forgot to throw trash.
Katie
I love it Gracie! I think the real situations is what makes the game so much fun!
Adrienne Hinds
This was really fun - we did it with a women's club cocktail party so there were some more naughty/fun slips - we too wanted winners so at the start of the game we gave a "making a list" sheet of paper with nice on the left and naughty on the right and as each slip was read out - the ladies gave herself a "point" if true - for example - naughty - don't always take your make-up off before bed - if that was true you for you you gave yourself a point. At the end of the game the person with the MOST nice points received a nice gift (coffee) and MOST naughty points received a naughty gift (small bottle of champagne) - it was a great ice breaker - especially for people who don't necessarily like out in front games like charades. It was a blast and very cute!!
Katie
I love this idea! Thank you so much for sharing Adrienne!
Diane Livingston
We have done Christmas Eve ever since we moved back home, now this will we the 11th year. I asked everyone what they wanted to do. I asked for suggestions and no one came up with one. So I was looking for something different that we hadn't done. I like the Naughty and Nice. and the unwrapping one. That would be a great one because I was think we would do a gift everyone has to bring like $1 gift. We have done that exchange but the one above is a little different. Thank you for sharing.
Katie
You are so welcome Diane! I hope you and your family have so much fun!!