Christmas Icebreaker Questions and Games for Work

Christmas is a time for fun and games and your work meetings and parties should be no exception.

We’ve put together a handy list of icebreaker games you can play to get everyone laughing and having a merry time whether it’s at your office Christmas party or during a festive themed meeting.

What are Christmas icebreakers?

Christmas icebreakers are activities or questions designed to help people get to know each other and can be used as conversation starters. They aim to create a more comfortable and open atmosphere in social, professional and group settings, particularly where people don’t know each other well or are even meeting for the very first time. You’ll have a mixture of departments who’ve rarely spoken before, or are even meeting for the first time, which can sometimes make things feel uncomfortable. Icebreakers are a great way to make everyone feel at ease.

What are the best Christmas icebreakers for work?

The best Christmas icebreaker questions are ones that are personal but don’t delve too deep ensuring that everyone feels at ease and not pressured to share too much. They should make your team recall holiday memories or think about Christmas in a critical way.

When thinking of holiday icebreaker questions, consider incorporating a few broader, winter-themed prompts this way everyone, including those who don't celebrate Christmas, can still take part and engage in the conversation.

The questions should be appropriate for work Christmas parties and meetings so it’s important to make sure they don’t contain anything that someone could find offensive.

Quick and easy Christmas icebreaker games

Guess the number of ornaments

Each person guesses the total number of ornaments decorating the Christmas tree. The person with the closest guess is the winner.

Christmas ABC’s

This can be a team or group activity. Using a piece of paper, write down the alphabet vertically from A to Z. A Christmas related word is made using each letter, for example, ‘P’ could be ‘Presents’. This works well as a timed activity so the first to complete the list could be the winner if you decide to play it that way.

Name the carol from the lyrics

Create a list of lyrics from Christmas carols using a few words from each song. For example, “the fire is so delightful” are lyrics from Dean Martin’s song Let it Snow. The person or team who is able to name the most songs is the winner. You could give extra points for naming the artist but remember some Christmas songs have been covered by other artists so there could be multiple answers if you do that.

Name the carol from the tune

Another way to play this carol naming game involves using an instrumental tune or a small snippet of the song. This can be played as teams or with individuals. They will write the name of the song down and the team or person with the most correct answers at the end wins. This game always gets a few laughs and results in a few people kicking themselves for not remembering the name of the song when it’s on the tip of their tongue.

Spontaneous Secret Santa

This game is ideal for Christmas meetings. It’s an improvised version of Secret Santa where instead of preparing a gift in advance, people have 5-10 minutes to find something they can give as a gift. Examples include giving snacks from your personal stash, writing a poem, drawing something, singing them a song or whatever else they can think of. The excitement of the game is seeing what presents people can come up with when put on the spot.

Communal tree decorating

This is a great group activity where everyone brings a unique ornament to put on the Christmas tree. A fun way to do this is have everyone try to guess who brought what ornament. The stranger the ornament, the better, and even making your own ornament can lead to very humorous results. You're sure to have one unique looking tree by the end of it.

Christmas Bingo

Bingo is always a fun way to get a group interacting together and this Christmas variation is a great way to learn some random facts about each other. How it works is everyone is given a bingo card and must go around the room trying to find people who match each description. The first player to fill in 5 squares in a row wins. The cards can say things like:

Been Christmas carolling
Owns an ugly Christmas sweater
Watches same Christmas movie yearly
Spent Christmas in another country
Loves winter

This game is a great way to get people moving around the room and chatting to others to complete their bingo card. You could even have a prize for the winner.

Matching Christmas carol to carolers game

This is a simple matching game where you write the name of a well known Christmas song on a slip of paper and then write the artist who is most known for singing that song on another slip. Put the slips of paper into a bowl and have each person pull one out. People need to pair up so they have the song matching the singer.

Christmas telephone charades

This icebreaker game is ideal for big groups. Everyone stands in a single line facing one direction. The first person in line is given a Christmas-themed clue to act out silently for the next person in line. That second person taps the player in front and acts out the silent prompt and each player will do the same until it reaches the end of the line where the very last person must guess what the original clue is.

Matching snowflakes

As we know, every snowflake is unique, however in this game there are matching snowflakes. This game requires you to make matching snowflakes by folding multiple pieces of paper together before cutting out your snowflake shapes. Give your snowflakes out when people arrive and tell them to find the snowflake shape that matches their own. You could have more than 2 that match to create small groups and this is also a safe bet in case some people don’t turn up resulting in someone not having a buddy to match with. It’s a great way to get conversations started.

Christmas icebreaker games for teams

Gift wrap race

You will need gift wrap and rolls of ribbon.
Organise the participants into pairs.
Each pair stands side by side with their hands securely fastened together.
Challenge each team to skilfully wrap a present using only their free hands.
To add an extra layer of difficulty, require them to tie a bow on the package.
The winning team is the first to successfully tie the package correctly.

Christmas icebreaker questions

A great way to get everyone talking and laughing is with some fun Christmas icebreaker questions. There are so many things you can ask. Here are 25 Christmas icebreaker questions:

What is your most embarrassing Christmas story?
What is the worst gift you have ever received?
What is the best Christmas gift you’ve ever received?
What is the worst gift you've ever given someone?
If you could have anything for Christmas and money was no object, what would it be?
What is your favourite part of the Christmas meal?
Would you rather host Christmas dinner or attend someone else’s.
Does your family have any Christmas traditions?
What is a favourite childhood Christmas memory?
Do you normally go shopping on Boxing Day?
If you could have one famous person, dead or alive, attend your Christmas dinner, who would it be?
What is your favourite Christmas song?
What is your favourite Christmas movie?
Did you believe in Santa when you were a child?
How early do you start decorating?
Are you an early or last-minute Christmas gift shopper?
Would you rather give or receive gifts?
What is your favourite Christmas tradition?
Do you open any presents on Christmas Eve?
Would you rather have Christmas at home or be on holiday?
What is your favourite Christmas drink?
If you could spend Christmas overseas, where would you go?
Do you reuse wrapping paper?
Do you buy gifts for your pets?
Have you ever re-gifted a gift?

Christmas icebreaker riddles

What do you get when you cross a bird with a turtle?

Answer: A turtle dove.

I’m a cookie you might like to eat, and some might say I’m a favoured Christmas treat.

I have brown arms, eyes, and don’t forget my feet.

What am I?

Answer: A gingerbread man

Santa was having problems with his legs and couldn't walk so he went to the hospital to ask the doctor if he could recommend something for him. What did the doctor give to Santa to help him to walk?

Answer: A candy cane.

If the end of the year is December 31st, what is the end of Christmas?

Answer: The letter 's'.

On Christmas Eve, Santa leaves his workshop in the North Pole to deliver presents to all the good children. What direction does he travel?

Answer: South as it’s the only direction you can travel from the North Pole.

I could keep a giant's foot warm, and people look forward to finding me near the fireplace. What am I?

Answer: A Christmas stocking.

Who says, "Oh, Oh, Oh"?

Answer: Santa walking backwards.

Why can't a Christmas tree stand up?

Answer: It doesn't have legs.

What did the bald man say when someone gave him a comb for Christmas?

Answer: Thanks, I'll never part with it.

Christmas riddle icebreakers

Riddles are an excellent way to engage your team and can work with groups of different sizes. If people don’t already know each other, solving riddles together is a great way for them to break the ice.

20 Christmas icebreaker jokes

Who is never hungry at Christmas? Answer: The turkey, he’s always stuffed.
What do you call a disrespectful reindeer? Answer: Rude-olph
What kind of pictures do elves take? Answer: Elfies
Where do snowmen go to dance? Answer: The snowball
Why do mummies like Christmas so much? Answer: Because of all the wrapping!
What did the snowman order at the fast food restaurant? Answer: An ice burger with chilli sauce
What kind of bug hates Christmas? Answer: A humbug
Which elf was the best singer? Answer: ELFis Presley
How was the snow globe feeling? Answer: A little shaken!
What did Adam say the day before Christmas? Answer: "It's Christmas, Eve."
Where do the three wise men go to get their robes tailored? Answer: Bethle-hem.
How did Santa get lost on Christmas Eve? Answer: He got mis-sled.
What do you use to decorate a canoe for Christmas? Answer: Oar-naments
What happened to the man who stole an Advent Calendar? Answer: He got 25 days!
Why are elves such great motivational speakers? Answer: They have lots of elf-confidence.
Where do Santa and the elves go for a swim? Answer: The North Pool
What is every parent's favourite Christmas song? Answer: Silent Night!
Why did Rudolph have to attend summer school? Answer: Because he went down in history.
Why did the scarecrow get a big Christmas bonus? Answer: Because he was outstanding in his field.
What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire? Answer: Frostbite.

Christmas would you rather questions

These types of questions are perfect conversation starters for your team. They can be serious qu

This can be turned into a game by doing the following things:

Have a few people answer the question beforehand so everyone else can try and guess who gave what answers.
Split people into pairs and have them try and guess each other's answers. The pair who gets the most right wins.
Turn it into a fun debate where people have 1 minute to convince the room why their choice is the better option.

10 Would you rather Christmas questions:

Would you rather have Christmas every day or never at all?
Would you rather get lots of little presents or one big present?
Would you rather dress up like an elf or dress up like Santa?
Would you rather have a visit from the Ghost of Christmas Past or the Ghost of Christmas Future?
Would you rather have a large Christmas gathering or a small one with the people you care about the most.
Would you rather have a Christmas dinner for every main meal or a Christmas Pudding for every dessert?
Would you rather guide Santa’s sleigh or fly with a snowman?
Would you rather spend Christmas in the snow or on the beach?
Would you rather be a tester of Christmas toys or a taster of Christmas foods?
Would you rather have candy canes for legs or chocolate fingers for arms?

Bring Christmas cheer to your meetings

End of year meetings don’t have to be all work and no play. You can add some Christmas spirit to them by using some of these icebreakers and games.

We have 2 fantastic venues available to book that are perfect for planning a Christmas themed meeting for a large number of people. Broadway House in London and Engineers’ House in Bristol provide top of the line facilities in easily accessible locations.

Book your Christmas meeting today.