Christmas Pictionary words, sorted the way a party needs them
This is the Pictionary word generator with the Holiday menu set to Christmas: about 135 words in the safe set and more with the Adults audience on, all written for a December party. The easy tier is the iconography everyone can draw (reindeer, wreath, candy cane, snow globe). The medium tier is the traditions (caroling, advent calendar, Secret Santa, the twelve days of Christmas). The hard tier is the comedy of the season (tangled Christmas lights, holiday traffic, some assembly required) plus, for adults, regifting and the office holiday party. A few Hanukkah and Kwanzaa words sit in the same set so a mixed table is not left out. Change the Holiday menu to switch to Halloween, Thanksgiving or New Year without leaving the page.
Running Christmas Pictionary at a family gathering
The classic set-up is two teams, a big pad of paper on an easel or a whiteboard, and this page on the TV in Fullscreen. Turn on Hide the word until tapped and hand the phone to each drawer in turn, or keep the words on the big screen and have the guessing team face away. Sixty seconds is the official timer; with grandparents drawing, 90 is kinder. Use the scoreboard under the card, and set the children up as scorekeepers so they stay in the game between their turns. When the youngest players go to bed, switch the audience from Kids to Adults and the pool changes without losing the session.
Themed rounds
- Kids only. Audience on Kids, difficulty on Easy: Santa Claus, elf, candy cane, hot cocoa, letter to Santa. Let them draw in pairs.
- Carols. Draw Silent Night, Jingle Bells and the Twelve Days of Christmas; the guessers must name the carol, singing is not allowed.
- Movie night. Switch the category to Movies & TV and draw Home Alone, Elf and The Polar Express, or stay on the Christmas set for Rudolph, the Grinch and Scrooge.
- The comedy round. Flick on Funny words only for the small disasters of the season: fruitcake, mall Santa, wrapping paper avalanche, batteries not included.
- Classic card. Switch to Classic card mode and every card is a five-word Christmas card, letters and all.
Classroom and office parties
For a class party, this page with the Kids audience and a projector fills half an hour and needs nothing but a whiteboard marker. For an office party, the Adults audience adds Secret Santa, the office holiday party and the family group text, all clean, and Fullscreen puts it on the meeting-room screen. Teams by department is traditional. The kids page and the adults page have more format ideas, and the rules guide covers scoring without the board.
Printable Christmas Pictionary cards
If you would rather play with cards in a bowl, the printable page lays this set out as cut-out cards, five words per card in the classic format. Print on card stock, cut along the lines, and keep the timer on your phone.
Last updated September 2026. Independent tool; Pictionary® is a trademark of Mattel, Inc.