Christmas Pictionary Words: 300+ Holiday Things to Draw (Easy to Hard)

Somebody grabs a marker, the timer flips, and eight people scream "SNOWMAN! NO, A GHOST! A GHOST IN A HAT!" at a blob with a scarf. That is the Christmas drawing game, and it is the fastest way to turn a quiet living room into the loudest one on the block.

This page is the word list. You get 300+ Christmas Pictionary words sorted from easy-for-kids to genuinely tricky, plus dedicated rounds for movies, carols, food, traditions, winter, holiday characters, funny moments, the office party, and a very simple round for the littlest players. Every list starts with who it suits and one drawing tip.

You do not need a printer. Write words on index cards, or let our free charades generator pick them for you: choose the Christmas category, keep the screen away from the guessers, and draw the word instead of acting it out. Rules, house variations, and tips for hopeless artists are all below.

How to Play the Christmas Drawing Game

The draw-and-guess game needs three things: something to draw on, a stack of words, and a timer. A whiteboard on an easel is ideal because everyone can see it from the couch, but a big pad of paper on a kitchen table works for a smaller group. Split into two teams. Odd numbers are fine; the extra person can be the permanent timekeeper and word-holder.

1. Pick the artist. Teams alternate. Within a team, rotate so everyone draws at least once, including the person who "can't draw." They are usually the funniest round.
2. Reveal the word to the artist only. Hand them a card, or show them the screen of the generator with the Christmas category selected. They have five seconds to think.
3. Start a 60-second timer. The artist draws while only their own team guesses. No talking, no letters, no numbers, no gestures from the artist.
4. Score it. A correct guess inside the minute is 1 point for the drawing team. If time runs out, the other team gets one single guess to steal the point.
5. Swap teams. First team to 10 points wins, or play a set number of rounds if you have a big crowd.

Decide before you start whether the artist can add to their drawing after someone guesses close. Most families say yes; competitive families say the artist can only point at parts of the drawing. Write the rule on the corner of the board so nobody argues about it at 9 p.m.

🎄 Easy Christmas Pictionary Words

These are concrete objects with an obvious shape, so they suit kids aged six and up, grandparents who have not held a marker in a decade, and the first round of any party while people warm up. Drawing tip: draw the outline first and add one identifying detail second. A triangle is a tree; a triangle with a star on top is a Christmas tree.

If a young artist freezes, let them whisper the word to a helper who can suggest where to start ("draw the pole first"). The point of the easy round is momentum, not difficulty. Save the tough ones for when the room is loud.

🎁 Medium Christmas Pictionary Words

Medium words are still things you can picture, but they need two or three elements on the board before the guess clicks. Great for mixed groups of teens and adults. Drawing tip: draw the scene, not the word. "Letter to Santa" is an envelope, a stamp, and a stick figure with a beard reading it.

Two-word phrases like "naughty list" and "nice list" are a gift to artists: a scroll with a frowning face or a smiling face gets guessed in seconds. Play them back to back and watch the second team get it instantly, which is its own kind of fun.

❄️ Hard Christmas Pictionary Words

Hard words are ideas, feelings, and phrases with no single picture. These suit adult game nights and anyone who has already played the easy rounds twice. Drawing tip: break the phrase into syllables or symbols. "Peace on earth" is a dove, then a globe. "Ho ho ho" is three laughing mouths and a beard.

Agree on a "sounds like" symbol before the hard round. A little ear drawn next to a picture means "the word rhymes with this," which is how you get from a drawing of a bee to "yuletide" without anybody writing a letter.

🎬 Christmas Movies & Stories to Draw

Titles are the most satisfying round because a single scene can unlock the whole answer. A stick figure home alone with hands on his cheeks, a house on fire beside a tree, and everybody knows. Suits movie-loving families and adult parties. Drawing tip: draw the most famous scene or the poster image, not the plot. If you want to act these out instead, use our Christmas movie charades list.

Set a house rule about part-credit for titles. Most groups accept a close guess ("Christmas Carol" for "A Christmas Carol") and let the artist nod to confirm. Numbers in titles like "34th" are the one exception where you may allow drawing the digits, or skip those cards for younger players.

🎶 Christmas Songs & Carols to Draw

Song titles are pure symbol-drawing: a bell plus a rock, a mommy kissing a beard. This round suits anyone who grew up with a car radio in December. Drawing tip: draw a music note in the corner first so your team knows to guess a title, then draw the words one at a time from left to right.

Guessers tend to sing once they get close, which is legal and encouraged. If your group would rather hum the tune than draw it, swap this round into Christmas charades and come back to the marker for the next one.

🍪 Christmas Food & Treats to Draw

Food is a friendly round for kids and a sneaky-hard one for adults, because a pie is a pie until you draw the filling. Suits family gatherings right after dinner when everyone is thinking about dessert anyway. Drawing tip: draw the container or the serving dish. A mug says "drink," a slice on a plate says "pie," and then you add the detail that names it.

Regional foods make great wild cards. If your family does tamales or latkes or a seven-fish dinner, write those on extra cards. The guessers who know your traditions will get them instantly, and the in-laws will learn something.

🧦 Christmas Traditions & Actions to Draw

Verbs are the secret weapon of the drawing game. The artist has to show motion, which forces action lines, arrows, and stick figures mid-fall. This round suits groups that already know each other, since half the fun is recognizing your own family in the drawing. Drawing tip: draw the person and the object, then add an arrow showing what the person is doing to the object.

Require the full phrase for the point, not just the noun. "Lights!" is not "untangling the lights." That single rule turns an easy round into a proper one, and the artist learns to draw the knot before the bulb.

⛄ Winter & Snow Words to Draw

Not everything in December is about Christmas. Winter words keep the game going for families who celebrate differently or for a January game night when the tree is already out at the curb. Suits every age. Drawing tip: falling snow is dots; wind is three curved lines; cold is a stick figure with wavy lines and a chattering mouth. Learn those three and this whole round is yours. For the acting version, see winter charades.

"Snow day" versus "snowed in" is the classic trap of this round. One is a kid cheering at a window; the other is a door blocked by a drift. Draw the emotion on the face and the guessers will separate them.

🎅 Holiday Characters to Draw

Characters are the crowd-pleasers. Everyone can draw a beard, a carrot nose, or pointy ears, so this round suits the youngest artists and anyone who needs a confidence boost after the hard round. Drawing tip: every character has one signature item. Draw the item first: the hat, the antlers, the nutcracker's jaw, the gingerbread man's button row.

Krampus and Jack Frost are the fun ones for teens, since nobody agrees what they look like and the argument is half the round. If the table has a lot of small kids, pull those two cards and add another snowman or elf card instead.

😂 Funny & Awkward Christmas Moments to Draw

This is the round people remember. Every card is a small disaster that has happened in someone's house, and drawing it means drawing a stick figure in trouble. Suits adults and teens; keep it for after the kids' round. Drawing tip: draw the moment right before or right after the disaster, not during. A ladder tipping and a figure in the air says more than a figure on the floor. More like this in our funny charades words.

The guessers will name the family member instead of the phrase ("That's Uncle Dave!"). Award the point anyway if the phrase follows within a few seconds. The whole table is laughing, and that is what the round is for.

💼 Office Christmas Party Round

For the work party you want words that are recognizable to everyone, clean enough for HR, and specific enough to get a laugh in the conference room. These suit any team of four or more. Drawing tip: the office has its own symbols. A rectangle with a screen is a monitor, a stick figure at a desk is a coworker, and a tie tells everyone who the boss is. Need more party ideas? See our best office Christmas party games.

Mix departments on each team so nobody has home-field advantage. Give the artist role to the quietest person on the team at least once; a manager drawing "year-end deadline" as a screaming calendar is the kind of thing that gets talked about until spring.

🧸 Kids' Round: Very Simple Words to Draw

For players aged four to seven, or anyone who is more interested in the cookies than the game. Every word is a single simple noun with a shape a preschooler already knows. Drawing tip: let the little artist draw big and slow, and let their team guess out loud the whole time. There is no wrong guess in this round. For a full year-round list, try our charades words for kids.

Stretch the timer to 90 seconds for this round, or drop it entirely. A four-year-old drawing a bell is going to take a while, and the grown-ups pretending not to know what it is until the very last second is a holiday tradition in itself.

House Rules & Variations

The basic game gets better with one or two twists per night. Do not use them all at once; pick the one that fits the crowd and keep the rest for next year.

• One-line rule. The artist may not lift the marker from the board. Every drawing is one continuous line. Brutal for "nativity scene," hilarious for "snowman."
• No letters, no numbers, no symbols. The standard rule, worth stating out loud. Arrows are allowed; dollar signs, question marks, and the number 25 are not.
• Reverse draw-and-guess. The whole team sees the word; one person is the guesser and cannot look. Everyone else draws on the same board at the same time. Chaos, in a good way.
• Telephone drawing chain. Player one writes a word and passes it. Player two draws it, folds the word over, and passes the drawing. Player three writes what they think the drawing is. Keep alternating write-draw-write until it comes back around, then read the whole chain aloud. "Untangling the lights" reliably comes back as "spaghetti."
• Speed round. One artist, 90 seconds, as many words as the team can guess. Skip a card by shouting "pass," but each pass takes a point off the team's score.
• Whiteboard versus paper. A whiteboard erases instantly, which makes the speed round possible. Paper keeps every drawing, which means you can hang the worst one on the fridge. Big pads of paper are better for tables; whiteboards are better for a crowd on a couch.
• Non-dominant hand. Everybody draws with their other hand. Levels the field between the family artist and everyone else.

If you want to compare the drawing game with its two cousins before you choose, read charades vs. the drawing game vs. the forbidden-words game. Short version: drawing is the loudest, acting is the most physical, and the forbidden-words game is the most verbal.

Drawing Tips for People Who Can't Draw

Nobody at a Christmas party needs to draw well. They need to draw fast and clear. The best artists in this game are not the ones with art degrees; they are the ones who know a dozen symbols and commit to them without hesitating.

• Stick figures are enough. A circle, a line, four sticks. Add a hat and it is Santa; add antlers and it is a reindeer; add a scarf and a carrot and it is a snowman.
• Use arrows for actions. An arrow from a hand to a box means "wrapping." An arrow from a figure to a window means "looking out." Arrows are always allowed.
• Draw the setting first. A fireplace tells the team they are inside at Christmas. Everything you add after that gets guessed faster.
• Cross things out. A big X over a drawing means "not this." Draw a dog, X it, draw a smaller one: "puppy."
• Use size for scale. A tiny figure next to a huge box is "tiny gift in a giant box." You did not draw a gift; you drew the joke.
• Point at the board. Once a teammate is close, tap the part of the drawing they should focus on. Tapping is not gesturing; it is directing.
• Never erase in a panic. Add next to it. A bad drawing plus a good one beats a blank board with twelve seconds left.

Practice run: before the game, give each person 30 seconds to draw "sleigh" on scrap paper. Nobody's will be good. Everybody's will be recognizable. That is the whole lesson.

Running It for a Big Family With Mixed Ages

A Christmas crowd is rarely eight adults of the same age. It is two toddlers, a bored 14-year-old, four parents, and a grandmother who will absolutely win. Here is how to keep every one of them in the game.

• Sort the cards into tiers. Keep the easy and kids' rounds in one pile, medium and characters in another, hard and funny in a third. Whoever is drawing picks from the pile that fits them.
• Pair the little ones. A six-year-old draws with a teen or a grandparent standing beside them. The helper may whisper ideas but may not touch the marker.
• Make teams cross-generational. Grandparents know the carols, teens know the movies, kids know the characters. A team with all three ages will never be stuck.
• Rotate the timekeeper. The kid who is too shy to draw is often thrilled to flip the timer and yell "TIME!"
• Shorten the night, not the rounds. Six rounds with everyone engaged beats fifteen rounds where half the room has drifted to the dessert table.
• Let the winners choose the next round. It keeps the kids invested in the score without anyone getting upset.

For a mixed crowd, the simplest scoring is one point per correct guess and a bonus point if the artist is under ten years old. It sounds unfair and it is, and the adults will still argue about it happily. For a broader seasonal mix, our holiday charades list covers everything from Thanksgiving to New Year's.

Making Word Cards Without a Printer

You do not need a printable. You need something to write on and something to draw the cards out of. Both are already in your house, and making the cards takes about ten minutes.

• Index cards. One word per card, in marker so it is readable in lamplight. Color-code the difficulty with a dot in the corner: green for easy, yellow for medium, red for hard.
• Fold-and-draw from a Santa hat. Tear a sheet of paper into strips, write one word on each, fold twice, and drop them in a Santa hat, a mixing bowl, or an empty cookie tin. The artist reaches in blind.
• Sticky notes. Stick a stack to the back of the whiteboard. The artist peels one, reads it, and slaps it face-down on the easel. Fast and mess-free.
• Phone screen, no paper at all. Open our free charades generator, choose the Christmas category, and hand the phone to the artist. Guessers stay on the other side of the board.
• Let the kids make the cards. An hour before guests arrive, hand the children this list and a stack of cards. They will write half of them, add their own, and be more invested in the game than anyone.

Write your family's private jokes on a few blank cards too. "Dad's famous burnt gravy" is not on any list on the internet, and it will be the best card of the night.

Using the Free Charades Generator as a Word Picker

Our free charades generator was built for acting, but nothing about it cares whether you act or draw. The word comes up on the screen, the timer runs, and the team scoring is already there. That makes it a ready-made deck for the drawing game.

1. Open the generator on a phone or tablet and choose the Christmas category (or winter, movies, or songs for a themed round).
2. Set the timer to 60 seconds and name your two teams.
3. The artist taps for a word, reads it privately, and turns the screen face-down. Guessers must not see it.
4. The artist draws. When the team guesses it, tap correct; when the timer runs out, tap pass. The scoreboard updates itself.
5. Hand the device to the next team's artist. Nobody has to shuffle, reshuffle, or find the card that fell under the couch.

The one habit to build is the face-down flip. In charades the actor stands where everyone can see them, so screens are naturally hidden; in the drawing game the artist stands at the board with the phone in their pocket, so make the rule explicit before round one.

Charades vs. the Drawing Game: When to Switch

Both games use the same words, the same teams, and the same timer, so you can flip between them mid-party without re-explaining anything. Charades wins when the room has space and energy: people want to stand up, flap their arms as reindeer, and stomp around as Santa on a roof. It is also the better choice when you have no board, no markers, and a crowd standing around a kitchen island.

The drawing game wins after dinner when everyone has sunk into the couch, when the group is shy, or when you have players who hate being watched but love being funny on paper. It is also friendlier for the quiet kid, the grandparent with a bad knee, and the cousin who would rather die than mime "kissing under the mistletoe."

A good party does both. Start with two rounds of Christmas charades while everyone is on their feet, switch to the marker when the pie comes out, and finish with one round of telephone drawing so the night ends with everyone reading the chains aloud. Same word cards, same free tool, twice the laughs.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are good Christmas Pictionary words for kids?

Stick to single objects with a clear shape: star, bell, tree, sled, mitten, candy cane, stocking, snowman, and gift. Avoid anything abstract or any phrase longer than two words. Give young artists a longer timer, around 90 seconds, and let a helper stand beside them to suggest where to start. The kids' round and easy round on this page are both built for players aged four to ten.

How long should each turn be in the Christmas drawing game?

Sixty seconds is the standard and it works for most groups. Drop to 45 seconds for adult speed rounds and stretch to 90 seconds for young children or the hard round. Use a visible timer, either a sand timer on the table or the countdown built into our free charades generator, so nobody has to watch the clock and argue about it.

Can you use letters or numbers in Pictionary-style games?

No. The classic rule bans letters, numbers, and written symbols, because otherwise the artist just writes the word. Arrows, X marks, and an "ear" symbol for "sounds like" are allowed in most house rules. If your title round includes a number, such as "Miracle on 34th Street," either allow digits for that round only or remove those cards for younger players.

How many words do you need for a Christmas Pictionary game?

Plan for about six words per player for a full night. Eight players over ten rounds each will use around 50 cards, so 60 to 80 words is a comfortable stack with room to skip a few. This page has more than 300 words across twelve rounds, which covers a big family through the whole holiday season without a repeat.

What is the difference between charades and Pictionary?

Charades is acted out with your body and no sound; the draw-and-guess game is drawn on a board with no letters or numbers. They use identical words, teams, and timers, so you can switch between them mid-party. Charades needs space and energy; drawing needs a board and works better for shy players or a room that has settled onto the couch after dinner.

How do you play Christmas Pictionary without the board game?

You only need paper or a whiteboard, a marker, a timer, and a word list. Write words on index cards or fold slips of paper into a Santa hat, split into two teams, and give each artist 60 seconds. One point per correct guess, first to ten wins. Our free charades generator can also pick the words and keep score if you would rather use a phone than cards.

What are some hard Christmas words to draw?

Abstract phrases are the hardest: peace on earth, Christmas spirit, holiday cheer, the ghost of Christmas past, and the true meaning of Christmas. Idioms like "Bah, humbug!" and "'tis the season" are tough too. Artists solve them by drawing symbols for each word or syllable, so the hard round rewards clever thinking more than drawing skill.

Can you play Christmas Pictionary over video call?

Yes. The artist shares their screen with a drawing app, or points their camera at a whiteboard, and the rest of the team guesses out loud. Send words to the artist by private message so nobody else sees them. Keep the timer visible on the host's screen. Reverse mode, where everyone draws and one person guesses, is especially good on video because every player stays busy.

🔗 More Charades Guides You'll Love

Grab a Marker and Start Drawing

Three hundred words, twelve rounds, and every one of them is a chance to watch someone you love draw a reindeer that looks like a chair. Write a stack of cards tonight, pick your teams, and set the timer for sixty seconds.

Or skip the cards altogether and let our free charades generator pick the Christmas words, run the clock, and keep score while you draw.