Christmas Carol Games

Playing a Christmas Carol Game can take a couple different forms. But any of the activities you choose from this list will sure to be a hit.

Games Available

Christmas Carol Clues
String Along Songs
Lyrical Lines
Christmas Carol Lyric Quiz
Christmas Carol Quiz - Christian Based
Christmas Themed Song Quiz

Christmas is my favorite holiday. Writing these Christmas Carol Games has been some of the funnest times I've had. It helps me get into the season. I love writing and sharing these games with all my friends and family.

A Little about Christmas Caroling by Country

The following information was gathered from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_carol

The mass singing in some of the pubs in North Sheffield and North Derbyshire, which takes place in the second half of November and all December, and which is often referred to as 'The Sheffield Carols', has been described as one of the most remarkable instances of popular traditional singing in the British Isles.

Christmas carols written in the United States range from "Jingle Bells," and "O Little Town of Bethlehem" to "Away in a Manager," "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas" and numerous others of varying genres. The origins of many are detailed in the book "Christmas Songs Made in America: Favorite Holiday Melodies and the Stories of Their Origins" by Albert J. Menendez. Some of these are also found in one or two of the Christmas Carol Games listed here.

In Australia and New Zealand, where it is the middle of summer at Christmas, there is a tradition of Carols by Candlelight concerts which are held outdoors at night in cities and towns across the country, during the weeks leading up to Christmas. First held in Melbourne, "Carols by Candlelight" is held each Christmas Eve in capital cities and many smaller cities and towns around Australia. Performers at the concerts include opera singers, musical theatre performers and popular music singers. People in the audience hold lit candles and join in singing some of the carols in accompaniment with the celebrities. Similar events are now held all over Australia, usually arranged by churches, municipal councils, or other community groups. They are normally held on Christmas Eve or the Sunday or weekend before Christmas. A similar recent trend in New Zealand is for smaller towns to host their own Carols by Candlelight concerts.

Germany and Austria

Some carols familiar in English were translations of German Christmas songs (Weihnachtslieder). Three well-known examples are Silent Night (Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht), by the Austrians Franz Xaver Gruber and Joseph Mohr, Still, Still, Still ("Still, Still, Still"), an Austrian folksong also from the Salzburg region, and O Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum), from a German folksong arranged by Ernst Anschütz.

The tune of Still, Still, Still is based on an 1819 melody by Süss, with the original words, slightly changed over time and location, by G. Götsch.

Greece and Cyprus

Greek tradition calls for children to go out with triangles from house to house on Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve and Epiphany Eve, and sing the corresponding folk carols, called the Κάλαντα (Kálanda, the word deriving from the Roman calends). There are separate carols for each of the three great feasts, referring respectively to the Nativity, to St. Basil and the New Year, and to the Baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan, along with wishes for the household. Longer carols follow a more or less standard format: they begin by exalting the relevant religious feast, then proceed to offer praises for the lord and lady of the house, their children, the household and its personnel, and usually conclude with a polite request for a treat, and a promise to come back next year for more well-wishing.

In older times, caroling children asked for and were given gifts such as dried fruit, eggs, nuts or sweets; during the 20th century this was gradually replaced with money gifts — ranging from small change in the case of strangers to considerable amounts in the case of close relatives. Caroling is also done by marching bands, choirs, school students seeking to raise funds for trips or charity, members of folk societies, or merely by groups of well-wishers. Many internationally known carols, e.g. "Silent Night", "O Tannenbaum" or "Jingle Bells", are also sung in Greek translation.

Ukraine

Basically all, some of them centuries-old, Ukrainian Carols (Колядки) are associated with the story of the birth of Jesus Christ. The Ukrainian carol most known to the Western World is the Carol of the Bells, composed by the Ukrainian composer Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych, and premiered on December 1916 by a choral group made up of students at Kiev University.

Have fun using all of some of these Christmas Carol Games!

ShareFacebookXPinterestTumblrRedditWhatsAppMessenger

Go from Christmas Carol Games to Party Games Index

Check out our sponsor:

Home Builder Assist

What Others
are Saying

We only played the Christmas ABC game tonight, but it was fun and funny! I have 3 more games and quizzes that I will take to my parents' house on Saturday. Thanks again!!
Jill K. from California, USA

"I thought I knew a lot of party games, but whenever I go on Perfect Party Games, I learn another one!"
Mandolin P. from Washington, USA