Classroom Christmas Games: a 45-Minute Board-Game Station Plan for Grades 1–3

The last lesson before the Christmas break is a lesson unlike any other: 24 excited children, a classroom that smells of mince pies, and a teacher who would like everyone to have fun without the noise reaching the head’s office. If you are a primary teacher looking for classroom Christmas games for grades 1–3, board-game stations are one of the calmest ways to run a class party. Here is a complete 45-minute plan: how to prepare the tables, what happens minute by minute, which jobs to give the children and how to keep the volume down.

Classroom Christmas games that work with 25 children

Whole-class party games are great for ten minutes, but they leave most children waiting for their turn. Stations solve this: the class splits into 4–6 tables of 4–6 pupils, and every child plays at the same time. For a class of 24, that means:

• 4 tables of 6 – fewer copies to prepare, but longer waits between turns
• 6 tables of 4 – more copies, but faster turns and fewer arguments (our favourite for grade 1)

Choose games that a 6- to 8-year-old can learn in five minutes, that finish in 20–30 minutes and that have a fixed end, so all the tables finish at roughly the same time. Christmas-themed board games, simple card games and dice games all work well.

Which games to put on the tables

Any game with simple rules and a fixed end works at a table. Some ideas that need little more than paper, dice or picture cards:

• Christmas bingo – picture cards for grade 1, words for grades 2–3; the table captain calls.
• Christmas pairs – a memory game with matching picture cards laid face down.
• Draw and guess – one child draws a Christmas word, the rest of the table guesses.
• A dice race – a home-made board where the first to reach the North Pole wins.
• A printed Christmas board game – for a longer station, such as Holly Lane (about 20–40 minutes).

Before the day: printing and preparing the tables

Do all the preparation at least a day ahead – nobody can cut out cards with 24 children in the room. Your checklist:

• Print one set per table on thick card (250–300 g/m²) and cut out boards, cards and tokens. Older pupils or a parent helper can do the cutting during a craft lesson.
• Put each set in a labelled envelope or tray: table number, game name, number of pieces.
• 2 dice per table, plus one spare set on your desk.
• A one-page rules summary per table, in big print, so the table captain can check.
• Name cards to put pupils at the right table without discussion.
• Small parts: keep spare pieces in a box on your desk, and remember they are not suitable for children under 3 if younger siblings visit the party.

Check that the licence of any printable game covers classroom use. Holly Lane, for example, is licensed for the teacher’s own class, and the full edition plays with up to 6 children per table.

The 45-minute plan, minute by minute

1. 0–5 min: settle and split. Pupils find their name cards. The game sets are already on the tables, still closed.
2. 5–12 min: teach the game. Explain the rules once, for the whole class, using one copy on the visualiser or a big drawing on the board. Play one example turn in front of everyone.
3. 12–15 min: set up. Table captains open the envelopes and set up with their table. You walk round and check.
4. 15–38 min: play. One full game. Circulate, answer rules questions and help the slowest table.
5. 38–40 min: the end signal. Ring a bell: the game ends now, wherever the table has got to. Each table counts its score.
6. 40–45 min: tidy up and celebrate. Pieces go back into the envelopes, captains count them and bring them to your desk. Announce the winner of each table – or, better, a whole-class total.

If your pupils can read the rules sheet on their own, you can rotate instead: at 25 minutes, table captains stay and the other players move clockwise to the next table. Only do this with games that each take 15 minutes or less.

Table captains and other jobs

Jobs keep children busy and give quieter pupils a reason to speak. Give one job per child at each table:

• Table captain: sets up, checks the rules sheet and is the only one who may call the teacher.
• Timekeeper: watches the clock or the sand timer and reminds the table of the end signal.
• Banker: hands out cards and tokens.
• Scorer: keeps the score on a slip of paper.
• Tidy-up chief: counts all pieces back into the envelope.

Keeping the noise down and finishing on time

• The volume rule: “table voices” – only your table should hear you. Show a traffic-light card on your desk: green is fine, amber means lower, red means silent for one round.
• One signal for everything: a bell or a raised hand means stop, look, listen. Practise it once before the games start.
• Nobody wanders off: even when a game has a winner, everyone stays at the table. Finished tables play again or do a quiet colouring sheet.
• A fixed end: games with a set number of rounds finish on time. In Holly Lane, for instance, the night track shows how many rounds are left, and the rules include a short game that starts Father Christmas 4 spaces closer to Morning.

Ages 6–9: what to simplify for grade 1

• Count tokens, not points. Adding up different values is hard at six. Let each card or token count as one.
• Play together, not against each other. A cooperative version, where the whole table – or the whole class – aims for one shared goal, avoids tears at the end of term.
• Put a confident reader at every table. Mixed tables work better than ability groups for games.
• Shorten the game rather than rushing it: fewer rounds, same rules.
• Grades 2–3 can usually handle the full rules and the rotation between tables.

A printable board game for your class party

Holly Lane is a printable Christmas board game for 2–6 players aged 6+: children roll 2 dice, use 1 and deliver gifts around a snowy village before Morning. The full edition adds a Team night mode where everyone plays together, and both editions include a “Little elves” variant that counts tokens instead of stars. Read the full introduction in our article on Christmas board games for the whole family, or try the free edition for 2–4 players first.

Download the free edition See the full edition Christmas board games for families