Learn more about Individual Counseling, Couples Counseling and Family Counseling.

In This Blog, You Will Learn:

• Fun holiday games to strengthen bonds with family and friends
• How these activities boost communication, teamwork, and connection
• Therapist insights on using games to build healthier relationships
• Simple tips to make holiday games a tradition everyone loves

At Mountains Therapy in NJ, we know that the holidays are a often a time for connection, joy, and shared laughter. What better way to celebrate than with games that bring family and friends closer together? These therapist recommended games are not only fun but also promote essential skills like communication, teamwork, and emotional understanding—key components often explored in family therapy, family counseling, or sessions with a couples therapist or marriage therapist. Here are even more free and creative holiday games you can enjoy at home to create unforgettable memories.

How to Get Family and Friends to Play a Holiday Game

1. Pick the Right Game
   Choose one of the games below that suits most ages of your family and friends.
2. Set the Mood
   Create a fun, cozy atmosphere with music, decorations, and snacks to encourage participation.
3. Keep It Simple
   Explain the rules clearly, keep the game short, and focus on fun over competition.
4. Offer Incentives
   Use small prizes or playful titles like “Holiday Game Champion” to motivate players.
5. Start Small
   Get a few enthusiastic people to start playing and let others join in naturally.
6. Make It a Tradition
   Capture the fun with photos and share how it can become a beloved holiday activity.

Check out the different holiday games below and choose the best one for you, your family, friends or whomever you choose to play with. Have Fun!

1. Memory Lane Game

How to Play:

1. Each person shares their favorite holiday memory or a tradition they’d like to start.
2. Create a scrapbook or write these memories down for future holidays.

Goal: Deepen emotional connections by sharing meaningful experiences.

Therapy Type: Emotion-Focused Therapy
Therapist Insight: Reflecting on positive memories fosters gratitude and emotional connection, often explored in family therapy and family counseling.

2. Gratitude Garland

How to Play:

1. Gather paper strips, markers, and tape or glue.
2. Each person writes something they’re grateful for on a strip.
3. Link the strips together to form a colorful garland to hang in a common area.

Goal: Cultivate gratitude and strengthen emotional bonds.
Therapy Type: Emotion-Focused Therapy
Therapist Insight: This activity promotes reflection and sharing, enhancing emotional connection and encouraging positive communication, valuable tools in family therapy and family counseling.

3. Holiday Freeze Dance

How to Play:

1. Play holiday-themed music and dance together.
2. Pause the music at random intervals—anyone caught moving is out.

Goal: Encourage movement, stress relief, and shared fun.
Therapy Type: Play Therapy
Therapist Insight: Movement-based games promote physical health, reduce stress, and bring everyone into the moment, making it ideal for fostering joy and connection in family therapy.

4. Holiday Charades with a Twist

How to Play:

1. Write holiday-related actions, phrases, or movie titles on slips of paper.
2. Take turns acting them out while others guess.
3. Add a twist by requiring the use of props available at home!

Goal: Encourage nonverbal communication and creative problem-solving.
Therapy Type: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Therapist Insight: This game encourages participants to think creatively, observe one another closely, and engage in laughter, a fantastic stress reliever that supports mental health goals discussed in family therapy sessions.

5. Holiday Trivia Night

How to Play:

1. Write trivia questions about your family, holiday traditions, or fun facts about the season.
2. Take turns answering and awarding points.

Goal: Foster learning and connection through shared knowledge.
Therapy Type: Psychoeducation
Therapist Insight: Learning and sharing memories help families reflect on their shared history and celebrate their unique identity, important in family therapy.

6. Snowball Toss

How to Play:

1. Create “snowballs” using rolled-up socks or soft objects.
2. Set up a basket or bucket and take turns trying to toss the snowballs into it.

Goal: Build teamwork and coordination.
Therapy Type: Play Therapy
Therapist Insight: Simple and active games like this relieve stress and promote teamwork, supporting goals often discussed in family counseling.

7. Pass the Ornament

How to Play:

1. Use a spoon to pass an ornament (or a small object) around a circle without using your hands.
2. Make it more challenging by timing the group or adding obstacles.

Goal: Build focus and teamwork.
Therapy Type: Solution-Focused Brief Therapy
Therapist Insight: This game encourages teamwork and shared problem-solving, helping families bond and support one another, key aspects in family counseling.

8. Story Roundtable

How to Play:

1. Start a story with a holiday theme, setting the scene in a few sentences.
2. Pass it to the next person, who adds their twist, and so on.

Goal: Build empathy and deepen connections by sharing and co-creating experiences.
Therapy Type: Narrative Therapy
Therapist Insight: This activity fosters collaboration and storytelling, which can help families and couples develop empathy and understanding, a hallmark focus for a family counselor, marriage therapist, or couples therapist.

9. Kindness Countdown

How to Play:

1. Assign each family member a day of the week leading up to the holiday.
2. Their task is to do one kind thing for someone else in the household that day.

Goal: Cultivate mindfulness and proactive positivity.
Therapy Type: Solution-Focused Brief Therapy
Therapist Insight: By fostering acts of kindness and appreciation, this activity strengthens emotional resilience and creates a warm environment, a principle valued in family therapy and family counseling.

10. Holiday Recipe Relay

How to Play:

1. Divide into teams.
2. Each team creates a “recipe” by writing down steps to make a holiday dish or treat—but only one word per turn!
3. Read the final recipe aloud for laughs.

Goal: Strengthen family traditions and teamwork.
Therapy Type: Narrative Therapy
Therapist Insight: This activity reinforces family traditions, creativity, and shared storytelling, enhancing connection, a hallmark of family therapy and marriage therapy.

The Gift of Togetherness- Celebrate the Season with Connection

These games offer more than holiday fun, they create opportunities to deepen bonds and build skills for healthier relationships. Whether working with a family therapist, marriage therapist, or couples therapist, these activities embody the principles of connection, teamwork, and emotional well-being that are essential for thriving relationships.

Happy Holidays from Mountains Therapy in NJ, NC, FL and UT!

Contact us to connect with a Therapist for Family, Therapist for Couple and Therapist for Individual.