Left right Christmas game stories
The Left Right Game
Everyone holds a wrapped gift. One person reads a story out loud, and every left or right moves the gifts. Pick a story below and reader mode shows it one big line at a time, cues in color.
Six good places to start
-
The Wright Family Christmas
4 min The classic. Silly on purpose. -
'Twas the Night Before Christmas Left Right Game
5 min The 1823 poem, with cues -
The Nativity Left Right Game
6 min Gentle, for church groups -
White Elephant Chaos
6 min Deadpan, for grown-ups -
The Left Right Game for Kids
3 min Short and easy for little ones -
The Speed Round Left Right Game
1 min One minute, nonstop passing
How a round goes
- Sit in a circle with a gift each.Keep them roughly the same value. Somebody always ends up with the candle anyway.
- One person reads.Open a story and tap Start reader mode. The host taps through one line at a time, at their own speed.
- Pass on every left and right.Left means one seat to your left. It counts even when the story means "right" as in "correct."
- Keep what you're holding.When the story ends, the passing stops and you open whatever is in your hands.
One thing printed stories can't warn you about: with the wrong number of people, every gift can land back with the person who brought it. Each story page checks your group size and, when it has to, adds one bonus pass at the very end so that never happens.
The full rules, variations and tips for big groups are on the how to play page.
Pick a story for your crowd
- A family Christmas with every age in the room
- The Wright Family Christmas. If your family can recite the poem, the Night Before Christmas version is even better.
- Thirty relatives and one living room
- Grandma's Gift Exchange, or The Christmas Eve Left Right Story if you have a reader who likes to perform.
- Church, Sunday school or a small group
- The Nativity Left Right Game.
- Grown-ups with a drink in hand
- White Elephant Chaos, or the holiday rom-com spoof.
- Coworkers
- The Office Party Left Right Game. Nobody gets named.
- Little kids or a classroom
- Biscuit the dog for ages four and up, the escaped hamster for a winter party at school.
- Thanksgiving
- The table story for everyone, the kids' table story for the adults.
- No holiday at all
- The Any-Occasion Left Right Story, or The Baby Shower Left Right Game.
- One minute left
- The Speed Round Left Right Game.
Questions hosts ask
Does this cost anything?
No. The stories, reader mode, the generator and the printable copies are all free, and there's no account to make.
How many people can play?
Three is the practical minimum. Past fifteen or so, it works better to pass a few prizes around instead of a gift per person, or to split into two circles with two readers.
What if we don't have gifts?
Pass one wrapped prize, a bag of candy, or a whole pie. Whoever is holding it when the story stops takes it home. The Thanksgiving story was written with the pie in mind.
Can the reader play too?
Yes. Hold the phone in one hand and your gift in the other, or put reader mode on the TV and read from there. With a printout it's easier to let someone else hold your gift between passes.