Ugly Sweater Party Games and Activities

Ugly Sweater Party Games and Activities

You’ve decided to host a tacky Xmas sweater party, but what’s on the agenda to keep partygoers having fun all evening long? Here are some ideas for ugly sweater party games and activities to make your event a stunning success.

Ugly Craft Table

Time to get out the tinsel and glue guns! The craft table is a great place for people to gather if they like to socialize, while keeping their hands busy. Provide supplies for guests to decorate Xmas coffee mugs, miniature felt sweaters, Christmas flasks or Christmas ornaments to take home. Just be sure they know the theme: Ugly all the way!

Ugly Photo Booth

Prepare your photo booth with lots of grotesque props and Christmas accessories, to help guests make some great memories. This could include some extra ugly Christmas outfits, reindeer antlers, giant candy canes, or a stained beard and a beer can for a “Drunken Santa Mugshot”. Have a printer ready to go, so guests can take home one or two of their favorite photos.

Ugly Gift Exchange

The traditional white elephant exchange should get a makeover for this party. Everyone should bring the tackiest gift they can imagine. This isn’t just about re-gifting scented candles and other obnoxious items. It should include really awful stuff like board games with one piece missing or broken Christmas ornaments. Participants will have a blast deciding which gift is the worst. Be prepared with a trash can by the door on the way out to hold this stuff—in case guests want to discretely dispose of their gifts on the way out!

Ugly Christmas Karaoke Contest

Most karaoke is ugly, but holiday karaoke is even uglier. All participants in this contest must choose an annoying holiday song and sing it to the worst of their ability. You can have prize categories for most annoying (which will probably be Little Drummer Boy), or easiest to mess up (e.g., All I Want for Christmas Is You). No cute stuff like Santa Baby or lovely old hymns like O, Holy Night will be permitted.

Ugly Conversation Game

This is an ugly Christmas sweater party game that runs all night long. As each guest arrives, they are issued an ornament to hang from their sweater. They are not permitted to say the words “Christmas” or “Holiday” during the entire evening. If they do, the person who catches them speaking a forbidden word gets to steal their ornament. The person who finishes the evening with the most ornaments dangling from their sweater wins a prize. (Don’t use glass ornaments because this game can get pretty intense!)

Ugly Sweater Contest

The highlight of any ugly Christmas sweater party is always the fashion show. Because there will probably be a lot of great designs, divide the contest up into categories. You might have “tackiest” for the most visually unappealing sweater and “most offensive” for the sweater that generates the most controversy.