This left right Christmas game comes with three original stories to read aloud: one for kids ages 4 to 8, one for families and one for offices or friends. Every time the reader says LEFT or RIGHT, the players pass a wrapped gift that way, and the player holding it at the end keeps it. The free printables on PrintSheetLab are a host copy of each story with the cue words in bold, a plain copy without bold, a rules and setup card and two gift passing diagrams, in US Letter and A4. The left right Christmas game works for gift exchanges with any number of players.
Quick answer: A left right Christmas game is a story-reading party game. Players sit in a circle and pass one wrapped gift LEFT or RIGHT each time the host reads those words. This page has three original stories with 17, 21 and 29 passes, and whoever holds the gift when the story ends keeps it.
Left right Christmas game stories to print
The set has three original stories, each printed as a large-type host copy, plus a plain copy, a rules card and a diagram page, all black and white friendly in US Letter and A4.
The host copy puts every LEFT in a dark pill and every RIGHT in an outlined box, so the two words are easy to tell apart even on a black and white printer. The plain copy has the same words in ordinary lowercase type for readers who prefer it.
How many LEFT and RIGHT words are in each story?
The kids story has 9 LEFT and 8 RIGHT words (17 passes), the family story has 12 and 9 (21 passes) and the office story has 16 and 13 (29 passes). A program counted every whole-word LEFT and RIGHT, and no other use of those words appears in the stories.
| Story | Age | Words | LEFT | RIGHT | Passes | Reading time | Gift ends up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kids Pip the Elf and the Lost Star |
Ages 4 to 8 | 249 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 2 min 05 sec | 1 seat to the left |
| Family The Great Gingerbread Mystery |
Ages 8 and up | 402 | 12 | 9 | 21 | 3 min 20 sec | 3 seats to the left |
| Office or friends The Office Party That Almost Wasn’t |
Adults and teens | 525 | 16 | 13 | 29 | 4 min 20 sec | 3 seats to the left |
Reading time is the word count divided by 120 words a minute. That is a relaxed pace that leaves room to pass, and it sits inside the 100 to 125 words a minute that Wikipedia gives for comfortable slide presentations. The same article says audiobooks run at 150 to 160 words a minute, which is too quick for a game where people hand over a parcel.
How to play the left right Christmas game, step by step
To play the left right Christmas game, seat everyone in a circle facing the middle, give one wrapped gift to a starting player and read a story aloud, with each player passing the gift whenever they hear LEFT or RIGHT.
- Make a circle. Players sit facing the middle, with 5 to 12 players in each circle.
- Choose a story for the age group and print the host copy for the reader.
- Hand the gift to one player. It should be sturdy and wrapped tightly, because it will be passed 17 to 29 times.
- Explain the one rule: LEFT and RIGHT mean each player’s own left and right as they sit.
- Read at a steady pace. On LEFT the player holding the gift hands it to the player on their left. On RIGHT they hand it to the player on their right.
- Stop at the last paragraph. It has no LEFT or RIGHT in it, and it says the gift stays where it is.
- Open the gift. The player holding it when the story ends keeps it.
The figure shows a circle of eight players and the gift during the first four passes of the family story. The first three words are LEFT, so the gift travels from Player 1 to Player 4. The fourth word is RIGHT, so it comes back one seat to Player 3. Seat numbers rise to the left, so every LEFT adds one to the holder’s number and every RIGHT subtracts one.
Where does the gift end up?
Each story moves the gift a fixed distance in total, so you can decide the winner before you start: the kids story ends 1 seat to the left of the starting player, and the family and office stories end 3 seats to the left, in any circle of more than 3 players. Count the LEFT and RIGHT words before you read, so you know where the gift lands in the left right Christmas game.
- Pick the player who should end up with the gift.
- Count the story’s distance to the right of that player: 1 seat for the kids story, 3 seats for the family or office story.
- Give the gift to that player at the start.
- Read the story exactly as printed. The gift finishes with the chosen winner.
For example, in a circle of 8 players with the family story, give the gift to Player 3 to make Player 6 the winner: 3 seats to the left of Player 3 is Player 6. A short program ran every starting seat in circles of 4 to 40 players to confirm this.
Read the three Christmas left right stories here
Each Christmas left right story below is the same text as the PDF host copy, with the cue words in bold capitals, so you can read straight from a phone or print the large-type version.
Kids story: Pip the Elf and the Lost Star
Ages 4 to 8. 249 words, 9 LEFT, 8 RIGHT, 17 passes, about 2 min 05 sec. A gentle search story with short sentences. Letter PDF or A4 PDF.
It was Christmas Eve at the North Pole, and Pip the elf was in a big hurry. The shiny star for the top of the Christmas tree was gone!
Pip looked LEFT, under the toy shelf. Pip looked RIGHT, behind the big red sleigh. No star. So Pip hopped LEFT to the cookie jar and RIGHT to the snowman by the door.
Just then, Rudolph trotted by. “Try the LEFT side of the barn,” he said. “I saw something sparkle.” So Pip ran LEFT, past the sleepy reindeer, and peeked inside.
But the barn was dark, and the sparkle was only a snowflake. “Now go RIGHT,” said Rudolph, “past the candy cane fence.” So Pip turned RIGHT and skipped RIGHT down the snowy path.
Soon Pip met Mrs. Claus, who was carrying warm cookies. “Try the LEFT pocket of Santa’s coat,” she said. Pip found a candy cane in the LEFT pocket and a mitten in the RIGHT pocket.
Pip sat down in the snow and sighed. Then Pip looked up, way up, and there it was! The star was twinkling at the very top of the tree, exactly where Santa had hung it the night before.
Pip jumped for joy. “I found it!” Pip shouted. The elves on the LEFT cheered. The elves on the RIGHT cheered. Then everybody danced LEFT, and RIGHT, and LEFT again, and the bells went jingle, jingle, jingle.
The end! Merry Christmas, everybody. Whoever is holding the gift now gets to keep it.
Family story: The Great Gingerbread Mystery
Ages 8 and up. 402 words, 12 LEFT, 9 RIGHT, 21 passes, about 3 min 20 sec. A funny detective story with a very guilty dog. Letter PDF or A4 PDF.
On Christmas morning, Grandma woke up and made a terrible discovery. The gingerbread house she had built the day before had a huge bite missing from its roof!
“Someone ate my masterpiece!” she cried. “Everybody, follow the crumbs!” Detective Dad grabbed a magnifying glass, which he held upside down, and the whole family tiptoed after him.
The first crumbs led LEFT, down the hall. Dad turned LEFT at the Christmas tree, tripped over a roll of wrapping paper, and bumped the tree. It wobbled LEFT, then RIGHT, then LEFT again, and a tiny angel fell off the top and landed in Auntie May’s coffee.
“Stay calm!” said Dad. “The trail goes RIGHT, into the kitchen.” So everyone shuffled RIGHT in one long line, like a nervous snake. Uncle Joe took one step RIGHT too many and walked into the fridge.
On the kitchen floor lay more crumbs, a sticky gumdrop, and one muddy paw print. Little Sam pointed LEFT. “Look! The paw print goes under the table!” Dad crawled LEFT, then RIGHT, then LEFT again, and got stuck between two chairs.
“This is the work of a master thief,” whispered Dad, wiggling free. “Someone with big paws and no manners.” Everybody looked at Grandpa, who was licking frosting off his thumb. “It was not me!” said Grandpa. “I only ate the gumdrop.”
Just then, they heard a loud crunch from the living room. They all spun LEFT. They all spun RIGHT. They all spun LEFT again, because nobody could remember which way the crunch had come from.
Dad sniffed the air like a bloodhound, nose twitching LEFT and RIGHT. “The thief is close,” he whispered. “He smells of ginger, cinnamon, and mild embarrassment.”
Behind the sofa, wearing a crooked Santa hat, sat Biscuit the dog, with crumbs all over his whiskers and a very guilty smile. He thumped his tail LEFT and RIGHT, as if to say, “Great breakfast. Thank you.”
Grandma sighed, and then she laughed so hard that her glasses slid off her nose. “Next year,” she said, “I will bake two houses. One for the family and one for Biscuit.” Biscuit barked, once to the LEFT and once to the RIGHT, because he wanted to make sure everybody heard.
And that is how the Great Gingerbread Mystery was solved. The case is closed, and whoever is holding the gift at this very moment gets to keep it. Merry Christmas!
Office or friends story: The Office Party That Almost Wasn’t
Adults and teens. 525 words, 16 LEFT, 13 RIGHT, 29 passes, about 4 min 20 sec. Light workplace humor with a collapsing snowman. Letter PDF or A4 PDF.
It was four o’clock on the last working day before the holidays, and the whole office had finally agreed on one thing: nobody was going to get any work done. Gloria had brought cookies, Marcus had brought a speaker, and nobody had brought a plan.
The plan, it turned out, was to hold the party in the break room. Priya from marketing stood at the door and pointed LEFT. “Cookies are on the LEFT,” she announced. “Coffee is on the RIGHT. And the mystery casserole in the fridge is nobody’s responsibility.”
Marcus plugged in his speaker, and a very loud Christmas song filled the room. Within seconds, half the team had stepped LEFT to dodge the bass, and the other half had stepped RIGHT to dodge the first half. The office plant, which had survived three budget cuts, tipped LEFT, wobbled RIGHT, and somehow stayed upright.
Then the CEO arrived to give a short speech. It was not short. She thanked the team on her LEFT, the team on her RIGHT, and a man by the window nobody recognized. “Everyone has worked so hard,” she said, “except possibly whoever keeps microwaving fish.” Everybody glanced LEFT. Everybody glanced RIGHT. Everybody glanced at Dennis, who suddenly found the carpet very interesting.
Next came the gift swap. Dennis, eager to prove his innocence, tossed a bright red parcel LEFT. Priya caught it and handed it RIGHT to Marcus, who handed it LEFT to Gloria, who handed it LEFT again, because she wanted nothing to do with it.
Suddenly, the lights went out. “Don’t panic,” said the CEO, in the voice of someone who was panicking. In the dark, a chair scraped LEFT, a coffee cup tipped RIGHT, and somebody’s elbow found the cookie tray, which slid LEFT off the table. Marcus lit his phone and found the cause: the plug of the giant inflatable snowman had been kicked out of the wall, and the snowman was slowly collapsing onto the sofa like a very polite ghost.
Gloria saved the day. She marched RIGHT to the fuse box, flipped one switch, flipped another switch LEFT, and the room blazed back to life. Everyone cheered. The snowman, re-inflated at last, leaned RIGHT, then LEFT, then RIGHT again, as if bowing to the crowd.
Then came karaoke. Dennis chose a song, and it turned out he had a lovely voice, which surprised everyone, mostly Dennis. He swayed LEFT on the high notes and RIGHT on the low notes, and by the final chorus the entire office was swaying LEFT and RIGHT with him, holding up phones like tiny candles.
At six o’clock the cleaners arrived and found a snowman asleep on the sofa and forty people refusing to go home. The CEO raised her cup. “To the best team in the building,” she said, “and to never once mentioning the fish.” Everyone raised a cup, first to the person on their LEFT, then to the person on their RIGHT.
And that is the story of the office party that almost wasn’t. Happy holidays, everyone. The end, and whoever is holding the gift at this very moment gets to keep it.
Cheap gift ideas for the game, by budget
A gift under $10 is plenty for this game, because what matters is that it is sturdy, light enough to pass 17 to 29 times and suited to the age of the players. The budgets are limits for you to set, not price promises, since store prices vary. Wrap the gifts for the left right Christmas game in sturdy paper, because they get passed a lot.
| Budget | Gift ideas | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| Under $5 | A sticker sheet, a mini notebook with a pencil, a small box of crayons, a hot cocoa packet with a candy cane | Flat and light, so it is easy to pass quickly, and cheap enough to give to every player in a large group. |
| $5 to $10 | Fuzzy socks, a deck of playing cards or a small card game, colored pencils with a sketch pad, a plastic or enamel mug with cocoa mix inside | Soft or unbreakable items survive being passed, and they suit almost any age. |
| $10 to $20 | A paperback or picture book matched to the age, a reusable water bottle, a box of chocolates, a travel-size board game, a candle for adult groups | Good enough to feel like a prize. Choose a shape that fits two hands, such as a flat box. |
Safety for small children
- No small parts for children under 3. In the United States, the Consumer Product Safety Commission bans toys intended for children under 3 that have small parts. It defines a small part as any object that fits entirely into its small parts cylinder, which approximates the throat of a child under three (CPSC, Small Parts Ban). Give a toddler one large soft gift, never a bag of small items.
- Read the age label on any toy before you wrap it, and match it to the youngest player in the circle.
- Check food gifts for allergies before the game, and skip food entirely if you do not know the group.
- Keep it unbreakable. A glass item or a loose bow will not survive 29 passes. Wrap breakable items in padding or choose something else.
- Candles are for adult groups and should be unlit.
Drawing names for a bigger exchange instead? The Secret Santa questionnaire helps you choose gifts people like.
Variations for a Christmas gift passing game
You can change how the game stops, how the players sit or how many gifts are in play, and the five variations below all use the same stories.
Stop when a number is rolled
Pick a number from 1 to 6 before the story starts. After each paragraph, one player rolls a die. If the chosen number comes up, the reader stops and the holder wins the gift. If it never comes up, the last paragraph ends the game as usual. This keeps players guessing, because the story might stop at any paragraph.
Sit in a line instead of a circle
Players sit in a row, on a sofa or along a table. The gift moves one seat at a time on each word. If a word points off the end of the row, the holder says “bump” and keeps the gift for that word. The seat arithmetic in the section above only works in a circle, so you cannot pick the winner in a line.
Wrap-a-layer
Wrap the prize in several layers of paper and tape a small treat or a Christmas joke slip between layers. The reader pauses at the end of each paragraph, and the player holding the gift removes one layer and keeps what is attached to it. Use one layer for every paragraph break: 7 layers for the kids story, 10 for the family story and 9 for the office story. The player holding the gift at the end opens the last layer and keeps the prize. Check any treats for allergies first, and try these Christmas jokes for kids for the slips.
Two gifts at once
Use two gifts in a circle of an even number of players, starting them half a circle apart, such as Player 1 and Player 6 in a circle of 10. Both gifts move on every word, the same number of seats in the same direction, so they can never reach the same player. Both holders win a gift at the end. The diagram page has a picture of this setup.
Left right gift exchange game: everyone passes
Ask each guest to bring one wrapped gift in an agreed budget and give one to every player. On each LEFT or RIGHT, everyone passes the gift they are holding at the same moment. When the story ends, everyone keeps the gift in their hands. Because all gifts move together, the result is a rotation: after the family or office story, each player holds the gift that started 3 seats to their right, and after the kids story, the gift from 1 seat to their right. In any circle of more than 3 players, nobody ends up with the gift they brought.
Tips for large groups
To run the left right Christmas game for a big group, split it into circles of 8 to 12 players, give each circle its own gift and let one reader read to all of them. For a big group, split into two circles and run the left right Christmas game twice.
- Keep circles small. In a circle of 30 players, each player is waiting a long time for a turn, so several smaller circles keep everyone involved.
- Use one reader for all circles, standing where everyone can hear, with a microphone if the room is noisy. Read at about 120 words a minute and pause after each cue word.
- Name a captain for each circle to settle mix-ups quickly so the story does not stop.
- Wrap each circle’s gift differently, for example in a different paper, so a gift never wanders into another circle.
- Give each circle its own winner. Every circle finishes at the same moment, so there is no waiting for results.
- Use the line version if the group sits in rows, such as in a classroom or hall.
- Run a practice round with eight volunteers and the kids story, so everyone sees how it works before the real game.
How to write your own left right story
Write a short story with a cue word every 10 to 20 words, with a plain last paragraph that ends the game. In these three stories there is one cue word for every 15 words in the kids story, 19 in the family story and 18 in the office story. Writing a new left right Christmas game story is a fun job for older kids.
- Make every LEFT and RIGHT a pass. Never use the words in any other sense, such as “all right” or for something that was left behind.
- Never start a sentence with a cue word, so that the cue is not hidden behind a capital letter in the plain copy.
- Mix directions. Runs of three or four of the same word feel like a chant, and back-and-forth passes feel like a dance.
- Count with a find tool. Search for each word as a whole word, then print the counts on the host copy.
- End with a clear last line that tells the group the gift stays where it is.
- Read it aloud once with a friend before the party.
Read the left right Christmas game story slowly and clearly, so everyone hears each left and right.
Frequently asked questions
9 quick answers
How many players do you need?
Five to twelve players per circle works best. With fewer than five the gift moves too fast to follow, and with more you can split into several circles, each with its own gift.
How many gifts do I need?
One gift per circle for the basic game. Use two gifts in one circle for the two-gift variation, or one gift per player for the everyone-passes exchange version.
Whose left is LEFT?
Each player’s own left, as they sit facing the middle of the circle. That is clockwise when you look down on the circle from above, and it matches the diagrams.
What if someone passes the wrong way?
The player says “oops” and hands the gift back to the player who passed it, and nobody is out of the game. For young players, a sticker on each left hand helps.
How long does a game take?
The stories take about 2 min 05 sec, 3 min 20 sec and 4 min 20 sec to read at 120 words a minute. Allow around 10 minutes for the whole left right Christmas game, with the setup and the opening of the gift.
Can I choose who wins the gift?
Yes, in a circle. Start the gift 1 seat to the right of the winner for the kids story, or 3 seats to the right for the family and office stories.
Is the game suitable for little children?
The kids story is written for ages 4 to 8 with short sentences, and it works best with a helper next to the youngest players. Choose a gift with no small parts if any child in the circle is under 3.
Can I write my own story or change the names?
Yes. Change names and places freely, keep every LEFT and RIGHT as a pass, and recount them so the numbers on your host copy are right.
How are the cue words marked in each Christmas left right story?
In the host copy, LEFT sits in a dark pill and RIGHT in an outlined box, so the cues stay easy to tell apart even in black and white. A plain copy without bold is included for readers who prefer it.
More Christmas party games and printables
- Christmas trivia for a quieter round after the gift is opened
- Christmas bingo cards and Christmas tambola
- Christmas scavenger hunt for kids who need to run around
- Christmas activities for kids
- Christmas jokes for kids
- All party games
Sources
- Words per minute, Wikipedia (speaking pace for audiobooks and presentations)
- Small Parts Ban and Choking Hazard Labeling, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
The stories, rules and variations on this page were written for PrintSheetLab. The pass counts and the winner arithmetic were checked by running the stories through a short program.
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