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Christmas

Carol Medley Battle

Also called Carol Sing-Off, Christmas Song Battle, Sing the Word

The host calls a word and teams take turns singing a line of a carol that contains it; the team that runs dry loses the round.

people
10–100
time
15 min
energy
High
materials
No materials
Kids-safeHR-safeChurch-safe
Watch it played
How to play4

Before you start

Split into 2–4 teams and seat each together. The host prepares a list of 10 carol words: snow, star, night, bells, merry, king, joy, tree, home, love.

  1. 1The host calls a word.
  2. 2Teams take turns singing at least one full line of a carol containing that word.
  3. 3A team has 10 seconds to start; no carol may be repeated in the same round.
  4. 4A team that cannot sing in time is out of that round. Last team singing wins the point.
Cards for this game35

Edit them now. Host mode deals them one at a time, big enough for the room.

35 cards
  • Silent Night
  • Jingle Bells
  • Deck the Halls
  • Joy to the World
  • O Come, All Ye Faithful
  • Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
  • Away in a Manger
  • We Wish You a Merry Christmas
  • The First Noel
  • O Christmas Tree
  • Up on the Housetop
  • God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
  • O Little Town of Bethlehem
  • Angels We Have Heard on High
  • We Three Kings
  • Good King Wenceslas
  • The Twelve Days of Christmas
  • It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
  • O Holy Night
  • Ang Pasko ay Sumapit
  • Pasko Na Naman
  • White Christmas
  • Silver Bells
  • Jingle Bell Rock
  • Christmas in Our Hearts
  • Jolly Old Saint Nicholas
  • Ding Dong! Merrily on High
  • Go, Tell It on the Mountain
  • Here We Come A-Wassailing
  • Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
  • Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town
  • Frosty the Snowman
  • Feliz Navidad
  • Let It Snow
  • Sleigh Ride
What to say3
  1. 1“Your word is… STAR! Team one, you have ten seconds!”
  2. 2“Ooh, “Twinkle Twinkle” — is that even a carol? Room, you decide!”
  3. 3“Team three is out of stars! Team one takes the round!”
Host tips3
  • Agree on what counts as a carol before you start. The first dispute is always over a pop song or a nursery rhyme, and ruling on the spot makes you the villain.
  • Start with easy words like “Christmas” and “night” to warm up the shy singers, then move to hard ones like “king” and “home”.
  • Insist the whole team sings, not one confident voice. Loud teams are fun to watch; a soloist with nine silent teammates is not.
Variants2

  • Prepared medley

    Give each team 10 minutes to stitch three carols into a 2-minute medley and perform it. Judge by noise meter.

  • Language round

    Lines must be in a language other than English — Tagalog, Spanish, Latin, anything the room knows.

Good for

Occasions

ChristmasReunionTeam building

Venues

Indoor, smallIndoor, largeOfficeChurch hall
If this one dies early3