This Left Right Christmas Game printable doubles as a mad lib. First, players fill in the blanks with nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Then a reader shares the story out loud. Each time the word LEFT or RIGHT appears, everyone passes their gift in that direction. When the story ends, whatever you’re holding is yours. Setup is simple, just print the story, fill out, and bring wrapped gifts.
This printable works well for:
- Classroom holiday activities
- Office Christmas party activities
- White Elephant or Secret Santa exchanges
- Friends’ holiday get-togethers with pass-the-gift games
Print and fill out the mad lib together, then circle up with gifts, and let the story guide the passing.
How to play:
Setup
- Print the Left Right Mad Lib story and the word list.
- One person is designated the Reader
- Sit everyone in a circle with gifts in hand.
Fill the Mad Lib
- One person (the Reader) asks the group for words from the list (nouns, verbs, adjectives, places, etc.).
- Players call out words without seeing the story. Write each word in order.
- When the list is complete, the Reader fills the words into the story.
The sillier the words, the more fun the story will be! If you are unsure how to play or want some tips on how to make your stories funnier, then check out our Mad Libs guide.
Play the Left–Right Game
- The Reader reads the completed story out loud exactly as written, clearly saying the words LEFT and RIGHT.
- Every time you hear LEFT, pass your gift one person to the left.
- Every time you hear RIGHT, pass your gift one person to the right.
- When the story ends, keep the gift you’re holding.
Tips for a Great Mad Libs Experience
- Be Creative: Encourage players to be as creative, silly, or absurd as they wish with their word choices. The funniest stories often come from the most unexpected words.
- Mix It Up: For added fun, try making up your own stories or using themes from current events, movies, or inside jokes among your group.
- Educational Twist: Mad Libs can be a great educational tool. For younger players, it’s an opportunity to learn about parts of speech. For older players, it can be a way to practice creative writing and storytelling.
- Make It a Game: Turn it into a competition by voting on the funniest or most unique story if you have multiple stories or groups playing simultaneously.
Word Types
- Noun: A word that names a person, place, thing, or idea. Examples: dog, city, happiness.
- Pronoun: A word that replaces a noun in a sentence. Examples: he, she, it, they.
- Adjective: A word that describes or modifies a noun. Examples: happy, blue, tall.
- Verb: A word that describes an action, occurrence, or state of being. Examples: run, jump, is.
- Adverb: A word that modifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb, often indicating how, when, where, or to what extent. Examples: quickly, very, well.
- Preposition: A word that shows the relationship between a noun (or pronoun) and other words in a sentence. Examples: in, on, at, by.
- Interjection: A word or phrase that expresses strong emotion or surprise. Examples: oh, wow, ouch.
Get The Mad Lib
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How to print at actual size
1. Open the Print dialog (Ctrl + P on Windows or ⌘ + P on Mac).
2. Under Page Sizing or Scale, select “Actual Size” or set Scale to 100 %.
3. Make sure “Fit to Page” or “Shrink to Fit” is turned off and Borderless printing is disabled.
4. Confirm the printer’s paper size matches your card (A5, US Letter, 5×7, etc.).
5. Click Print.
More fun
See more of our Christmas games and mad-lib style stories!
- Santa Mad Libs Style Free Printable
- 40 Free Printable Christmas Jokes – Instant Download
- Christmas Charades Free Printable
- Free Funny Christmas Favor Tags Printable
Trademark Notice: “Mad Libs®” is a registered trademark of Penguin Random House LLC. This printable is inspired by the Mad Libs® style of word games but is not affiliated with or endorsed by the official Mad Libs® brand.
