The Left Right Christmas Story Game: Free Story To Read Aloud
The left right game is the easiest party game there is: everyone sits in a circle holding a wrapped gift, someone reads a story, and every time the word LEFT or RIGHT comes up, the gifts move that way. Whatever you're holding at the end is yours.
Below are the rules and a full story you can read straight off the screen or print out and hand to whoever has the clearest voice.
Christmas cards, drawn and printed by us
Funny, rude and warm Christmas cards, blank inside, printed in the UK with kraft envelopes. Order on a working day and it usually goes out the same day.
'tis the season to drink Guinness Christmas Card
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Wishing you an Electrifying Christmas Greeting Card
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Merry Christmas Nanny (Christmas Card For Nan)
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Lying Down Black Santa Christmas Card
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How to play
- Everyone brings one wrapped gift to an agreed budget - £5 or £10 works well.
- Sit in a circle and hold your gift. If you're at a table, going round the table counts.
- One person reads the story aloud. Every time they say LEFT, pass your gift to your left. Every RIGHT, pass it to your right.
- Read at a decent pace. Half the fun is people fumbling and dropping things.
- When the story ends, unwrap whatever you're holding - all at the same time.
- One-prize version: no gifts each, just one big prize passed round, and whoever holds it at the end wins.
The story - part one
- The Wright family had one job LEFT to do before Christmas, and Mrs Wright was determined to get it RIGHT.
- She LEFT the house at nine, turned RIGHT at the postbox, and RIGHT again at the shop where her mother had LEFT her purse in 1994.
- Grandad Wright was LEFT in charge of the turkey, which was the wrong decision, and everyone knew it was the wrong decision, but nobody said it out RIGHT.
- The children had LEFT their lists on the table. Bobby Wright wanted a bike. Betty Wright wanted to be LEFT alone with the tin of chocolates, which frankly was the more realistic request.
- At the shop there was one sprout net LEFT. Mrs Wright reached RIGHT for it. So did a man in a brown coat, who had no RIGHT to it whatsoever.
The story - part two
- They looked LEFT. They looked RIGHT. Nobody was watching, so they both let go at exactly the RIGHT moment and the sprouts hit the floor.
- Mrs Wright LEFT the shop with three mince pies, a card for someone she'd forgotten, and no sprouts at all - which, RIGHT, was a result.
- Back home, Grandad Wright had LEFT the oven off. The turkey was RIGHT where he'd put it, cold as Boxing Day.
- So they had chips. And everyone agreed it was the best Christmas LEFT in living memory, and that Grandad Wright had, in his own peculiar way, got it exactly RIGHT.
- Merry Christmas, from LEFT to RIGHT, and from the Wrights to whoever is holding the parcel RIGHT now. It's yours. Shop this card
Versions and variations
- Family version: read slowly for young children and let them pass with both hands.
- Office version: keep the gifts to a £5 limit and read it fast - the fumbling is the joke.
- Big group: split into two circles and read from between them.
- Longer game: read the story twice, once slowly, once at speed.
- Sweet version: use a wrapped chocolate each instead of gifts, for a classroom or a care home.
How to write it so it lands
- Pick a loud reader and let them practise once.
- Warn people that soft parcels travel better than boxes.
- Everyone unwraps together at the end - it's the best bit.
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- Shop Christmas cards
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- All guides
Frequently asked questions
What is the left right Christmas game?
A circle game where everyone holds a wrapped gift while someone reads a story full of the words 'left' and 'right'. Gifts pass in that direction each time a word is said, and you keep whatever you're holding when the story ends.
How many gifts do you need for the left right game?
One per person, all to the same budget, so everybody ends up with something. If you'd rather not, use one single prize passed round the circle instead.
Can you play the left right game with a big group?
Yes, up to about twenty in one circle. Above that, split into two circles and stand between them so both hear you, or gifts take too long to travel.
Can you print the left right Christmas story?
Yes - use your browser's print option on this page, or copy the story into a document. Whoever reads it should have it on paper rather than a phone, because a phone screen dims halfway through.
What budget works for the left right game?
£5 for a big group or an office, £10 for family and friends. Everything is randomly allocated, so keeping the gifts equal in value matters more than usual.
Do you sell games or party supplies?
No - we make greeting cards, art prints and pin badges in the UK. The games here need little or nothing to run, and the only products on this page are our own cards.