Do you want a lively conversation going at your Christmas gathering or New Year party? Try these printable conversation starter cards – suitable for kids and adults!

The guests have come and arranged themselves around the table. It’s time for a small talk! Avoid conversations about the weather that are doomed to end in awkward silence by slipping a card with a small question next to everyone’s plate.

The conversation starters are kind of a game, and this particular set is made to be really family-friendly! Everyone at the table gets a random card, and they need to express their opinion on the options offered. Each card provides two alternatives, which act as a prompt for children. For older children and adults, the alternatives add a little playful element to the activity, and for younger children, they make it easier to answer the question. All the participants are, however, encouraged to elaborate on their answers as much as they want and also give their opinions to other people’s questions.

It’s a good way to keep the conversation going and to include those of all ages in the conversation, which is particularly useful for big family gatherings, like Christmas or New Year. We had a set of autumn conversation starters that we used at our Thanksgiving gathering, and this is a new set with winter-themed questions.

Do you prefer:

Ice-skating or sledding?

One giant present or many small ones?

Fireworks or a fireplace?

Hot cocoa or hot soup?

Ice fishing or ice diving?

Snow balls or snow forts?

These not-so-serious alternatives will inspire some fun conversations, and in the process you will even find out something new about your friends and family. Like whether there is a potential ice diver among your group and who to invite to your annual snow ball fight.

There are altogether twenty four questions in this set, and if your extended family is even bigger, there are also six empty ones for writing your own! All of them deal with winter topics, but can be interpreted as freely as you like. For instance, the person who gets the card “Cutout cookies or gingerbread houses?” can decide to compare them for their taste qualities, but can also talk about which are more fun to make or even which ones bring more festive spirit to the table. I love the look of gingerbread houses, but I have only ever made one, so I think I’d go with cutout cookies.

Some questions will probably not be followed by long discussions, while others will result in some surprises.

The conversation starters are made in the form of coasters, so that they can be integrated into those family meals when everyone gets together. You can try it on a Friday night or whenever you feel like bringing a little surprise to the table. All you need to do is print them, then cut them out. If you want to reuse them, you can glue them onto coaster blanks.

Then, put the coasters out as you set the table, or let everyone choose a card as they sit down.

Enjoy your meal!