The holidays are a time to come together and celebrate with loved ones. It’s also the season to loosen your tie and enjoy a cup of eggnog with your office. But what do you do when you can’t be together in person? You get creative and have a virtual Christmas party!
A virtual party is a perfect way to connect not just with family members who live far away but with your coworkers and teammates. While already having mastered Zoom, Google Meet, and Teams with a little planning and creativity, you can make it as fun and festive as an in-person office party. From ugly Christmas sweater contests to gingerbread house decorating there is a festive activity for everyone.
Not sure where to start? Don’t worry – I have you covered. So round up your friends, family, or co-workers, and get ready to have some holiday fun!
Virtual Christmas Party Ideas
25 Types of VIRTUAL CHRISTMAS PARTY IDEAS
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UGLY SWEATER PARTY
A classic and simple party idea where everyone can show up in their ugly or funniest holiday themed sweater. -
CHRISTMAS COCKTAIL PARTY
Have everyone share their favorite seasonal cocktail or mocktail. End the party with a toast to all. -
COOKIE OR GINGERBREAD HOUSE DECORATING CONTEST
A great activity everyone can either do on the call together or before the call and can share with each other. -
VIRTUAL CHRISTMAS POTLUCK
Everyone makes a meal to eat during the call and when you get on you show your plate and talk about what you made. -
VIRTUAL HOT CHOCOLATE TASTING
Have everyone submit a hot chocolate reciepe and then pick 3-4 to recreate at home and share your thoughts with the team. -
HOLIDAY LAUGHS
Find out who is funny on the team! Enjoy a improv or comedy virtual show with eachother and be surprised who can make you laugh. -
VIRTUAL CHRISTMAS ESCAPE ROOM
A great way to challenge your team and have a bonding exercise with puzzles and riddles. -
CHRISTMAS MOVIE NIGHT
Enjoy childhood nostalgia and pick a favorite childhood Christmas movie with yoru favorite seasonal snacks. -
A VIRTUAL VISIT FROM SANTA
Santa! Have fun with yoru coworkers and tehir families with Santa on the call! -
CHRISTMAS HOUSE TOURS
Get to know your coworkers and share your decorated home through photos or videos. -
VIRTUAL SECRET SANTA
Physical or online Gift exchanges with each other. You can utilize sites like Elf to pick names. -
VIRTUAL GAMES
Have soem fun with different virtual games and bring out the competition in your group! Trivia, Bingo, or a scavenger hunt are great activities to get the team’s spirits high. -
VIRTUAL TALENT SHOW
Bring out the magic of the holiday season by having your teammates share their special talents. -
VIRTUAL CARD EXCHANGE
Bring out personality and have some fun creating cards for one another or the whole department. -
ORIGAMI ORNAMENTS
A hands on team activity you can do on the call with each other. Follolw along with instractions and share the success and fails. -
VIRTUAL TREE DECORATING
Have your coworkers share their favorite tree decorations from popcorn garland to a family tradition ornament. -
VIRTUAL KARAOKE
Take caoling to the enxt level and bust out Jingle Bell Rock with your coworkers. -
MAKE A WREATH
As a team make a wreath together. Have some music and casual conversation. -
HOLIDAY STORY CREATION
Take improv to a new level and create a Christmas story as a team by going around and saying one word to create your holiday story. -
WHO’S THE BABY?
A fun game to play this holiday season is having your team submit their baby photos ( even better if they were taken during the holiday season) and have each other guess who it is. -
HOLIDAY PHOTOS THAT TELL A STORY
Ask your team to select one or more photos of a past holiday that tell a story and have everyoene ese first guess whats going on. -
RECIPE EXCHANGE
Share favorite holiday recipes with eachother. -
CELEBRATE A VARIETY OF HOLIDAYS
Not everyone celebrates the same and have everyone go around and share how they celebrate this season. -
HOLIDAY TRADITION
Having everyone share holiday traditions through photos, videos, and storytelling will definitely build a closer team -
TOAST THE TEAM
Have everyone go around and toast to the team and share either soemthign they are grateful for or enjoyed during the past year.
Top Picks OF VIRTUAL CHRISTMAS PARTY IDEAS
Ugly Sweater Party
I’m a firm believer that a good classic Ugly Sweater Contest can do no wrong during the holiday season.
This festive virtual get-together via Zoom, Google Meet, or Teams is sure to get everyone in the holiday spirit. To get started, simply have everyone in the office wear their ugliest holiday sweater online. Then, hold a contest to see who has the most creative (or funniest) sweater. And don’t forget to take plenty of screenshots to document the event!
Cookie or Gingerbread House Decorating Contest
For those competitive departments and coworkers what better way to get into the festive spirit than by a decorating cookie or gingerbread house contest? This year hosting a virtual gingerbread house decorating contest will be the biggest chat on the Slack channel.
With just a few ingredients and some creativity, you can have a blast decorating your own gingerbread house. We’ll provide you with some templates to get you started, but feel free to get creative and make your own design.
Entering is easy – simply take a photo of your decorated gingerbread house and show it off during the virtual Christmas party or take a photo or video and post it to social media using a company hashtag.
Virtual Hot Chocolate Tasting
When I think snow and Christmas carols I think hot chocolate. A fun and unique way to spend an afternoon with your coworkers is by having virtual hot chocolate tastings. This is a great activity for a cold winter day, and it’s a fun way to explore different hot chocolate flavors from all over the world.
Best of all, this is a very simple activity your team can do this right from the comfort of their own home. All you need is a few different types of hot chocolate, some marshmallows, and your coworkers to join in on the fun. So gather your ingredients and get ready for a delicious and festive afternoon!
Virtual Christmas Escape Room
If you are looking for a reason to earn that #BestBoss mug hosting a virtual Christmas Escape Room party is an ideal way to do it. It’s also a great way to challenge your team and have a bonding exercise. Virtual Escape Rooms are web-based escape rooms conducted via Zoom and other video platforms. During these activities, teams solve riddles and complete puzzles in a fixed amount of time, with the goal of “escaping the room.” Having a Christmas or Holiday theme activity is just icing on the cookie.
Christmas Movie Night
A virtual Christmas Movie Night brings me so much nostalgia to me. I remember being back at school during the holidays and even the rainy season being able to spend our time eating snacks and watching movies in class. Plus there isn’t anything better than some hot cocoa, popcorn, and a Christmas movie. To make this an even better team activity have your coworkers vote on the movie and then after the movie, you can unmute and chat.
A Virtual Visit From Santa
HO, HO, HO and a very merry site to see is Santa on the screen! What I loved about in-person Christmas Parties at work is being able to meet my teammate’s family members and build more personable relationships. Having a virtual visit from Santa is a great way to invite your coworker’s families on the call and take silly screenshots with Santa. This is a fun and personal way to share some fun laughs and get to know your coworkers outside the screen.
Christmas House Tours
Every year I get excited about decorating my house. It’s not just the tree decoration but the full house from the lights, Christmas village, and creating the wreath for the font door. A great way to connect long-distance team members and give them a chance to share more personality is by having a Christmas House tour virtual party. Zoom and other virtual platforms make it easy for team members to do a video walk-through or share photos of their homes decked out for the season.
Virtual Card Exchange
A simple but entertaining virtual Christmas party activity is a virtual card exchange. By being able to use tools and software like Canva or Powerpoint your team can bring out their personality and have some fun creating cards for one another or the whole department.
Who’s The Baby?
A photo can say a thousand words but can it bring your team closer together? A fun game to play this holiday season is having your team submit their baby photos ( even better if they were taken during the holiday season) and have each other guess who it is. I can guarantee this will bring out the best stories and laughs than any other virtual call you and your team will have.
Holiday Tradition
As they say, sharing is caring! What better way to share with and get to know your office mates than by sharing holiday traditions? Having everyone share holiday traditions through photos, videos, and storytelling will definitely build a closer team. A very simple but effective team bonding experience.
Having a remote team shouldn’t get you down this season! Get your coworkers in the holiday spirit by throwing an amazing virtual Christmas party this year. From Hot Chocolate tastings to ugly sweater contests, and sharing holiday traditions your virtual Christmas party will help your team stay connected with one another.
How To PICK YOUR NEXT OFFICE VIRTUAL CHRISTMAS PARTY
- Take a vote Get your team engaged from the start and either start a virtual Christmas party committee or utilize a tool like SurveyMonkey to see which activity gets the most votes
- Don’t be afraid to experiment. Think outside the box. While Ugly Sweater Contests are truly a classic try a team-bonding experience like Who’s That Baby? This is a great way to build natural connections throughout your team.
FAQS:
What is a virtual holiday party?
A virtual holiday party is an online gathering utilizing tools like Zoom, Teams, or Google Meet where hosts typically hold a celebration during the seasonal holidays.
Why are virtual holiday parties important in 2022
Remote work has grown and become the norm. A great way to make sure employees stay connected is through virtual events like virtual Christmas parties.
What are the best ideas for virtual Christmas parties for remote teams?
The best ideas for virtual Christmas parties for remote teams are ones that are casual, fun, and easily accessible for everyone.
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