The ho-ho holidays are upon us, and after another hectic year, we could all use some festive fun —fun being the keyword. No one wants to sit through another end-of-year Zoom meeting, especially when the only holiday-themed thing is that ugly sweater Jim from HR is wearing.
To throw a Christmas-themed rager, put aside the virtual Pictionary, charades, and printable bingo cards in favor of interactive activities that ring in the holiday season. Use these virtual Christmas party ideas to entertain team members, dazzle clients, and have everyone clicking “YES!” on that online RSVP.
Before we discuss these virtual Christmas party ideas, let’s start with some advice. Don’t overthink your virtual office Christmas party platforms. Standard video conferencing like Zoom, Skype, or Google Meet is ideal for many events. However, if you want to throw a more involved holiday event or plan an online party for a larger team, look for an event platform with multiple virtual rooms. Then, incorporate multiple virtual holiday party ideas to maximize the holiday fun.
Run a few activities simultaneously, allowing guests to move around the virtual space. This allows your remote team and clients to attend activities that interest them, effectively curating their holiday event experience. No matter what style or taste, our favorite activities for a virtual Christmas party are sure to entice and entertain.
If your team loves craft cocktails but you want to differentiate your holiday party from your virtual happy hours, hire a professional mixologist to teach guests how to make holiday-themed cocktails like cranberry sparklers or pumpkin pie old-fashioneds.
Have your holiday spirits — pun intended — delivered to your guests before the event, or send a virtual credit card so they can pick up the supplies themselves.
Much like a mixology class requires liquor and mixers, the best virtual Christmas parties often require some supplies. Even if you plan to keep it simple with a few holiday party games, your guests will have more fun with drinks and snacks in hand.
Give your employees a Hoppier card to set them up with everything they need. With Hoppier, you can deliver virtual credit cards to your guests' inboxes, set the budget for each card, and decide where guests can spend their funds. Limit spending on food and drink vendors, or leave the options open so guests can buy Christmas gifts for their virtual Secret Santa, donate to charity, or buy their favorite holiday goodies.
You can also set a time limit on the cards. Have the spending window close at the end of your event, and any money your guests didn't use will be refunded to your account so you can add it back to your budget for the new year.
Get into the gift-giving spirit with a charity event. A virtual casino night is an exciting way to raise money, with the proceeds going to a non-profit of your choice.
Alternatively, offer everyone a virtual credit card and let them donate the balance to a charity of their choice. Or, you can play your favorite holiday party games and donate to the winning team's favorite charity as the prize.
This classic gift exchange isn't just for in-office Christmas parties. Use a platform like Elfster to take the tradition online. Elfster will automatically pair two employees — much like Hoppier’s Lunch Roulette — supplying the recipient's name and address so givers can send their gifts ahead of time.
Your team members can make a wish list so their Secret Santa knows exactly what they want. On the day of your event, attendees can show off their Secret Santa gifts and guess who the inventive gifter is.
Secret Santa isn't the only gift exchange in town. At a White Elephant party, your team plays the role of the Grinch and steals each other's Christmas presents. This is a popular in-person Christmas game, but you can also do it with your remote employees.
Using White Elephant Online, guests upload an image of an item from Amazon or anywhere else online to serve as their gift. Then, each of your team members virtually opens and steals gifts. Once the game ends and you know which team member won each item, the gift givers (or your office manager) can purchase the gift and ship it to the winner.
If you want to inject competition into your virtual holiday tradition, Christmas- and holiday-themed trivia should do the trick. By assigning remote employees to small teams, you can turn it into a team-building activity.
Let each team show off their holiday knowledge by answering Christmas trivia questions that cover holiday movies, songs, traditions, and history. As quizmaster, you can also add a touch of a fun holiday spirit by playing dress up — think elf, Grinch, or Santa.
A holiday playlist is a welcome addition to any virtual Christmas party. But if you want to combine holiday cheer with a competitive team-building event, have your team name that Christmas tune.
You don't need an MC or even a lot of forethought to add this party activity to your remote work event. Open a Spotify Christmas playlist and play 10 to 20 seconds of each song. Have your team members guess the song title and offer a themed prize for the winner (like a pair of headphones, a Bluetooth speaker, or a gift card to let them get something they want).
If you love Christmas carols but aren’t ready for a full-blown karaoke session, leave the singing to the professionals by hiring a virtual caroling troupe. You can host a caroling concert or have carolers pop in when transitioning to the next fun game or virtual holiday event.
Intertwined vocal harmonies of Christmas carols aren't every team's style. If you want a rock n’ roll Christmas, invite a band to perform instead. Depending on your company's budget, you can hire a well-known band to play at your virtual Christmas party or look for a local band or cover band to perform rockin' versions of your holiday favorites.
Get your team together to watch a Christmas classic like "It's a Wonderful Life," "A Christmas Story," “Elf,” or "Home Alone." With apps like Teleparty and Kast, you can sync your screens and send messages through the live chat box. Start your viewing party with some casual conversation before you play the movie. Then, wrap up the event by discussing the film or asking about team members' holiday plans.
This activity provides a nice balance between social time and downtime. Make it a true Christmas treat by hosting it in the middle of the workday so your remote team can take a mental break before the holidays.
This Christmas tradition is creative, fun, and a little bit sticky. Send each virtual guest a gingerbread house kit or a virtual credit card so they can choose their ingredients and decorations. Ask everyone to decorate their gingerbread house live at the event. Encourage a little team competition by voting on the best decorations and offering a prize for the winner (like adding a little extra spending money to their virtual credit card). You never know when you might have another Frank Lloyd Wright in the virtual office.
Virtual coffee is for every day of the year. For your virtual Christmas party, invite a chef or culinary instructor to demonstrate and teach a variety of hot chocolate recipes. Create boozy beverages or experiment with family-friendly flavors, like peanut butter or peppermint. Hot chocolate is an easy treat, so your guests won't need any cooking prowess to participate.
This classic Christmas party idea works well in a virtual setting, and guests don't need to be able to bake to take part. Send out DIY cookie decorating kits to all your attendees before the party. Kits typically include pre-baked sugar cookies, frosting, and sprinkles. All your guests need to do is add their creative touch.
For another festive virtual team-building activity, split your attendees into small groups or breakout rooms and have each one create their own Christmas card using Canva templates. At the end of the design challenge, ask each group to show their Christmas cards and vote on the best one.
Not every Santa hat has to be the same. Send each of your guests a hat in a classic or quirky color, include a few art supplies — like paint, glue, and glitter — and spend your virtual Christmas party decorating your hats. Leave time at the end for everyone to model their quasi-Santa creation.
A virtual photo booth like Snapbar superimposes a themed background behind party guests and takes screenshots. Guests can take a pic where it looks like they're at the North Pole or in Santa's workshop. Afterward, they can add stickers, include text, and upload the photo to social media.
Sharing some of your home lives is a fun way to get to know each other. Ask guests to do some decorating on-screen. Whether hanging ornaments on their Christmas tree or sprucing up their mantle, Christmas decorations and traditions are a focal and discussion point for the virtual Christmas party.
Take a cue from GISH (The Greatest International Scavenger Hunt), and send your holiday party guests on a quest around their separate hometowns. Create a group chat, open it a week before your holiday get-together, and give guests a list of items to find (like odd holiday decorations) or challenges to complete (like sitting on Santa's lap).
This virtual Christmas party idea can be as simple or complicated as you'd like. Limit it to one item to simplify the scavenger hunt for your attendees (like finding the biggest Christmas tree in your town).
Have your party guests post pictures in the chat as they check each item off the list and discuss everyone's favorite images in your video call. This activity is an easy icebreaker that will get everyone talking, and for distributed teams, it offers a glimpse into everyone's hometowns.
One of the magical things about virtual events — and the online world in general — is they give you access to experiences that would be out of reach in real life.
For example, you can arrange for your distributed team to tour a traditional Bavarian Christmas market. Reach out to a local host through a site like Airbnb Experiences or Withlocals, and ask them to take you on a virtual tour. They can show you their favorite shops and explain local Christmas traditions.
Create a hybrid experience by sending your guests a gift box of traditional Bavarian Christmas foods and crafts to experience things for themselves as the host explains their significance.
In the northern hemisphere, we're used to a snowy Christmas season, but this holiday is warm and sunny on the other side of the world. Create a virtual Christmas party by experiencing a holiday summer Down Under on a virtual tour of the Great Barrier Reef.
Download David Attenborough's tour or arrange an event with a local company. This experience will transport you from Christmas in the Great White North to Christmas with a great white shark.
Go country hopping if you want to take your virtual travel plans to the extreme. In real life, you could never travel to five countries in under two hours (real life is so dull!), but with the magic of the internet, you can deliver this holiday magic.
Similar to touring a Christmas market in Bavaria, organize tours with local hosts in various countries. Ask them for a brief tour (think 20 minutes each) of one of their favorite Christmas traditions. Your virtual Christmas party allows you to attend a Krampus parade in Austria, take part in a roller skating mass in Venezuela, learn about the Yule goat in Sweden, visit a lantern festival in the Philippines, and enjoy Candlemas in Mexico — all from the comfort of your home office.
Whether you're giving back to your virtual team or clients, these virtual Christmas party ideas will create the online party experience they actually want.
Regardless of your chosen activity, make the experience more accessible by providing the tools, supplies, and funds your guests need to participate. The easiest way to get supplies to all your event attendees is with a virtual credit card they can use to make purchases from their favorite shops and restaurants.
Hoppier virtual credit cards allow event guests to order food, drinks, Christmas gifts, or art supplies for their holiday activities. Schedule a demo to see how Hoppier can streamline your virtual Christmas party planning.
Ready to 2x your global engagement at your next event, with Ox stress?
Make Hoppier your unfair advantage today, schedule a demo
Ready to 2x your global engagement at your next event, with Ox stress?
Make Hoppier your unfair advantage today, schedule a demo
Ready to 2x your global engagement at your next event, with Ox stress?
Make Hoppier your unfair advantage today, schedule a demo
Ready to 2x your global engagement at your next event, with Ox stress?
Make Hoppier your unfair advantage today, schedule a demo
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