As the popular adage goes; winter is coming! Whether you want to admit it or not, the winter holidays are just around the corner and it’s already time to start thinking about ideas for your Virtual Holiday Party. Since the rise of Covid-19, many workplaces have made the transition to fully remote or at least partly working from home. However, that’s no excuse to skip the holiday festivities for your team. Bringing your team together for the holidays is an important part of maintaining positive company culture and starting the new year off with a bang.
Our Top Virtual Holiday Party Ideas for Your Upcoming Festivities!
You and your team deserve to celebrate and unwind after all your hard work this past year, virtual or not. And a virtual holiday party doesn’t have to be fa-la-la-la lame, it means an opportunity to get creative and try something different. We’re talking about a seasonal soirée that’s unique, memorable and so much fun that they’ll still be talking about it in the new year. So here are our 8 Virtual Holiday Party Ideas that are actually fun, and very festive!
1. A Very Merry Mystery | A Virtual Whodunnit Game
Take a trip back in time to the 90s, and attend the annual office holiday party of Kringle Toys Inc. This is not your average holiday party...This is A Very Merry Mystery, Moniker’s exciting virtual game featuring 8 live actors, dramatic twists and turns and ugly holiday sweaters a-plenty.
After a tumultuous year, the Kringle Toys plans to unveil their newest toy at their holiday party, and hopes a surge in demand for this latest product will keep them afloat. While the employees gather round to hear the President’s annual address, disaster strikes and all the new toys and the only prototype are destroyed! Who could have committed such a terrible crime? A very merry mystery indeed.
8 likely suspects from the party who all could have had the means and motive to have done it are taken aside for questioning and it's up to you, as the party guests, to figure out who’s done the deed.
Navigate through Zoom breakout rooms to interview the eclectic suspects, and work with your teammates to discover the culprit and their motive. Combining team building with live theatre, A Very Merry Mystery is a great substitute for a night out with your colleagues. Come for the mystery, stay for the laughs and collaboration. It's one ofthe best ideas for a virtual holiday party.
2. Sleigh The Competition | Holiday Trivia
Who doesn’t love a little friendly competition? It amps up the excitement and keeps everyone engaged. Try out this Holiday Trivia, complete with different holiday themed rounds to test your knowledge on holidays from around the world.
This highly customizable event is perfect for a competitive group, and even includes a timer for responses so no one is tempted to hop on Google for the answers. You can amp it up by providing a prize for the winner to really get everyone involved. So study up, grab a festive cocktail, and you’ll have an easy and fun virtual holiday party for your entire remote team.
3. Your Presents is Requested | Office Secret Santa
Don’t underestimate a classic. This activity is easy to organize in a virtual setting and can be played in combination with the others on this list. Websites like Draw Names make it easy for you to submit names and assign everyone a “secret santa” without having anyone accidentally draw themselves. Participants can even add their wishlist to the website, making it easy for you to find a gift that will bring a smile to their face. Make sure to provide addresses for all participants and include a price limit that everyone feels comfortable with. Each person will be responsible for sending a gift to their secret santa’s doorstep. Final step is to get together on your virtual platform of choice, grab a festive drink, and watch as everyone opens their presents and tries to guess who their secret santa is.
Want to add a spin to this classic? Try themed gifts such as items for improving your home office, tasty treats or even gag gifts for all the laughs! Easy, affordable and sure to impress, you can’t go wrong with this idea ofSecret Santa at your virtual holiday party.
4. It’s Time to Win-ter | An Action-Packed Virtual Challenge
If your team is competitive, this one’s for you. The Winter Office Olympics is a fast-paced, high-energy experience that involves different online challenges including olympic-themed trivia, fun scavenger hunts and maybe even a few athletic challenges. You won’t be glued to your screens for this one! Teams will compete via Zoom breakout rooms to complete every challenge thrown their way, and then come together in the main lobby to connect, debrief and definitely have a few laughs.
Make it interesting by adding a prize for the winning team (*cough cough you can’t go wrong with a gift card of choice, food delivery or a nice bottle of wine). These exciting challenges will not only bring people together but also shake things up and make for a truly unique virtual holiday party.
5. Reindeer Games | Holiday Scavenger Hunt
Get creative and compete against your colleagues with this epic scavenger hunt designed specifically to be played online. This is: The Holiday Hunt from Home. Each team will have just 45 minutes to submit photos or videos of their favorite holiday traditions, the worst and best presents they’ve received, hidden talents, ugly holiday sweaters, cutest pet costumes and so much more. Hilarity is sure to ensue as everyone shares their funniest items, traditions and stories.
Just like the other competition games on this list, fun prizes for the winners such as food, wine or even a gift card of choice will go a long way and add that much more excitement. This is the perfect game to boost team connection and will certainly make for a virtual holiday party yule never forget.
6. Best in Snow | A Holiday Themed Zoom Game
Get your creative juices flowing with the holiday Edition of Moniker’s hilarious game-show style competition, Patent Pending. Teams will work together to create and pitch a product using some pretty crazy parameters.
Each group will be provided with 3 target markets, 3 problems to solve and 2 hot trends to select from. They must choose one from each of these categories to create their product and pitch. In this special-edition, holiday version, players can expect to be solving some classic seasonal conundrums for some festive characters! Compete with other teams to win the crowning achievement of the most creative and crazy pitch. Watch as your teammates come out of their shells and think outside the box to sleigh the competition.
7. Jingle Bell Rock | Name That Tune Holiday Edition
I believe a wise elf once said: “the best way to spread the holiday cheer is singing loud for all to hear”. So let’s get musical with a classic Name That Tune game but with a holiday spin. This game is easy to organize, customizable and cost effective.
Have someone from your team put together a playlist of some holiday tunes, and share a short clip of each song via a virtual platform of your choice. The rest of your group, either in teams or solo will have to guess which song it is. Collect their answers via Google Forms, Slack or any other online platform that works for your team.
Want to shake it up? Add a “Finish That Lyric” round for an extra challenge…it’s harder than you think! Chestnuts roasting on an …. Okay that one was too easy, but you get the picture. You can also make it rein with prizes for the winners but either way, you truly can’t go wrong with this easy and effective idea for a virtual holiday party game.
8. The Most Wine-derful Time of The Year | Craft N’ Sip
Baking, making, creating & decorating! The holiday season is all about crafting. Whether it's building a gingerbread house, or creating a new ornament for your tree, bets are you’ll be sitting down to that crafting table at some point this season. So make it an event and kill two turtle doves with one stone (figuratively of course).
This event is simple, but sure to impress. Choose a drink and choose a craft, get together on a virtual platform and then craft and sip to your heart’s content. There are numerous craft kits as well as cocktail kits you can set up for your team, or you may choose to put together a recipe and have your team gather the ingredients themselves. Put on some festive music, enjoy a drink and unwind, or turn it into a competition of who’s craft is the best.
Wine and wreath making, cocktail and cookie decorating, beer and baking. The possibilities are endless!
9. Rebel Without a Claus | An Escape-Style Game
Jump into a fun escape-style virtual game with your team to save the holidays. Put your brains to the test as you work your way through puzzles, riddles and multimedia challenges to solve the ultimate mystery: Who Kidnapped Santa?
It’s up to you and your team to figure out which of the classic holiday villains from the likes of The Grinch to Hans Gruber committed this crime. It could be any one of these scrooges, so put your thinking caps on to catch the culprit and bring back Santa, before it’s too late.
Eat Drink and Be Merry
Keep the magic of the holidays alive with any of these festive options. Whether it’s an exciting competition, a mystery to solve or a classic game with a seasonal spin, this list has something for everyone. So get into the spirit, embrace this opportunity to get creative and start your planning now. Christmas is closer than you think, and it's truly the most wonderful time of the year!
Curious about our other holiday virtual experiences? Contact us and we’ll use our expertise to help you choose the right fit for your team.
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