20 best virtual Christmas party ideas for work in 2022
We have compiled a list of 20 of the best virtual Christmas party ideas for 2021 to kickstart the festive cheer at work this holiday season.
It’s the end of the year, a time to celebrate the wins and contemplate the losses. A time to take a breath from one of the most challenging years we’ve had to endure collectively to date. Many companies have folded, while restrictions coerced others into restructuring teams for the sake of the whole.
Say goodbye to this complicated year by creating the best virtual Christmas party for your employees.
Create the experience virtually
Although you and your teammates may be far apart, share the festive cheer by creating a virtual holiday experience. Create custom virtual backgrounds for your employees to use in meetings. If you use a platform that allows it, customize the virtual lobby with holiday season trimmings, or start your sessions with a Christmas song or quote and get your team excited for the holiday season!
Holiday playlist
Platforms like Spotify allow you to create collaborative playlists. Ask your team to add their favorite holiday song. You can turn this into an icebreaker game and make people guess who may have added which song. Later, they can then explain their choice of music.
Christmas karaoke
Who doesn’t love a good singalong? Christmas is the time for cheer, and what says cheer better than karaoke. Share your screen and have your team sing along to their favorite Christmas tunes.
Carols by candlelight
This one is for a more traditional crowd. Carols by candlelight is a popular Christmas tradition in South Africa. Ask your team to light some candles in their homes and join the virtual Christmas party, with some candlelight and sheer joy in their hearts.
Share your family holiday card
Holiday greeting cards are a great way to stay in touch with family and friends far away during the festive time. It is also a creative way for work colleagues to become better acquainted with the people who share their 9-5.
Virtual photo booth
Virtual photo booths are fun and easy, and brands can use platforms like SnapBar to engage their teams in an out-of-the-box way. Companies can create branded booths, which can be repackaged as social media content, resulting in just a hint of regret from those who may have missed it.
Virtual secret Santa
Secret Santa is to the workplace what white is to snow. There’s no need to miss out on this ye’ old tradition just because we are far apart. Virtual secret Santa can be fun too. Add an extra challenge and go budgetless as InEvent did this year. The added challenge here means that employees need to find out some information about the gift recipient, their likes and dislikes, and create gifts that will not cost a dime.
Gift giving
‘Tis the season for giving. Set the tone by offering your employees a token of your appreciation with branded gifts or virtual gifts, gift cards, or meal vouchers to share in on the festive spirit.
Share in gratitude
Share your company success stories, customer reviews, and individual wins across different departments. Sharing in gratitude creates a sense of transparency within the company and gives your employees a sense of recognition for their hard work.
As 2021 was a year like no other, take a moment to look back at people you may have lost over this time.
Get dressed up
There are very few things that beat a good old occasion to get all dressed up. Encourage your team to wear their “ugly” Christmas sweaters or any other Christmas attire they usually wear during the holiday season. Something as simple as dressing up can teach you about different cultures, especially if you have a global team.
Holiday season charity drive
The gift of giving can extend far beyond sharing within your team or your company. Choose a charity or organization and donate to the cause together. To encourage the spirit of giving, you can also share some philanthropic efforts from various team members.
Christmas tree decorating competition
Before the pandemic, many companies would decorate their office spaces with Christmas decorations. Many people are excited to dig out their Christmas decorations from storage every year. Encourage your employees to share pictures or videos of their Christmas tree or home decorations, and you can reward the employee with the most creative Christmas tree.
Christmas charades
Charades have a way of bringing people together. Add a twist to charades and offer a Christmas edition. Your employees can act out Christmas movie or song titles pantomime style while the rest of the team guess what they could be.
Christmas cook-off
A Christmas cook-off can showcase the culinary skills that exist within your team. Unfortunately, everyone won’t taste the different dishes, so the best way to judge would be based on plating. So encourage your team to get creative.
For a global team, the Christmas cook-off can serve as a teachable opportunity for diversity and culture. Many different cultures have different traditions over the holidays, and this would be a great way to learn about your team members.
Christmas trivia
Your virtual Christmas party can extensively test your team’s knowledge on all things holiday-related. Platforms like Kahoot are interactive and allow you to customize questions. Your group can play the trivia together at the same time.
Not clued up on Christmas trivia? Here are some Christmas trivia questions and answers to help kickstart your game.
Host a Christmas watch party
Christmas movies are the best way to get any Grinch in the mood for Christmas. Create a poll and vote for the Christmas movie that most people want to see and host a watch party. Platforms like Teleparty and Kast App will synchronize video playback so that you can stream the movie in real-time while adding group chat features for you and your team to interact with one another while watching.
Create a Christmas drink
In the spirit of sharing edibles, why not create a custom branded Christmas drink? You can host a live virtual workshop with a mixologist whipping up a drink to remember. Think about adding a twist to the traditional Christmas drinks like hot chocolate and eggnog.
For inclusion in a global team, ask people to share their traditional Christmas drinks.
Santa hat decoration
This one has the potential to turn into a bit of an art and crafts project. Consider sending simple Santa hats and encourage your team to decorate them with their favorite things about Christmas.
Your team can get their creative juices flowing, and you will get to know a little more about each other.
Share a Christmas classic from your country
This one is mainly for global teams who might be working remotely. Ask your team to share a Christmas classic from their country. You can suggest Christmas food, drinks, or general traditions that people share.
Never-Have-I-Ever Naughty or Nice Holiday Edition
We’ve all played Never-Have-I-Ever in our youth before, but have you ever played Santa’s Naughty or Nice Edition? This version takes the Christmas traditions to see who has been naughty and who has been nice.
If you need some help with naughty or nice questions, The Quiz has a couple of ideas to get you started.
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Check out our blog resources and sign up for our newsletter to keep updated on the latest trends, features, and more regarding virtual events across the world:
Everything you need to know about hybrid events
6 fun virtual events ideas for events and team meetings in 2021
About the Author / Akeem Okunola
