Office christmas parties games

Attendees can RSVP for this service and sign up for slots to make the process more organized. After getting the presents wrapped, participants can either check the presents in a coat-check style room or take the boxes out to their cars, if the lot has security. Or, if this system seems like too much of a hassle, then you could simply pay for gift wrapping services to be done at their leisure as an employee perk. Photo booths are special touches that make parties more fun.

Holiday themed photo booths are especially amusing because of the potential for Christmas props. These items tend to be inexpensive, and you can buy the bulk of your props from the dollar store.

You can also rig up a wintery background by stringing lights or garland or hanging a few snowflakes or ornaments. Photo Booths are easy to DIY. You can set up a camera, smartphone, or tablet with a timer or trigger, or have an event staff member man the camera. There are apps that can add frames and effects, and you can send the photos in your thank you emails or have a mini photo printer handy to print instant copies.

If you would rather not go through the effort, then you can go the professional route and hire a photo booth company as a party vendor. Chances are, these entertainers have holiday props on hand. Corporate Christmas parties are known for their bars. You can help staff get in the holiday spirit by mixing up holiday spirits. First, decide on a few seasonal cocktails such as peppermint martinis, spiked gingerbread eggnog, and gin poinsettia punch.

Then, book a bartender to demonstrate how to make the drinks. Mixology lessons are more hands-on than just having a seasonal-themed bar. As an added plus, employees learn how to recreate the drinks so that they can wow their friends and relatives at other Christmas cocktail parties. Plus, the activity is a shared experience that can help team members bond.

Christmas Carnivals are one of the most interactive office Christmas party ideas, and are especially fun if kids are in attendance at the event.

First, set up Christmas-themed game booths. For example, throwing snowballs to knock over milk jugs, wreath ring toss, and tossing darts at balloon Christmas ornaments. Be sure to offer festive prizes such as giant candy canes, stuffed reindeer, and bedazzled Santa hats. You can also rent a moon bounce and rig up simple rides such as a Christmas train or Santa sleigh ride on a tractor.

Petting zoos make a fine addition, especially if you stock them with seasonal animals like donkeys and reindeer. You can also build a North-pole-style funhouse and a Christmas village out of plywood or cardboard. Another fun touch is to create photo-stand-in boards where guests can become snowmen, elves, or Santa.

Silent Night Discos are one of the most unexpected alternative office Christmas party ideas. To do this activity, provide employees with headphones. However, if you do not have access to this kind of equipment or have limited funds, then you can also ask attendees to provide their own music to listen to via smartphone or iPod. When this segment of the event begins, participants don the headphones and dance to different songs. To outside observers, the room is completely silent, however participants groove to their favorite holiday tunes.

This approach means that no guest has to endure a Christmas carol they simply cannot stand to hear one more time this year. Plus, this exercise works well as a midday dance party to relieve stress. Pro tip: To make the event extra festive, make the headphones look like earmuffs by adding fake fur. Simply encourage attendees to wear seasonal-themed pajamas, or the most fuzzy set they own. You can award a prize for the best dressed. Also, serve Christmas-breakfast foods like gingerbread French Toast and omelettes with red and green peppers.

Be sure there is plenty of seasonally-flavored coffee and hot cocoa available as well. Never Have I Ever is an icebreaker game that encourages players to fess up to past deeds. Never ho-ho-have I Ever is a Christmas-themed version of the game.

The game continues until only one player remains, or, if playing with a larger group, after a certain number of rounds. Check out this list of Never Have I Ever questions for work and more fun question games. Corporate holiday parties tend to have awesome dessert options.

To take your Christmas party to the next level, instead of merely putting out a great spread of sweets, show guests how to create delightful desserts. To arrange this activity, book a professional baker or chef to give decorating demonstrations.

For instance, frosting an ice cream cone to look like a Christmas tree, truffle towers or cake pops, or making candy snowflakes. Be sure to provide ingredients so that guests can practice, and have bags or boxes handy so participants can bring the treats home.

Entertaining lessons make great entertainment for holiday parties. Christmastime requires tons of preparation. To arrange this entertainment, book a chef to lead a quick demonstration. These lessons should include hands-on cooking practice as well as tastings. You can also DIY this event by having each of your employees submit a favorite recipe, then compiling the instructions into a team holiday cookbook to distribute as a party favor.

For more hands-on culinary activities, check out this list of online group cooking courses. To kick off the merry mingling at your holiday party, you can provide guests with icebreaker questions.

You can also use these prompts to start meetings throughout the holiday season. Check out our list of the best icebreaker questions for work and this list of Christmas icebreaker questions. Snowball fights are one of the most fun seasonal activities. First, buy indoor snowball fight kits that consist of plush cloth balls to pelt at other players.

Then, split the group into teams. Next, give each player a set amount of snowballs. Finally, blow the whistle and let the games begin. The game resembles dodgeball. Players who get hit by a snowball are out. When participants run out of ammo, you can call a timeout and reset. The game continues until only one snow pitcher remains. Pro tip: Make sure you have a wide, open space to play in and that there are no breakables nearby.

Christmas is a season not only for getting, but also for giving. Holiday parties are a time to give back to employees for a year of hard work, as well as a time for staff to practice gratitude and give back to the wider community. There are many ways to include philanthropy in a company Christmas party.

You could also hold a toy or winter clothing drive, or encourage teams to adopt families to purchase presents for through a program like Toys for Tots. You can also plan a volunteering event for half of a workday in December. For instance, visiting seniors in retirement homes, writing cards for soldiers overseas, or organizing donations at a food pantry. For more, philanthropy tips, check out this list of online volunteering ideas and this guide to virtual fundraising.

When decorating for your party, hide snowmen shapes in various spots. Make some easy to spot, and others more hidden. Examples of hiding spots include platters on the buffet table, balloons near the entrance, floral center-pieces, and presents under the tree. Since the symbol consists of three circles, hiding the shapes is simple.

At the party, give attendees a piece of paper and let them know how many snow folk exist in total. We recommend hiding at least one dozen.

Participants can jot down the locations of the snowmen as they spot them. Upon finding all hidden shapes, players can exchange the paper for a prize. If nobody finds all the hidden Frostys, then towards the end of the party collect the slips and award prizes to the folks who found the most snowmen. Holiday movies are a standalone film genre. Screening movies at the party is a low-key activity that is social but not too high-pressure, which makes an ideal environment for more introverted staff.

Not to mention, holiday films can bring about a sense of nostalgia and aid in team bonding. To watch holiday movies, set up a projector and a large screen, then broadcast the festive film of choice. Snacks like reindeer chow, popcorn with red and green sprinkles, and cookies help to complete the holiday atmosphere.

If interest for these events seems high, then you could even host a series of movie nights throughout the month of December. Each week, you can screen a different holiday film, and encourage staff to attend with families in tow. If you live in a warmer climate and have access to speakers, then you can even do outdoor movies and project on the side of the building or a sheet. For more film-related fun, check out this list of team building movies.

Elf on the Shelf quickly became a modern Christmas tradition. Other folks have co-opted this exercise and posted pictures of the elf in hilarious positions. In this same vein, you and your teammates can do this game as an office activity. At the party, split the group into teams, and give each team an elf. Then, send the teams off into the building to stage a work-themed photo shoot with the elf. Participants may snap photos of the elf photocopying its face, intimidating the work mascot plush with a stapler, or stealing lunches from the office fridge, for example.

It is a good idea to show a few examples to help spark creative juices. If you do not want to devote so much party time to this game, then you can have entrants take and submit the photos before the event and show the results in a slideshow during the party.

White Elephant Exchanges are one of the most fun Christmas activities for work. Unlike the more traditional Secret Santa gift swaps, at White Elephant exchanges, participants give each other funny and gag gifts.

Participants also have the option of stealing gifts from other players. The basic rules involve players picking an order to exchange presents in. Participants either receive a present from an assigned partner, or pick a random present from the pile.

The next player in line can either pick a new present, or steal the present from the previous player. The last participant to unwrap a gift can steal an object from any player. Check out more tips for white elephant exchanges online. This or That is a game that asks players to choose between two related, but typically opposite options. When doing this activity in person, you can ask participants to move to one side of the room or the other to communicate the choice.

Check out this master list of This or That questions. Holiday Trivia is one of the easiest Christmas games for work parties. Simply split attendees into teams, and challenge those teams to answer holiday-based questions. We also recommend featuring other wintertime holidays besides Christmas.

You can also come up with more creative categories that fit the holiday theme. Ask the employees to wear the ugliest sweater to the Christmas party. The organizers can then decide the winner with the ugliest possible sweater. This is another idea that is very popular and never grows old. Two weeks prior to the party, ask the people if they want to participate.

Write down names and put those in a jar. Ask the employees to draw one name from the jar and bring a gift for that person on the day of the office party. Divide the players into teams of two and ask one person to decorate the other person with ornaments and ribbons the same way they will decorate a Christmas tree. The person who has decorated the other person in the most aesthetically pleasing or funny way will win.

Print this game according to the number of participants prior to the Christmas party. At the party, distribute the printed sheets among the players and also give them a pen to write down their answers. The employees will have to guess the name of the Christmas movie with the help of the emoji clues.

The person with the most correct answers wins. This classic game can never grow outdated. This game is perfect for a small group of employees who have been working together for a long period of time. They should just sit in a circle and choose one participant and ask them if they choose truth or dare and the rest of the players will decide the question or tell the dare. Each player will take turns for this fun game.

Just a few days prior to the party, ask the employees to choose if they want to bring a sweet dish or a savory one. The person with the most finger-licking dish will be the winner and will get a small prize. Take printouts of this Trivia quiz and distribute the printed sheets among the players. Show a slideshow of different Christmas-related items to the participants on the office presentation screen or show them different Christmas-related items in a tray. At the same time, appoint a host and have them make a list of pretty generic winter holiday words like snow, sugar, gift, december, white, green, bell, and tree.

The team that goes the most rounds gets a point, and a new round can start up with another word. The team with the most points at the end wins and officially jingle bell rocks. Holiday Llama Illustration by agrapedesign. Throughout the party, judges should go around and meet all the competitors and assign scores. First, second, and third deserve a major award. First, separate into two teams. Next, set up some festive cups red plastic cups will do in a triangle shape on each end of a large table.

Each team will take turns trying to throw a marshmallow into one of the cups. If your team successfully throws it in, someone on the other team has to drink it, and you get to try to throw again. The one with cups left at the end wins the glory and avoids the cavities.

Mug of hot chocolate with cute marshmallows Illustration by peppermintpopuk. To get the most out of this game, let people in your office know a few weeks in advance that there will be a Holiday Karaoke competition.

This gives them time to prep and confirm what songs will be available, and they can either choose to sing holiday classics or re-write other songs to make them holiday themed e. Next, rent a Karaoke machine and make sure it has the promised tracks. Judges will award first, second, and third place based on creativity, spirit, and commitment. After forming teams, have everyone write down three holiday phrases, words, or lyrics on small slips of paper.

Next, everyone should fold their papers in half and throw them in a bowl. Whichever team gets the most right wins. Ah yes. The ultimate holiday party classic where your coworkers get to discover just how little you really know them. Two weeks before the office Christmas party, see who wants to participate in this time-honored tradition, and then establish a price limit for gifts e. Write the name of each participant on a slip of paper, fold them in half, put them in a bowl, and have each participant pull out a name.

Have everyone bring their gifts to the holiday party and put them in a pile. When everyone is gathered together, each person should open their gift, say thank you, and pretend that they really did like that flan recipe book you got them. Cute Fluffy Christmas Guinea-pig Illustration by zoel. To set up this game, hang a bunch of Christmas cookies from the ceiling with string they should range from about Each person who wants to compete will need a partner to keep track of their points and will need to have their hands tied behind their back.

Whoever can eat the most dangling cookies with their hands tied behind their back wins. Before the game starts each player is given a sheet of 10 holiday-themed stickers. The objective of the game is to be the first to stick all your stickers on your coworkers without their noticing. If someone does catch you sticking a sticker on them, you have to take it back and they get to stick one on you.

The one to get rid of all their stickers first wins. When the holiday party rolls around, your boss gives prizes to the nicest and naughtiest people they have observed. The set up for this game is pretty intense. It requires time, thorough knowledge of inside jokes, and a pretty lenient HR department.

But it will so be worth it. Merry Extinction Illustration by Teo Zirinis. Before the party starts, hide a bunch of jingle bells around the office the way you would for an Easter egg hunt.

At the party, give players ten minutes to find as many bells as they can, and the one who finds to most wins. Before the party, decide on what holiday-related events make sense for your office stuff like carrying an ornament on a spoon, hiding something in a pile of wrapped presents, and carrying a gingerbread man on your head and get them set up.

When the party starts, have everyone separate into teams and then explain the events. Whichever team is completes the events fastest wins some serious bragging rights.