19 Fun Office Christmas Party Ideas for Work in 2022
Office Christmas party ideas are enjoyable activities to celebrate the festive season with your team or department. Examples include Office Decorations, Movie Nights, and Secret Santa. The purpose of these party ideas is to encourage team spirit and lightheartedness in the workplace during the holidays.
These suggestions are similar to virtual Christmas party ideas. You can make your party more memorable by choosing interesting Christmas party locations and fun holiday party themes.
This article contains:
- outdoor office Christmas party ideas
- low-budget office Christmas party ideas
- work Christmas party activities
- office Christmas party ideas for large groups
- small office Christmas party ideas
Here we go!
List of office Christmas party ideas
Being at work on the holidays does not mean you have to skip out on the celebrations. The following are some fun work Christmas party activities.
1. Office Decorations
Christmas decoration is a lot of fun. When there is a Christmas tree, lights, tinsel, Christmas socks, and hats around, it is impossible not to feel at least a little bit of the holiday spirit. All it takes is a few well-placed decorations to get your coworkers in the Christmas spirit. Putting up Christmas decorations is a terrific way to promote Christmas fun at work.
If you want to add extra excitement to decorating, get the team together and choose a specific time and day to deck the halls. This step will demonstrate that you care about your coworkers and want them to have a wonderful holiday. A better way to motivate workers to go all out on their decorations is to turn it into a contest. For example, you could hold a competition for the best cubicle or office design. Be sure to encourage departments to work together and spruce up their spaces.
Check out these list of office Christmas decorating ideas and company Christmas tree ideas.
2. Secret Santa Game
You are missing out on all the holiday cheer if you do not play Secret Santa at work. Although putting a personal spin on your Christmas festivities is important, you should not ignore these holiday traditions. Secret Santa is a fun opportunity to bring together your coworkers across departments and divisions for some holiday fun this Christmas season.
For this activity, prepare name cards and let the participants choose one randomly. The coworker on the selected card should be their Secret Santa. If you have a large company with several teams, then it may be easier to manage the Secret Santa gift exchange with the help of a website or mobile app.
To prevent problems, set a budget of about $20 and enforce a no food or drink policy. It would help if you also made it quite clear that participation is not compulsory. To make gift-giving easier, have participants suggest categories of presents they would like to receive.
3. Ugly Christmas Sweater Day
Putting on an ugly Christmas sweater is a fun way to spread the holiday spirit and has become a tradition. This idea will undoubtedly be one of the best Christmas parties held in the company. The rule is for workers to wear their worst-looking holiday sweaters to work. The ugly Christmas sweater day is a terrific way to get everyone in the spirit of the season and have a great time laughing together. Workers can vote on the ugliest sweater possible and take fantastic photos.
4. End-Of-Year Award Show
Considering that the holiday season is a time for goodwill and recognition, you should consider holding an awards ceremony for your staff. The best way to show appreciation for your coworkers who have to come in when many employees are on holiday is to compensate them for the time and effort they have already invested in the firm.
Since the holidays are a season of thanksgiving, it seems fitting to hand out awards like “most positive person in the company,” “kindest and most helpful,” and “most helpful.” You and your coworkers try to channel your comedic side to lighten the mood in the workplace. It is beneficial to the company if you recognize and appreciate the most remarkable qualities in each team member, including a healthy sense of humor.
5. Christmas Potluck
Christmas would not be the same without gifts. You can enjoy Christmas dinners and office treats in various creative ways if you are planning low-budget office Christmas party ideas. One idea is to have every employee bring their favorite cuisine to share with the team on a designated day. Ideally, these dishes would be handmade. Holiday feasts are a sure way to boost morale and good cheer in the workplace. Potlucks provide an excellent alternative to pricier catered or restaurant meals.
You might also have every worker contribute an appetizer or a traditional Christmas treat on a particular day, such as the usual Christmas canapés, prawns, or the renowned Roscón de Reyes. You could pick a day to bring it into the office so that everyone may feast without focusing too much on the traditional Christmas dinner.
6. Volunteerism
Christmas is a time for good cheer and to give back to the wider world. This Christmas season, you can rally the whole office in a day of service to the community to increase morale among coworkers. You can work with any nonprofit or charitable organization. Some ways to give back to the community include organizing a day of service at an orphanage or nursing home, arranging a toy drive, or adopting a family to bless with presents. You can also have staff members contribute their gently used clothing, books, and other goods for donations.
7. Candy Cane Relay Race
A candy cane relay race is a fun way to encourage exercise and friendly rivalry. This idea requires splitting workers into two groups. Each group takes a candy cane from a table, passes it to the last person on the line, and connects their cane to the one on the left side with one hand. The candy canes should form a single, unbroken link at the finish line.
Usually, you would play this game by sticking the candy canes in your mouth, but doing so around the office may be somewhat awkward. Instead, you can maintain office decorum with this other version and add some extra holiday cheer by rewarding the victors with gift cards, glittery decorations, or a box of candy canes.
8. The Christmas “ABC” Game
The “A to Z” game is a good warm-up for the brain muscles and one of the office Christmas party ideas for large groups. Each of your staff will get a printable page where they will write a holiday term for each alphabet letter. Then employees may gather in small groups, sorted by division, or sit at their desks separately to fill out the forms. The first place goes to the list with the most original ideas, and the second place goes to the list with the most humorous suggestions. Word games keep our brains active, provide opportunities to build new connections, and, most importantly, inspire us to think creatively.
9. Christmastime Snowball Fight
If your workplace is full of energetic, friendly individuals, a simulated “snowball” battle is one of the best outdoor office Christmas party ideas. White balloons or huge cotton balls may stand in for real snow inside the building if you cannot go to a snowy area. Two opposing teams will take turns flinging “snow” at each other, dodgeball-style.
For this activity, you need sufficient room for the fight so nothing will get damaged. Also, establish guidelines in advance to keep the game under control. Finally, you want to avoid adding to the roughly 2.8 million workplace injuries annually.
10. A Holiday Photo Booth
You can provide a temporary picture booth during the Christmas party. You can hire a firm at a reasonable cost or do it yourself by setting up a backdrop, arranging costumes, and taking photographs. Your employees can relax and bond with one another in the photo booth. Perhaps hang up these photos in the office as a reminder of fun, festive times.
11. A Holiday Party for the Kids
The holidays are essentially a time for children. Employees with children will inevitably think about the little ones throughout the day, whether to plan a surprise for them or check in with the babysitter. Instead of only adults, the corporate Christmas celebration may also be open to employee children.
Kid-friendly activities, including games, coloring pages, cookies, and a visit from Santa, may make the day more enjoyable for everyone. The kids will love the holiday-themed swag like stuffed snowmen, reindeer stress balls, or cookie decorating kits. Plus, inviting families helps coworkers get to know each other beyond the scope of work.
12. A Classic Christmas Movie
This office Christmas party is one of the easiest. To show a movie at your event, you need just to put up a TV or projector, clear some wall space, arrange seats, choose a film, and start playing. Then, you can send out a survey to get movie suggestions and have folks vote. This strategy will help guarantee that the audience enjoys the movie.
Classic holiday movies like “Home Alone,” “Elf,” and “It is a Wonderful Life” would be excellent background fare for a Christmas party. It would help if you also made sure there are enough soft drinks and snacks, such as chips and popcorn, for all of your workers to have a pleasant experience. The opportunity to sit on the couch and munch on snacks instead of going outside is something introverts would appreciate. Everyone on your squad will surely have a good time watching these all-time Christmas classics.
13. “Guess That Tune”
Well-known Christmas tunes, such as “Jingle Bells,” “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” and “Little Drummer Boy,” are the ultimate party starter. You may play these seasonal tunes in the background, have a karaoke night, or even hire carolers to sing at your business Christmas party. You may also play “Guess That Tune” at your company’s Christmas party if you want a game that your employees can participate in and enjoy while humming along to the music. In addition, you can distribute downloadable song-tracking papers and instruct listeners to jot down the song’s title as it plays.
You should avoid being too excessive with the Christmas music. Although most people appreciate it, a recent poll found that over half of all Americans had a neutral or unfavorable opinion of Christmas music. It is best not to play “Carol of the Bells” on loop during the celebration, for instance!
14. Game Night
A simple business Christmas party like a game night is a great option. First, gather several retro video games and board games and make them available to your staff as entertainment. For your Christmas party, consider playing games like classic Nintendo video games, Monster Jenga, Trivial Pursuit, Monopoly, Scrabble, and Table Tennis.
It is a good idea to stock up on enough board games to satisfy everyone’s interests. Assuming you are getting video games, stock up on spare controllers and batteries. You may also set up a gaming station with Xbox or PlayStation for the get-together. However, provide a lot of games that several people can play together. A game night is one of the small office Christmas party ideas to try.
15. Karaoke Party
If your workers are passionate about singing, then throw a karaoke party at work to let everyone unwind and have some laughs. You need a few well-known songs and a karaoke machine for this event. You can allow your staff members to perform alone or in small ensembles, playing whatever music they choose. An alternative is to take the crew out to a karaoke club. Throughout the city and its suburbs, you will find many of these places, most of which are spacious enough to host large groups.
Depending on the size of your group and your available funds, you may either get a private karaoke room for the evening or hire the whole venue. Booking in advance is highly recommended since these establishments fill up quickly during the holiday season.
16. Silent Disco
Silent disco parties are a great alternative to the usual Christmas party activities. For this activity, you will provide each worker with a set of wireless headphones so they may listen to their own music or collectively jam out to the same song played by a DJ.
The room will seem entirely quiet to anybody without headphones, aside from the moving feet and staff singing along. However, those who have headphones on may party on till dawn. Asking workers to bring in their headphones and music is another option if you are on a tight budget. Group Sessions on Spotify is one example of a service that lets you simultaneously listen to the same music across numerous devices.
17. Holiday Getaway
Having a company retreat may do wonders for team morale and cohesiveness. Taking a break from the workplace might be just what the team needs, whether you are planning a custom overnighter or a team-building day trip. You can ensure the retreat does not conflict with anyone’s other plans by letting them know about it well in advance. Next, lock down the specifics of your retreat, including the location. You can get away from it all this Christmas season with a spa day, a yoga retreat, or a wine-tasting trip in the country.
18. Hot Chocolate Bar
You can have a hot chocolate and cookie bar for the next office holiday party. Those with a sweet tooth on the team will appreciate this sugary buffet. Hot chocolate mixes, cookies, and cakes with various Christmas-themed toppings, such as crushed candy canes and red and green sprinkles, should be on tables throughout the workplace. Adding a chocolate fondue fountain ups the wow factor significantly. Gloves, tongs, scoops, plates, and silverware should be on hand.
19. Theme Park
Going to an amusement park for the office Christmas party is an exciting alternative to the traditional office party. Employees may indulge their inner kid while riding exciting roller coasters and munching on tasty delicacies. Another option is a group outing to the neighborhood bowling alley, roller rink, or paintball arena. You may make the activity a competitive event by forming teams, or you can keep the mood relaxed and let everyone have fun individually.
Conclusion
Putting up a memorable Christmas party is a fantastic way to encourage teamwork, express gratitude, and increase morale among staff. The perfect workplace party concept guarantees every employee has a good time while also getting into the holiday mood. Creating your own Christmas party games might be challenging, but you now have a wealth of new and old options to select. As a result, the whole group will have a great time participating. You only need to make a little extra effort to ensure that your company party is as memorable as your holiday celebrations with loved ones.
For more advice, check out party planning books and holiday team building ideas.
FAQ: Office Christmas party ideas
Here are frequently asked questions about office Christmas party ideas.
What are office Christmas party ideas?
Office Christmas party ideas are interesting and memorable activities you can have around the holidays. Holiday memorable and creative celebrations are a wonderful way to show workers how much you value their efforts throughout the year.
How do you throw a Christmas party for the office?
Find out what kind of party your team would like. Make a poll to find out what activities your team enjoyed in the past and what they would want to do in the future. Request input on the party’s theme and favors. One option for the Christmas party’s soundtrack is to have everyone on the staff contribute to a single playlist.
What are some good activities for office Christmas?
Some good activities for the office Christmas party include Game Nights, Candy Cane Relay Race, Volunteering, and an Awards Ceremony. Holiday-themed activities and ideas will help your team members relax and enjoy the holiday season while strengthening team bonds, morale, and performance.