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13 Virtual Holiday Party Ideas Your Team Will Love

             

a woman posing for a picture

                             13 Virtual Holiday Party Ideas Your Team Will Love

Tis the Season to be Virtual! If you’re wondering how you can spruce up your company, team or group’s Virtual Holiday Party this year, Sidewalk’s got you covered with our favorite activities for your online festive soiree. We’ve got everything from Food & Drink, Competitive Games, Creative Challenges, Gift Giving and Charitable Offerings.

 

people enjoying cocktails in computer

Cocktails Make for the Best Virtual Experiences!

  

  1.   Sidewalk Virtual Mixology Class

Holiday parties are synonymous with adult beverages! Our Virtual Mixology Class is the perfect way to gather the troops, learn something fun and pump up some holiday cheer. Of course, there will be cocktails!!! And we are happy to customize your Mixology Experience with cocktails created specifically for your company’s Holiday Party. Your host has vast experience from working in some of the most notable craft cocktail bars in New York, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Chicago, San Francisco and Paris.

How it Works

We send your group a short shopping list of ingredients for the cocktails we’ll be teaching 72 hours ahead of your scheduled experience. We also send a video that shows how to construct a basic bar kit out of items you already have in your house. We provide your group with a private Zoom meeting ID and Password. At the time of your Virtual Cocktail Hour, your group joins the Zoom meeting and is greeted by your Cocktail Expert. Your Cocktail Expert teaches the group how to make the first cocktail of the tour! Now, with drink in hand, we jump into the virtual tour of cocktail history and Los Angeles’ most iconic cocktail bars

person making pasta

Virtual Cooking Competitions are fun and tasty!

2.     Sidewalk Virtual Cooking Competition

Led by our own Chopped Champion Chef Eliza, our Virtual Cooking Competition is ideal for teams who have a few foodies (or really love to eat!) and want a chance to engage “side by side” with a competitive twist! After kicking off happy-hour style, we’ll loosen up the group with an interactive ice breaker, then send each team to a virtual “room” to devise their culinary plans. Back in the “kitchen,” our Chopped Champion Chef will lead teams on a culinary journey to cook and complete a beautiful meal. Holiday variations and customization are available at your request.

How it Works

Your group will receive an ingredient/ equipment list 1 week in advance. You have the option to have ingredient kits delivered to you at an additional cost. We send you a Zoom link and at the time of your experience, your group logs on. Over the 2 hour, professionally-led class, We will spice up the game by sprinkling challenges, trivia, tips and kitchen scavenger hunts throughout – every count wins! When the timer buzzes, teams will elect one person to show off their creation and express why their team should win. We’ll end with a communal cheers, enjoy our dishes and leave with a personalized recipe!

easter egg hunt on a lawn

3.      Holiday Scavenger Hunt

Virtual scavenger hunts are great fun! Your team can participate in the comfort of their own homes or offices over an hour long virtual meeting or it can be a week long event that incorporates everyday life and normal errand running. You can always DIY a scavenger hunt but there are a plethora of great companies with app based technology that incorporates photo and video elements, live leaderboards and team building aspects. These companies have also already put together awesome Holiday themed scavenger hunts. Here are some Virtual Scavenger Hunt companies we dig: Teambuilding.com, GooseChase, Scavify, CityHUNT and Teambonding.com

person making a wreath

4.     Shotgun Wreath Making

Alright, here’s a really fun one! And it requires an element of secrecy and mystery from the party planner. Are you intrigued yet? Your team or group are going to make impromptu wreaths together, but they can’t know that they are going to be doing this or else they may be tempted to go out and buy appropriate materials. These wreaths you’re making together aren’t your standard wreaths. They are wreaths made out of found materials from around everyone’s home. Maximum Creativity!

So, order your whole group a basic wreath frame like this one on Amazon, a pair of scissors and twine. While on your virtual party meeting, have everyone open up their wreath making supplies and tell them the premise. Give the group 5 – 10 minutes to run around their house to find materials to make a wreath. Encourage them to get creative and think outside the box. These should be weird and kooky, using odd items.

Next, regather your group and have everyone share what they picked out. Put on some holiday tunes and let everyone get to work on their wreath. Spend about 20 minutes working, all the while chatting it up. After the allotted time, everyone shares their wreath (or their progress so far). Then your team members can decide if they want to hang out and continue working on their wreaths or go their merry way.

a city at night

5.    Hometown Holiday Spirit Tour

The Hometown Holiday Spirit Tour is a DIY virtual group tour created by your team members by taking video footage and pictures of their homes, towns and communities to share traditions, decorations and holiday cheer.

This wonderful party activity allows you to celebrate the diversity of your team! It’s all about sharing each person’s holiday experience with the rest of the group. Your team might be scattered all over the country or the world, they may come from different cultural backgrounds and upbringings. This is a great opportunity for everyone on your team to get a peek into everyone else’s holiday experiences.

About a week to ten days before your group’s party, tell all the participants the premise. They’ll capture videos and pictures, put together a basic compilation video to holiday music. During your virtual holiday party, everyone will share their home videos.

6.  World Famous Holiday Village Tour

Our World Famous Holiday Village Tour is sort of the flipside to the Hometown Holiday Spirit tour we just detailed. In fact, it could be a really fun idea to pair the two together. Both experiences have the added benefit of feeling like you are doing some holiday travel even if you’re not actually going anywhere!

This experience is all about sharing the different Holiday traditions around the globe from the comfort of your laptops. It will require the party planner and/or team members to assemble a playlist of Holiday themed YouTube Videos and Google Earth Tours. You’ll be able to explore the famous Christmas markets of European villages, see how Hannakuh is celebrated around the world, partake in Kwanzaa traditions and anything else you can dream up.

Here are some simple DIY steps to follow:

holiday giving

The Spirit of Giving!

7.     Holiday Giving Party

The holidays are a time of joy and love! It’s also about gratitude and humility — the opportunity to give so much more than gifts. In our Holiday Giving Party, each member of your team researches causes and organizations that inspire and touch them. During your Virtual Holiday Party, everyone shares the organization they chose to donate and/ or volunteer with and invites others’ to join in the giving. Your heart will be fuller than the Grinch and Ebenezer Scrooge combined!

a close up of a light and camera

8.     Holiday Movie Remake

Several blogs discussing the Virtual Holiday Party subject have presented the (amazing) idea of Mystery Holiday Theatre 3000. Basically, your team watches a Holiday Classic like Home Alone or A Christmas Story together on your virtual platform of choice, allowing each other to provide hilarious commentary ala the cult favorite Mystery Science Theater Series. I’d like to offer up a slightly different idea with a similar feel to it:  the Holiday Movie Remake.

Here’s how it works:

  • Have your participants choose one of two premises: 1) Shoot a 90 second version of your favorite Holiday Movie from memory without watching it first OR 2) Shoot a 90 second version of a Holiday Movie you’d like to rewrite and reimagine.
  • Then have your team members recruit their family, friends and/ or roommates to play the other characters. Or they’ll have the opportunity for a star turn playing all the roles themselves. See how creative your team can get!
  • During your virtual party, each member of your team premieres their Holiday Movie Remake after which the group discusses each other’s film as if they were drinking espresso at a French Cafe, showering them with accolades and creative input.

a person standing on a stage with a crowd watching

9.     Cheesy Holiday Music Video

We all love a good cheesy Holiday Music Video — we’re looking at you Mariah. Hahaha. Well, with this virtual holiday experience, your team will get to indulge their inner cornball by creating one of their own.

We recommend two ways of doing this:

  1. Have everyone do a lip sync cheesy music video to their favorite holiday song (or their favorite holiday song to hate)
  2. Have everyone on your team do a lip sync music video to the same cheesy holiday song. Then someone with iMovie skills can cut together a version featuring everyone. This is ripe for a blooper reel as well.
woman wearing mtv t-shirt

Do you know your pop culture?

10.    Holiday History & Pop Culture Trivia

Trivia is always a hit with groups looking to mingle and have a bit of friendly competition! The holidays are no different. You can always make your own trivia or buy a premade holiday themed trivia game like these on Amazon and Etsy.

However, allow us to introduce you to some trivia hosting platforms that totally rock! Some of them offer you the ability to create your own online, interactive trivia game and others offer fully hosted themed trivia with all kinds of bells and whistles! Check out the links below:

TriviaMaker, TeamBuilding.com, Water Cooler Trivia, Quiz Breaker, Let’s Roam, The Go Game

winter olympics bobsled team

11.    Winter Olympics (Home Edition)

I have to admit, this Virtual Holiday Party is a personal favorite of mine. It has the potential to be absolutely ridiculous and hilarious. We at Sidewalk tend to think that your own at-home-Winter-Olympics would make for a prime drinking game! Hahaha

The concept is simple and the execution is even easier.

  • Split your group into teams. You can do any number of teams depending on your group size.
  • Have a select few members of your group come up with the “Olympic Events” about a week ahead of your party. (See starter ideas below)
  • Each group selects which member of their team will participate in the Olympic Events.
  • On the day of your party, everyone dresses up in silly, vintage olympic outfits or holiday themed costumes.
  • Then everyone takes turns competing in their events. The winning teams are presented with Bronze, Silver and Gold Medals and prizes.

Some Winter Olympic [Home Edition] event ideas that had us rolling: egg spoon race, juggling, balancing, jumping jacks, pushups, planking, jump rope, beer chugging, hula hoop, laundry folding 4×4 marathon, “grab that item” race…. The potential is limitless 🙂

12.   Virtual Secret Santa or White Elephant

Secret Santa and White Elephant – the shoulder angels of Holiday parties! Sure, you may not be able to exchange your presents in the same room, but shipping gifts is just as good. (And hey, an opportunity to support the Post Office!)

Give your participants an allotment of how much to spend on gifts, then have them “draw names” using a gift generator like Gift Exchange Generator, Elfster or Giftster. The awesome part about these gift generators is that they allow the gift receiver to give their santa shopping tips on stuff that they might actually like instead of, well, socks again. Hahaha.

Make sure your group has ample time to buy and ship or purchase gifts via an online ‘general store’ like Amazon or Target and then plan to open your gifts during your virtual holiday party.

The White Elephant twist requires someone to keep copious notes/ minutes about where each present ends up — a game within itself to see if people can keep track. These gifts can be more raucous and don’t need to be specific to each person.

a close up of a window

Share funny holiday screwups

13.    Ghost of Holiday Past Game

This is another Sidewalk original idea over here! Here’s the premise: during your virtual holiday party, each participant is going to share their Holiday traditions, Holiday Highlights and Biggest Holiday Screw Up. This is a great way for your group to bond and get a peek into what the Holidays mean to each individual. Here’s a quick rundown of how it works:

  • About a week before your Virtual Holiday Party, tell your group the premise of the game.
  • A couple days before your party date, have the group members email you a tagline of the Screw Up they’d like to share. For example: “I accidentally walked in on my mother in law getting changed during our first family holiday together. Yikes”
  • During your party, you’ll kickstart the game by going around the group and having everyone share a few of their favorite holiday traditions within their friends and family.
  • Then everyone will share their biggest Holiday highlight with the group.
  • Finally, the host will read out the tag lines of the Screw Ups one at a time and the group will try to guess who it is. The team member then tells the grueling story in all its glorious detail.
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