Corporate Christmas Parties can be one of your company’s most exciting events of the year, if done correctly. Not only will your employees appreciate an opportunity to “cut loose” and deviate from the nine-to-five grind, but a well-planned Holiday Party can be a great opportunity to promote teamwork and solidify positive relationships among coworkers. To make sure your corporate party is a hit, include one, or all, of these fun and unique Christmas-themed games.
Decorate The Tree. Select 20 to 30 people from your party, then divide these participants into teams of 5. (For smaller parties, groups may be as small as two or three). Give each team supplies – green crepe paper, tinsel, plastic ornaments, Silly String – and instruct them to elect one person to serve as their team’s Christmas Tree. On a starting signal, each team will have between 60 and 120 seconds (we find a shorter, rather than longer, time is best to foster a frantic atmosphere and keep team members interested) to decorate their “trees” to the best of their ability. The most well-decorated tree may then be determined by either a panel of judges or by applause from audience members.
Holiday Photo Booth. Though not a game, per se, a Holiday-themed photo booth is an excellent way to encourage employees to break out of their stuffy, corporate-climate shells. We recommend designing one festive backdrop – a “Winter Wonderland,” or a colorful, Santa Claus-themed background will do nicely – and provide lots of silly costumes, hats, signs, and props for photo-takers to use while using the booth. For best results, hire a professional photographer with their own lights, then place digital copies of the pictures in a company-access-only folder. (Or better yet, hang the best and most embarrassing photos around the office in the weeks and months to follow.)
Gift Wrap Relay. No, this isn’t a way to get your Christmas wrapping done quickly and efficiently! To play this game, divide your party into teams of five (for large parties, you may set up a bracket-style tournament to get everyone involved) and let each member pick one of the following tasks: paper cutting, wrapping, taping, ribbon-tying, and placing the bow on top/delivering. Then, either a) give each team a box of equal size and see who can wrap it first, assembly-line style, or b) set a timer for 3 minutes and see how many different sized boxes each team can wrap. The team that wraps fastest/has the most presents wrapped when the time runs out wins/advances to the next round in the tournament.
Present Hot Potato. Secret Santa and The White Elephant gift exchanges are corporate staples, to be sure, but they can become boring if employees consider them just another part of the Christmastime Routine. This year, why not try something new with Present Hot Potato? The rules are simple: everyone stands in a circle, and one gift is passed around (as quickly as possible without destroying the gift) until the music stops. The person holding the present at that time gets to keep the gift, and is also “out” of the circle.
Ugly Sweater Fashion Show. The Ugly Sweater Party is one of our favorite new Holiday traditions; now, we’ve taken it a step further. For this “game,” encourage everyone at the office to come to your company’s party dressed in the most outrageous sweater, but don’t mention the Fashion Show until the party is well underway (and hopefully, after many drinks have been consumed). Then, put on some rockin’ tunes – “I’m Too Sexy” never fails to set the mood – and have contestants strut their stuff, one at a time, for a panel of judges. Ugliest Sweater, Best Runway Walk, and “The Zoolander” Award (given to the person with the most outrageous moves) should all be presented after the show.
