10 Epic Employee Christmas Party Ideas To End The Year

When the festive season swings around, what better way to celebrate than with an employee Christmas party? These parties not only give everyone an opportunity to blow off some steam, but they’re a great way to boost employee morale.

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If you’re planning your annual company holiday party, we’ve got some epic employee Christmas party ideas for you. Although it may seem daunting, a little prep will go a long way towards making the night memorable. 

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Besides receiving their annual Christmas bonus, attending a well-planned event is sure to be one of the highlights of your employees’ working year.

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10 Fun Employee Christmas Party Ideas Everyone Will Love

1. Who Wants To Be A Festive Millionaire? 

One of our favorite employee holiday party ideas is an office game show. This is a great way to get the office involved in the festivities. Hosting a game show is fun, and can be very interactive! The great part of this idea is that it works for every type of office party you might be throwing. 

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From large corporate parties to smaller celebrations, a holiday game show will have your whole office cheering in no time. There are loads of fun games to choose from - all you need to do is pick a show! Think about Minute to Win It, Who Wants To Be a Millionaire, and the famed ‘Office Olympics’ episode from The Office. We think this is a great option because it can easily be done both in-office and remotely.

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Get ready for everyone to bring out their competitive sides - it’s going to be a blast!

2. Get Your Trivia On

Trivia is always a good time. This Christmas season, get your employees to form teams for a little friendly competition. This employee holiday party will promote teamwork, and get a lot of laughs as employees try to tackle questions they don’t know. 

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This is about much more than having the right answers. It’s about combining wits and know-how to become the office trivia champions. 

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An office trivia night is a great idea because there is an unlimited amount of fun topics to ask about. You could make the topics random, related to office work, or related to hot topics of conversation in the office. 

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You can have as many rounds as you like, and even hire a company to host the evening! More than one game can be played, and no two will be alike.

3. Rent A Night At The Cinema

In the age of online streaming, people don’t get out to movie theaters as much as they used to. Nothing beats watching a blockbuster on the big screen - except renting out the whole theatre for your employee Christmas party! 

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The theater can cater, providing employees with classic movie snacks, which makes your job easier. If you want to, you could bring in some extra dishes from your favorite local restaurants to step up the experience. 

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You won’t need to work around other movie-goers and their kids. In this case, you can have the whole space for yourselves to cheer on your favorite characters. Make way for some classic Christmas movies and general holiday cheer! 

4. Escape Into The Holiday Season With A DIY Escape Room

An all-time favorite team-building activity is an escape room. Office teams will have to work together to find clues that will lead them to the great escape. Although you can book for your office to go to an escape room elsewhere, you can easily DIY one! 

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As far as staff Christmas party ideas go, this one is fantastic for bolstering communication, excitement, collaboration, and problem-solving. Pick any scenario - an intricate jewel heist, a plane crash, an underwater expedition, or getting stuck in the tunnels beneath the Paris Opera House. 

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Any adventure you want to simulate, you’ll find an escape room scenario for. A simple Google search can be your party planning partner for this exciting event. 

5. This One’s For The Foodies

One thing that you can always count on to help people bond is food. Some fun employee Christmas party ideas around this theme include a cheese and wine tasting, a handmade pasta night, or a ‘Come Dine With Me’ evening where teams have to prepare different elements of a dinner. 

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Whatever the theme, you can be sure that this will be filled with smiles and cheer. Food-based activities can keep people entertained for hours! These events are perfect for big corporate events or intimate gatherings. Nobody needs any special skills, and everyone can enjoy this employee Christmas party together.

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Alternatively, remote teams can sync up and share a virtual team lunch together on Zoom, Teams, or Google Meet!

6. Christmas Mysteries 

A murder mystery night - Christmas-themed, of course - is a great way to get the office together and interact with one another. It’s time to grab that monocle and your tweed coat and encourage the office to collectively get their detective on! 

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Murder mystery games are easy to set up and can be based anywhere. You can have a lot of fun customizing the story for the office. For example, the person at the center of the murder mystery could have been stealing employee sandwiches from the fridge. However, you can find loads of exciting scenarios online. 

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This employee Christmas party can have everyone dress up for the festivities, which is always a great ice-breaker! 

7. A Very Happy Hour

Time to get your holiday “cheers!” on! A Christmas-themed happy hour will get the whole office into the Christmas spirit. 

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Enough puns - consider asking a company to come in and show the employees how to mix some of their favorite cocktails with a festive spin. You might also want to look into beer brewing classes. These might be better for smaller employee Christmas parties, although you can always break up a large group into smaller ones.

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Employees will love sipping on their favorite drinks while learning how to make them in a hands-on class. Make sure you can accommodate employees who don’t drink if you choose to go in this direction. 

8. A Merry Scavenger Hunt

A great holiday party idea is an office scavenger hunt. Employees can work together, or alone, and compete to find the Christmas treasure. Make the treasure worthwhile as an exciting prize for the winners! This could be material - but it could also be in the form of an extra couple days of leave over December, paid lunch at work, or anything else. 

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There are so many options for an epic scavenger hunt! Think Amazing Race, a wild goose chase, or office-related clues. It could be a fun idea to draw names from a hat to randomly assign teams. This means that employees will socialize with people they don’t always get to. 

9. Let’s Get Virtual

This year, the employee Christmas party might need to be virtual. We can’t skip over the fact that remote work is becoming more and more common - but that doesn’t mean employees don’t deserve a year-end bash! It also doesn’t mean that the night should be anything but festive and fun.

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A Christmas-themed Zoom party might sound a bit underwhelming, but it doesn’t need to be! There are a surprising amount of fun options for these events. You can host a trivia night, or use an online platform like Mixr to play some classic games together. Pour a glass of wine, put on a silly hat, and make sure your earphones are working! 

10. Joyful Office Bingo

Bingo! We have a winner. Bingo is probably one of the easiest games to organize, understand, and participate in. 

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Office bingo can be Christmas-themed, office-themed, or simply numerical. This game is pure luck - so everyone will be on equal footing. Think about having little prizes up for grabs if an employee gets a line of bingo, and bigger prizes if they get the final bingo! 

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Everyone can get a little competitive, and wildly enthusiastic. You can also hire someone to run the bingo experience - but it’s very simple to put together if you want to organize it yourself. Keep the budget low on the activity, and you can splash out a bit more for food and drinks! 

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Quick Tips For Hosting A Great Christmas Party

Let’s go over some key points to keep in mind while planning the festivities! These tips can help take your party to the next level. 

• Make sure all employees can take part in and enjoy the festivities. Think about differently-abled staff, diet preferences, and cultures to make sure that you choose a staff Christmas party idea that is suitable for everyone. 

• Make sure the date of the party works for the employees and that there aren’t any major deadlines on or just after that date. 

• Send invites for the employee Christmas party well in advance so everyone can plan to be there. 

• Randomly assign teams to promote different staff members mingling. 

• Create an online poll of your favorite ideas and get employees to vote on the options they want. This will bring them into the party planning process and create anticipation. 

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It’s Time To Party!

These employee Christmas party ideas will get everyone merry and ready for the holidays. Having a party is a great opportunity for staff to forge new friendships, meet colleagues they don’t know, and mingle with management. 

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By taking all your employees into consideration, choosing a great idea, and being wise with your budget, you can throw a fantastic employee Christmas party. Light up that tree, mix some eggnog, and get festive! 

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If you’re after ideas for Christmas gifts for employees or want to know what to write as a Christmas message to employees, check out our posts for some valuable insights.