30+ Festive Virtual Holiday Party Ideas

Get your remote team into the spirit of the season with more than four dozen virtual holiday party ideas!

From virtual gift swaps to icebreaker questions, games, and unique holiday activities, this guide has no shortage of fun for your next virtual holiday party! Pro Tip: plan an inclusive event that everyone can enjoy! Use this 2024 Interfaith Calendar to ensure your virtual holiday party date doesn’t conflict with a religious holiday.

This season, you can mix, mingle, and jingle with your remote team. These 40+ ideas will show you how!

A few of our favorite virtual holiday party ideas:

Take a virtual holiday trip with your team
Declare a surprise “snow day” and give everyone the afternoon off
Host a virtual gingerbread house building contest or cookie decorating
Plan a virtual holiday gift swap or “white elephant” party
Enjoy holiday playlists and movies with your team

In this post, you’ll find:

Holiday virtual team building ideas for remote teams
Fun virtual holiday party ideas
Holiday Party Zoom call ideas
Creative virtual team building activities
Inclusive virtual holiday party ideas
Fun winter holiday activities for corporate teams

Unique Holiday Team Building Events

Enjoy a Virtual European Holiday

This engaging virtual tour will take your team on a virtual vacation. Join expert on-location guides live-streaming in Europe. Your team will be mesmerized by Prague’s famous holiday markets. Then, visit the beautiful Trevi Fountain with a live Roman guide.

Additionally, challenge your remote employees’ design skills! During your session, everyone will be tasked with building a Colosseum using sugar cubes as a fun team building activity.

Teams will love testing out European knowledge with holiday trivia. Finally, you can level up your gift exchange with delicious European-themed treat boxes.

Learn more and book your virtual European holiday experience here.

Plan an Unexpected Virtual Holiday Party!

This unique virtual event from Unexpected Virtual Tours focuses on honoring holidays around the world, with a live and interactive Jeopardy-themed experience! Watch the video above for more information on this fun and unique event.

Your team will paint and decorate celebratory cookies and make paper holiday sweaters. Then, take a virtual field trip to iconic holiday sites in New York City. Get a live look at Times Square, Rockefeller Center, and the Saks Fifth Avenue windows with our experienced virtual tour guide!

This fast-paced, fun event will get everyone moving and laughing together – it includes 5 virtual holiday games in just one hour! Breakout rooms encourage cross-departmental collaboration and new connections. Additionally, this inclusive holiday party includes everyone with multicultural holiday elements.

Moreover, this holiday experience has been featured in the NY Times and Thrillist as one of the most creative holiday party ideas for remote teams!

Get the details and book your Unexpected Virtual holiday party!

Bust Out the Holiday Bingo Bonanza and Board Games

There’s no end of options for holiday-inspired games that your team will appreciate and love! These could help raise the fun factor for your holiday party AND bring your team together while celebrating the holiday spirit and the holiday season in general.

How about a trivial pursuit? Holiday Monopoly? A pop quiz? Better yet: how about a bingo game customized for your company? Or, keep it simple and play our pre-made Bingo Bonanza with fun elements the whole group will appreciate, like movies and pop culture. Just because it’s during the holidays doesn’t mean it needs to be holiday-centered!

Plus, your team will be taken on a live stream of New York City’s most historical bingo spots, a fast-paced ride with a Scavenger Hunt, Movie Trivia Bingo – and lots more!

Ready for Bingo? Check out our new Bingo Bonanza Team Building Holiday Party for details and book today!

Book a Fully Hosted Custom Virtual Party

While many of the virtual office party ideas included below are DIY options, as professional event planners, we know how much work it takes to create something awesome for your team, so we’re here to save you time! If you want to leave the details and planning to someone else, we would be happy to help you.

Our fully hosted virtual parties include team engagement, games, food and treats shipped to your guests, custom cards with your message, and live-streaming guides in unique spots. We handle everything and you just enjoy.

Ready to Party? Create your custom Virtual Event with us!

Holiday Party Gift Swap Ideas & Gifting Fun

Host a Virtual Gift Wrapping Party

It’s a rare treat to check something off a personal to-do list while also bonding with your coworkers. This virtual holiday team building activity allows your employees to do just that! Host a virtual wrapping party where your team members can enjoy chatting with each other while wrapping gifts for their friends and family.

You can also turn this into a family-friendly experience by inviting everyone’s children or roommates to join in the fun. This is a perfect time to play your team’s holiday playlist (idea #4). Or, start the session with holiday bingo (idea #7)!

If you have a creative team, consider a gift wrapping challenge and vote on the most beautifully wrapped gifts at the end! Get started with this popular YouTube video, “Life-Changing Gift Wrapping Hacks.“

Plan a White Elephant Holiday Party

A white elephant party is a party where impractical gifts are exchanged. The goal is to make people laugh! This is the moment to break out your singing bass fishes or to send a sweater that nobody might like.

Pick out people ahead of time using a gift exchange system like Elfster and then ship the white elephants to each other. Or, make it a true virtual white elephants party and send each other silly virtual holiday cards that everyone can screenshare and open.

Organize a Virtual Gift Swap

Regardless of which winter holiday you celebrate (if any!), a gift exchange is a popular office activity. But, you don’t have to be in the office to enjoy a holiday gift swap!

This year, host a virtual gift exchange. First, assign everyone a name ahead of time and have each person ship their gift to the recipient. Then, have your team open their gifts during a holiday video call. Remember to set a price limit that includes shipping costs – especially for international teams!

To get started, use a free online gift exchange software like Elfster. You can invite your team members, draw names, and everyone can create a wish list.

Mail Your Team a Tasty Holiday Treat

Sweet treats and special foods are part of the holiday season for many of us. But, even the most well-intentioned manager can struggle to navigate everyone’s dietary restrictions and tastes. As a result, food can feel like a risky holiday treat idea.

Use Sugarwish to choose your box size. Then, send a special e-card to your team, letting everyone know they’ve received a holiday box.

Everyone can select their favorite snack choices. Options include candies, cookies, nuts, dried fruit, trail mix, and more. Once everyone receives their treat, hop on a video chat for an unwrapping and sharing session!

Explore snack options and purchase your Sugarbox snack kits here. Keto, vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free snacks are available.

Organize a Virtual Cookie Swap

Neighborhood cookie swaps are a common holiday tradition. During this activity, you can host a virtual cookie swap!

Try activity #13, below, to make and decorate holiday cookies together. Then, draw names for a cookie gift swap! Each person will be assigned one other person to ship some cookies. Your company can cover or reimburse the cost of shipping.

In fact, many cookie recipes are shipping-friendly. In particular, Gingerbread is a great choice to mail, since its firm texture makes it less breakable.

Virtual Holiday Cooking & Baking Ideas

Host a Virtual Gingerbread House Contest

In this activity, everyone can get together on a video call to build gingerbread houses together! Take a vote at the end for the most creative gingerbread house, most delicious-looking gingerbread house, and any other prize categories you think would be fun. Award the winner(s) with a special treat, like a small gift card or company swag.

Find easy-to-assemble gingerbread house kits at retailers like Target during the holiday season, or year-round on Amazon. You can even get creative with a gingerbread camper van, dog house, or a luxe Barbie Cookie Dreamhouse.

Recreate Your Favorite Holiday Movie Recipe

This idea is like a cooking demonstration with a twist. Your team can gather together on a video call, and each person will cook a dish from a beloved holiday movie. For example:

Buddy the Elf Pasta from “Elf”
“Filthy Animal” Pizza inspired by “Home Alone”
Meat Loaf from “A Christmas Story” (or an Ovaltine Martini!)
Turkish Delight from “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe”
Olaf Nutter Butter Cookies inspired by “Frozen”

Find even more virtual office party ideas with Taste of Home’s list, 20 Recipes Inspired by Your Favorite Christmas Movies.

Mix & Mingle with a Virtual Holiday Cocktail Class or Mocktail Class

With this activity, your team can enjoy a unique holiday happy hour, minus the snow and traffic! Make festive cocktails or mocktails to celebrate the season together. Once your drinks are ready, everyone can raise a glass to another successful year together.

For the best experience, find a class led by an experienced bartender or mixologist. You can even call local restaurants and bars in your area to see if any offer virtual mixology classes. Your team will love this virtual cocktail party!

Cook Up Some Holiday Spirit with a Virtual Cooking Class

This season, try an online holiday cooking class with your team! If you haven’t tried a virtual cooking class yet, you’re missing out. Imagine pausing a cooking show and asking the chef all your questions.

During this activity, your coworkers will hang out, laugh, and share cooking tips together during a virtual happy hour. To make your holiday cooking class inclusive, be mindful of everyone’s dietary needs. For example, many people don’t drink alcohol. Additionally, some members of your team may be vegan or gluten-free.

With this activity, you can choose a class that fits everyone’s needs. Just because it’s the holidays, doesn’t mean you have to stick with traditional holiday foods! For instance, you could try making baguettes with a French baking instructor, regional African dishes, or Shanghai-style soup dumplings.

Browse Airbnb Online Experiences to find a cooking class. You can choose from cooking and baking classes, wellness programs, and more.

Looking for a Creative Activity? Host Cookie Decorating

Gather the team on a video call to decorate holiday cookies. Each person can bake their own cookies at home. Or, purchase a kit online to make this activity hassle-free!

For a turnkey option, you can find holiday cookie kit to ship to each member of your team. Make sure to check with your team for any allergies or dietary needs. Alternatively, you can encourage people to prepare their own cookies and even share the recipe!

At the end of the video call, your team will have a delicious holiday cookies and the joy of baking and decorating together. Try idea #8 above and turn this activity into a holiday cookie gift swap!

Looking for an easy holiday cookie kit to ship to your team for a virtual holiday party? If so, try the Winter Cookie Decorating Kit from Brookie’s Cookies NYC.

Share Holiday Music, Movies, & Books Together

Does Your Team Love Music? Curate a Festive Season Mix

Cue the Mariah Carey and break out the Michael Bublé! Creating a holiday playlist is a great way for your remote team to learn a little more about each other. Ask each team member to suggest a favorite holiday or wintertime song, then use Spotify to create a playlist.

Your team members might include a modern pop jam, a nostalgic holiday favorite, or a traditional song from their holiday worship service. To deepen your connection, spend some time in your next team meeting allowing each person to share why they chose their song.

For non-religious playlist ideas, see activity #15 below!

Create an Inclusive, Non-Religious Holiday Playlist

Adapt idea #14 above to only include non-religious holiday songs! Get into the holiday mood with your team by creating a secular winter playlist to enjoy together.

Believe it or not, there are plenty of non-religious holiday songs for your crew to jam out to! Make this activity extra special with small gift cards to a streaming station that everyone can enjoy.

Our favorite non-religious holiday songs:

“I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm” by Dean Martin
“Frosty the Snowman” by Fiona Apple
“Let it Snow” by Tori Kelly and Babyface.
“Celebrate Me Home” by Kenny Loggins
“Winter Song” by Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson
“Aspenglow” by John Denver
“Auld Lang Syne” by Andrew Bird
“Winter Wonderland” by Aretha Franklin
“What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve” by Margaret Whiting

Host a Virtual Holiday Movie Night

This idea will bring the whole team together, whether you’ve seen every Hallmark Channel movie ever made or “Die Hard” is more your holiday movie style. Use a free browser extension like Teleparty to enjoy a festive virtual movie night together. Everyone’s videos will sync with each other, and you can chat about the movie in real-time in the team’s Slack channel or chat box.

This is a great way to celebrate the holidays. Be sure to offer a variety of holiday movie choices to settle on something everyone will look forward to!

If your employees don’t use the same video streaming services, you can opt for a free ad-supported movie site. Some options include Crackle or IMDb TV, and Tubi.

Plan a Holiday Book Club

Does your team include some bookworms? Or do you just enjoy witty banter together? If so, try a virtual holiday book club! This is a fun idea that will allow your team to develop deeper connections as you discuss the work.

Additionally, this is a great way to test the waters and see if your team might enjoy a year-round book club!

Holiday books to read with your team:

“Christmas: A Biography” by Judith Flanders. Learn about the historical and cultural origins of various Christmas traditions!
“Practicing Kwanzaa Year Round: Affirmations & Activities Around the Seven Principles” by Gwynelle Dismukes. Learn about Kwanzaa, a holiday celebrated by more than 17 million people around the world.
“The Matzah Ball: A Novel” by Jean Meltzer. This charming romance story is centered around Hanukkah. Reviewers share that they appreciate how the novel explores chronic illness, self-acceptance, and Jewish culture.
“Krampus and Other Yuletide Tales” by Faina Lorah. Is your team a little offbeat? If so, explore this book of macabre winter fairy tales! Includes thirteen winter tales and more than sixty illustrations.

Icebreakers for Holiday Celebrations

Put On a Holiday Talent Show

Your team members are incredibly talented. So, showcase those talents in a virtual holiday party everyone will love.

Give volunteers 3 minutes each to showcase a talent. Ask the most gregarious and fun person on your team to act as the emcee. This is one of those low cost, high impact virtual holiday party ideas that everyone will remember!

New Team Members? Break the Ice with Holiday-Themed Questions

Whether your team is large or small, local or spread across the globe – virtual holiday icebreaker questions can help everyone get to know each other better during your virtual holiday party.

Put a festive spin on the usual icebreaker questions to keep on theme with your party.

A few of our favorite virtual holiday icebreakers:

Did you grow up somewhere with snow days? If so, what was your favorite snow day activity?
What’s the best holiday gift you’ve ever received?
Share your favorite festive food or drink!
Finish this sentence: “My favorite part of the holiday season is…”
Do you have any New Year’s resolutions?

Host a Family-Friendly Virtual Office Party

These days, it’s not uncommon to see your employees’ pets, kids, partners, or roommates stroll into the background of a video call. Sometimes, a rascally family member might even become the center of attention!

Help your employees feel more connected to their team and their family by hosting a family-friendly virtual holiday party! Keep your activities g-rated and plan fun games everyone can enjoy. For instance, you might welcome everyone to a virtual cookie decorating party or gingerbread house competition (see ideas #4 and #17 above!)

Add Festive Fun to Your Yuletide Celebration

Celebrate the Season with Holiday Zoom Backgrounds

Don’t host your virtual holiday party with a screen full of drab backgrounds! Instead, encourage your team to use a fun video call background to celebrate the season. Employees might choose a background that represents the holiday(s) they celebrate. Or, pick a beautiful wintery scene.

You can find free-to-use stock photos on websites like Pexel and Unsplash. Or, take a photo of your snow-covered yard or festive decorations to use!

Inclusive holiday party Zoom backgrounds:

Choose a Fun Virtual Holiday Party Theme

Of course, the theme of your virtual holiday party could simply be “the holidays.” But why not jazz things up a bit with a more specific theme for your virtual holiday party? You can customize your e-vite to reflect the theme. And, when you’re choosing from the activities above, give them a fresh spin with your theme!

For instance, if you plan a tropical holiday party, you can include fun touches like flowers and pineapples on your e-vites. Instead of building gingerbread houses, your team might share dishes on-screen like coconut cake or tiki drinks.

Virtual holiday party theme ideas:

Tropical holiday party (see above!)
Glitter & glam holiday party – wear your favorite sparkly attire and pick a glittery, glamorous video call background!
Holiday movie party – come dressed as your favorite holiday movie character, and watch holiday movies together.
Misfit toys – come dressed as your favorite childhood toy (think: Raggedy Ann, Care Bears, Buzz Lightyear) and wrap holiday gifts together!
Candyland – send your employees a box of candy or treats, or have a candy-making competition!

Share New and Old Holiday Traditions

Start off your holiday party by sharing your traditions! Ask each person in your group to share one holiday tradition they love. After each person has shared their traditions, ask people to comment on new-to-them traditions. Which ideas sound fun to them – and what new traditions are they inspired to create?

This is also a great icebreaker because it allows your team to celebrate cultural differences. For example, did you know that in the Czech Republic, fried carp is the most common Christmas Eve dinner?

Have a Holiday Costume Contest

Show up to your virtual holiday party with bells on – literally! Costumes and fun attire aren’t just for Halloween. Make your virtual holiday party more fun by encouraging everyone to wear their wackiest holiday attire.

Your team can don their finest tacky holiday sweaters, reindeer antlers, light-up clothing, tinsel, and more. Regardless of which holiday you celebrate (if any!), adding some sparkle and whimsy to your virtual holiday party will liven things up for everyone.

Holiday Ideas to Get Grounded & Give Back

Plan a Virtual Gratitude Session

Many spend November reflecting on the things that bring us gratitude. We take stock of the good things in life and reflect back over the year.

And, pausing to reflect can help prepare for a busy holiday season ahead.

To share a deeper connection with your team, consider a virtual gratitude session. A few activities to include:

Go around and ask each person to share something they are grateful for. This is a tried-and-true way to kick off a team meeting around the holidays.
Include a meditation session for thoughtful reflection. Employees can learn to reduce stress and tap into their creativity.
Craft a gratitude board with your team. Similar to a vision board, a gratitude board represents things your team appreciates. Your team can chat together on a video call while creating their gratitude boards.
Snail mail holiday cards to teammates. Everyone will love seeing your families’ photos.

Ready for Spring? Plant Ahead!

Winter may not always have the nicest weather. But soon, it will be spring. Get your team in the spring mood by hosting a “seedling party.”

First, Send everyone on your team packets of seeds and disposable planters. Then, encourage them to spread out newspapers and plant their little seedlings while on Zoom. Third, play “planting” music or videos related to plants. One good choice is the Little Shop of Horrors.

Lastly, encourage your team to plant their sprouting seedlings in the spring. You can also make this a community project and encourage team members to volunteer with a local community garden!

Participate in a Holiday Food Drive

If your team works remotely but lives near each other, consider teaming up for a holiday food drive. Your team can collect cans of food for families in need. Or, if your team is distributed, empower employees to spend a day volunteering with their local food bank.

At the end of the project, share the experience. A few thoughtful prompts for discussion include:

How can our team continue to support our communities throughout the year?
What surprised you most when joining in this activity?
Did you learn anything new from this experience? If so, what?

To find volunteer options, search on VolunteerMatch. They’ve connected 16+ million volunteers with more than 134k nonprofits across the US.

Provide Gifts for a Family in Need

Instead of (or in addition to!) a team gift swap, partner with a nonprofit to provide gifts for families in need this holiday season.

Many nonprofits create wish lists for families, children, and individuals who could use support during the holidays. There are plenty of ways to help. For instance, your team could purchase “wish list” toys for children to unwrap during the holidays, help a single parent keep the lights and heat on during winter, or equip a family to enjoy a memorable holiday meal.

With this idea, your team can connect with each other while helping others. This activity pairs well with idea #25, above. That’s because after helping others, your team members may feel moved to reflect on their gratitude for the abundance in their own lives.

Gift Employees with Mental Health Resources

It’s easy to get overwhelmed with the demands of work, home, and life. This holiday season, help your employees process their stress and show up to work with a healthier outlook.

For example, you can purchase a Calm for Business subscription for your employees. Calm is a meditation app that offers guided meditations, sleep stories, calming soundscapes, and more. Similarly, Headspace for Employees is a “science-backed meditation and mindfulness solution for the workplace.”

Help employees stay calm during the busy holiday season as well as hit their mental health goals in the new year!

Declare an Unexpected “Snow Day”

This isn’t a team-building idea per se. Instead, as a special holiday perk, consider declaring a random “snow day” and giving your team an unexpected afternoon or day off. The upside of remote work is that it allows us to stay connected nearly 24/7.

On the other hand, without an icy commute to the office, “snow days” are becoming a thing of the past. As long as the internet stays connected, so do our employees. But, a snow day can be a welcome (and even necessary!) “reset” button, allowing us to come back more relaxed and focused after a day of play.

This idea will allow your team to tap into their joy-filled childhood selves (snowball fight, anyone?). Or, employees can choose to spend the day tackling some holiday errands, relieving their stress around this busy time of year. Your team might even want to share pictures of their decorated Christmas trees or front porches.

Make your impromptu snow day easy. If any employees can’t participate due to prescheduled meetings or project deadlines, offer a “flex snow day” they can take at their leisure!

Ready to plan your virtual European Holiday, Bingo Bonanza, Unexpected Virtual Holiday, custom event, or another program? Reach out below!

With these ideas, you and your remote team will be on your way to enjoying a magical holiday season in no time! Above all, remember to share in moments of gratitude and connection together. Reflect on all you’ve accomplished this year while taking a festive break together.