Virtual Party Ideas

Activity Ideas for your Virtual Holiday/End of Year Party!

It is no big surprise to anyone, the concept of holiday parties in 2020 has completely changed. Many are turning to virtual events and parties to celebrate the holiday season due to limitations on in-person events, an abundance of caution, and the desire to keep your employees, students, teammates, or peers safe.

But how do you maintain a level of fun & entertainment when you’re behind a screen? The team at Empower Leadership has developed and tested some fun activities that are sure to lead to a great time in this new format. In our experience, some activities translate well over digital platforms, while others don’t. We’ll share some of our favorite and most engaging virtual party activities, with a holiday spin!

*Note that most of these activities function best when a person or two takes on a leadership role to moderate and facilitate the activities. An “agenda” and moderator will ensure that there is a loose format to the party, as well as maximize the amount of fun that comes out of it!

Holiday “Create-a-Meme” Challenge (for Adult and Youth Groups; 5 to 15 minutes in duration)

Each individual (or smaller groups of 3 to 5) must create a humorous meme with a holiday theme!
If using teams, each team should have their own breakout room
Memes can be created from scratch or you can use a “meme-generator” website like https://www.editdit.com/
Once complete, have each person or group screen share their meme and have your remaining “party attendees” grade each meme
Typical “grading rubric” (5 point scale; 5 being the best for each category); Creativity, Humor, Theme Alignment, and Uniqueness
The person or team with the most points wins the Holiday “Create-a-Meme” Challenge!

“Your Team Has Talent” Challenge (for Adult and Youth Groups; 15 to 30 minutes in duration)

Split your group into smaller teams of 4 to 8 people – each team should have their own breakout room
Each team must create a holiday-themed poem or haiku, song, or spoken word piece
You can keep the theme as open as “holidays” or you can be more specific – have some fun with it!
After each team has created (and practiced!!!) their poem or song, bring everyone back to the main “conference room” for their showcases
Each team will then present their poem or song to the rest of the group
Typical “grading rubric” (5 point scale; 5 being the best for each category); Creativity, Theme Alignment, Team Member Involvement, and Uniqueness
The team with the most points wins the “Your Team Has Talent” Challenge

“Sending a Snowflake and a Card” Activity (for Adult and Youth Groups; 15 to 20 minutes in duration)

There are many people in hospitals, nursing homes, etc. who are unable to have visitors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This activity serves as a great way to send some holiday cheer to those who may be in need of some!
Each individual must create a paper snowflake (using a sheet of paper and scissors) – here’s a resource from the one and only Martha Stewart!
After the snowflake is created, go ahead and decorate them with markers, colored pencils, or any other craft supplies you have at home
Each individual will then work to create/design a holiday card with a nice note. If working with younger students, you may have to provide some guidance as to what should be written in the card
Completed snowflakes and cards must then be collected by a person, packaged in envelopes, stamped, and delivered to a local hospital, healthcare home, etc.

“Reflect and Recharge” Activity (for Youth Groups; 10 to 15 minutes in duration)

Present each youth with a simple worksheet (Google or Word doc) with the following prompts for them to answer:
- Describe a goal that you accomplished during 2020 that you are proud of.
- Describe a challenge you faced and overcame during 2020; what helped you overcome that challenge?
- What is one thing you are thankful for?
- Describe a goal you would like to accomplish in 2021.
Have each youth “report out” their answers once all have completed their worksheets!

The “Recipe Exchange” Activity (for Adult Groups, 21+, ONLY; 5 to 10 minutes in duration)

Prior to your event, have each person do a bit of a fun “research project” to come up with a holiday-themed adult beverage!
At your event, give each person 5 to 10 minutes to share the recipe to their adult beverage (simple Word or Google document) and demonstrate how that adult beverage is made!
This could be just a simple demonstration and share activity or you can put a bit of a competitive spin on it
If going the “competitive route”, create a grading scale for the adult beverages – the person who earns the most points for their beverage wins!
Example grading scale (5 point scale; 5 being the best for each category); Creativity, Presentation of Recipe, Presentation of “Mixology Demonstration”, and Holiday Theme Alignment

“Fun Holiday Fact” (for Adult & Youth Groups; duration dependent on number of participants. Assume 2-3 minutes per participant)

Prior to your event, have each person share a fun fact about themselves related to a holiday tradition that they have.
Team leaders/moderators should compile the facts (including their own!) as anonymous to share with the group.
These fun facts can be shared prior to the event to let people submit their guesses, or during the event one-by-one for participants to guess which fact belongs to which person
During the event, review the list of facts and reveal any fun trends in the guesses and who each fact belongs to.
You might be surprised by which facts correlate to which participants! Encourage everyone to share something fun or funny to keep things fresh and entertaining
A super entertaining route to take is the “weirdest gift you’ve ever received” if you think that a very specific prompt may help your group focus!
Examples of fun facts:
- When we were kids, we used to leave out raw cauliflower for “Santa”
- Every year for the holidays, our family competes in a “talent show”
- The weirdest gift I’ve ever received was a gift certificate to PetSmart… and I didn’t have a pet.
- One time, in a white elephant gift exchange, I received expired Fritos as a gift.

Will your end of year Holiday parties look and feel a bit different when compared to past years? That is a definite YES!!! However, with a little bit of creativity, you will discover a solution that will lead to fun, excitement, engagement, and entertainment!!! If we have learned anything from the challenges faced during 2020, it is that (1) a challenge is not the “end of the road” – some creativity, teamwork, and hard work will lead to new and unique solutions you never would have thought of without said challenge and (2) finding time to gather, whether it be safely in person or virtually, will lead to shared laughs, a strong sense of togetherness, and soul-nourishing goodness that will help us leap into bigger and better things in 2021!

Not sure if you have the time or resources to organize and deliver your own virtual Holiday Event? Or do you want to avoid any additional December stressors???

Contact Empower Leadership’s President, Dan Jaskot at (860) 652-5690 or via email at dan@leadwithempower.com to learn more about our virtual group events!!!