Get everyone engaged at your next holiday office party with these 9 fun games! Games are the best way to bring out your competitive side and games are a great way to get your party guests interacting with one another too. These are great icebreakers and easy to set up, so make sure to play a few of your favorites for some fun holiday party activities at your office holiday party!
1. Candy Canes
This game is just like Spoons only with candy canes. Depending on how many people are playing, place candy canes in the center of the table, with one fewer candy cane than there are players (e.g. if you have 6 players, then you should have 5 candy canes on the table). The object of this game is to get four-of-a-kind with your cards and once you do, you must grab a candy cane quick! Have five cards in your hand at all times and discard one card at a time that you do not want by passing it to the left. Pick up your new card from the player who discarded to your right. Try and get your four-of-a-kind, but remember to look out for any player who gets theirs first. If you see someone grab a candy cane, you need to make sure you grab one too. Whoever does not grab a candy cane at the end of the round is out. Continue playing more rounds until the last player has grabbed the last candy cane on the table.
2. Name That Christmas Movie
Play short clips from Christmas movies without letting the players see the clip. They have to listen to the voices, music, or other sounds to guess what Christmas movie is playing. We suggest creating a video queue on YouTube in advance and setting up a laptop connected to some speakers at the party. The player or the team with the most correct answers wins!
3. Who Am I?
Pick one person, place, or thing for each player by writing it down on a piece of paper and having them tape it to either their forehead or back. (Just as long as they can’t see what it is!) Each player gets to ask 20 questions to try and figure out who or what they are. You can do this for as many rounds as you like. Whoever ends up being able to guess who they are, gets a prize!
4. Secret Santa
This requires a bit of planning in advance. Write everyone in the office’s name on a piece of paper and mix it up in a bowl. Have everyone pick a name from the bowl and don’t let each other know who picked whos name. Buy or make a gift for the person you picked and leave it in a pile on the day of the party. Designate someone to pass out the gifts and then have each person try and guess who their secret Santa is.
5. Christmas Charades
Write down anything related to Christmas such as songs, movies, and traditions on small pieces of paper and mix in a bowl. Have each player draw from the bowl and act out what’s written down on their piece of paper. Whoever guesses correctly gets to go next! This game can also be done in teams. Split into two even teams and grab a timer. Have one person from each team go at a time with the timer running. The team that guesses the most right before the timer runs out wins!
6. Ugly Sweater Contest
Have each player create and wear an “ugly” Christmas sweater. Then, have everyone at the party vote for their favorite ugly sweater. Whoever gets the most votes wins a prize!
7. White Elephant
Have everyone from the office bring in a wrapped gift (usually a range will be set, that way no one spends a lot more or a lot less than others). On small pieces of paper, write down a number for as many people that are playing. Each person draws a number to see what order they get to pick a gift from the pile. The catch to this game is that gifts can be stolen up to three times! If player two loves the gift that player number one chose, then he or she can steal it! That means player number one gets to pick from the pile again. Continue having each player pick a gift in order until everyone has had a chance to play.
8. Holiday Sticker Stalker
As each guest arrives, hand them a sticker sheet and let them know that the object of the game is to put the stickers on the other players without them noticing. The first person to get rid of all their stickers on their sheet wins!
9. Christmas Pictionary
Just like with charades, write down Christmas related movies, songs, and traditions on small pieces of paper and mix in a bowl. Split your players into two teams and have one person on each team be the “drawer” at a time. With paper, a whiteboard, or a chalkboard handy, each drawer must pull a piece of paper from the bowl and draw the Christmas-related phrase. Each team must try and guess what their drawer is drawing before the timer runs out. The team with the most correct answers wins!
