The challenge with virtual Christmas parties isn't finding activities - it's finding ones that actually engage your remote teams. HR professionals, trainers, and team leaders know that end-of-year celebrations matter for workplace culture, but they need to justify the time investment with genuine connection and participation.
If you're looking to bring the festive cheer online again this year, kudos to you. We hope this list of fantastic and free virtual Christmas party ideas will help!
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Bring the Christmas Joy
Connect with loved ones near and far with AhaSlides' live quizzing, polling and gaming software!
10 Free Virtual Christmas Party Ideas
Here we go then; 10 free virtual Christmas party ideas suitable for a family, friend or remote office Christmas!
1. Interactive Christmas Trivia with Live Leaderboards
Christmas trivia works brilliantly for virtual parties, but only if you avoid the trap of making it too easy or impossibly obscure. The sweet spot? Mix general knowledge with company-specific questions that spark memories from the year.
Structure it like this: round one covers universal Christmas stuff (which country started the Christmas tree tradition, what Mariah Carey song refuses to leave the charts). Round two gets personal with company moments - "which team had the most creative Zoom backgrounds this year" or "name the colleague who accidentally came to three meetings in their pyjamas."
Here's where it gets interesting: use team mode so people work together in small groups rather than competing individually. This gets everyone talking instead of just the trivia buffs dominating. When you use breakout rooms for teams to discuss answers, suddenly the quiet folks are sharing their knowledge without pressure.
❄️ Bonus: Play a fun and not family-friendly Goopy Christmas to spice up the night and get guaranteed waves of laughter.
2. Two Truths and a Lie: Christmas Edition
This classic icebreaker gets a festive upgrade and works beautifully for teams who don't know each other well yet or need to break down some formal barriers.
Everyone prepares three Christmas-related statements about themselves - two true, one false. Think: "I once ate an entire selection box in one sitting," "I've never watched Elf," "My family tradition includes pickle ornaments on the tree."
This activity naturally generates conversation. Someone mentions they've never seen Elf, and suddenly half the team is demanding a virtual watch party. Another person shares their weird family tradition, and three other people chime in with their own peculiar customs. You're creating connection without forcing it.
3. Christmas Karaoke
We don't have to miss out on any drunk, spirited singing this year. It's perfectly possible to do karaoke online nowadays and anyone on their 12th eggnog might be practically demanding it.
It's also super easy to do...
Just create a room on Sync Video, a free, no-sign-up service that lets you precisely sync videos so that every attendant of your virtual Christmas party can watch them at the same time.
Once your room is open and you have your attendants, you can queue up a bunch of karaoke hits on YouTube and each person can belt their holiday heart out.
3. Festive "Would You Rather"
Would You Rather questions seem simple, but they're secretly brilliant for sparking genuine conversation and revealing personality. The Christmas version keeps things seasonal while still getting people talking.
Ask questions that force interesting choices: "Would you rather only eat Christmas pudding for every meal in December or wear a full Santa suit to every meeting?" or "Would you rather have Christmas music stuck in your head all day, every day, or never hear it again?"
Here's the move: after each question, use a poll to collect everyone's votes. Display results immediately so people see how the team splits. Then - and this is crucial - ask a few people from each side to explain their reasoning. This is where the magic happens.
5. Spin the Wheel
Got an idea for a Christmas-themed gameshow? If it's a game worth its salt, it'll be played on an interactive spinner wheel!
Don't fret if you don't have a gameshow to pitch - the AhaSlides spinner wheel can be spun for pretty much anything you can think of!
- Trivia with Prizes - Assign each segment of the wheel an amount of money, or something else. Go round the room and challenge each player to answer a question, with the difficulty of that question depending on the amount of money the wheel lands on.
- Christmas Truth or Dare - This one's a lot more fun when you have no control over whether you get a truth or a dare.
- Random Letters - Choose letters at random. Could be the basis of a fun game. I dunno - use your imagination!
6. Christmas Emoji Decoding
Turning Christmas films, songs, or phrases into emojis creates a surprisingly engaging challenge that works perfectly in chat-based formats.
Here's how it plays: prepare a list of Christmas classics represented purely through emojis. For example: ⛄🎩 = Frosty the Snowman, or 🏠🎄➡️🎅 = Home Alone. You can use a quiz software like AhaSlides to have competitive scoring and a leaderboard.
7. Make a Christmas Present(ation)
Been quizzing since the start of lockdown? Try mixing it up by getting your guests to make their own presentation on something unique and festive.
Before the day of your virtual Christmas party, either assign at random (maybe using this spinner wheel) or let everyone choose a Christmas topic. Give them a set number of slides to work with and the promise of bonus points for creativity and hilarity.
When it's party time, each person presents an interesting/hilarious/wacky presentation. Optionally, get everyone to vote on their favourite and give prizes to the best!
A few Christmas present(ation) ideas...
- The worst Christmas movie of all time.
- Some pretty nuts Christmas traditions around the world.
- Why Santa needs to start obeying animal protection law.
- Have candy canes become too curvy?
- Why Christmas should be renamed to The Festivities of Iced Sky Tears
In our opinion, the more insane the topic, the better.
Any of your guests can make a really gripping presentation for free using AhaSlides. Alternatively, they can easily make it on PowerPoint or Google Slides and embed it in AhaSlides in order to utilise live polls, quizzes and Q&A features in their creative presentations!
8. "Guess the Colleague" Christmas Edition
This activity works brilliantly because it combines the fun of a quiz with the connection-building of learning unexpected things about your team.
Before the party, collect fun Christmas facts from everyone through a quick form: favourite Christmas film, strangest family tradition, most regrettable festive outfit, dream Christmas destination. Compile these into anonymous quiz questions.
During the party, present each fact and ask people to guess which colleague it belongs to. Use live polling to collect guesses, then reveal the answer along with the story behind it. The person shares more details, photos if they've got them, and suddenly you're learning that the person you only know as "analytical data professional" once appeared in their school's Christmas play as a sheep and still has nightmares about it.
9. Virtual Scavenger Hunt
Scavenger hunts inject physical energy into virtual parties, which is exactly what's needed after a year of sitting in the same chair staring at the same screen.
The setup is dead simple: announce an item, start a timer, watch people scramble around their homes to find it. The items themselves should mix specific objects with creative interpretations - "something red and green," "your favourite mug," "the worst gift you've ever received" (but still kept for some reason).
What makes this work? The movement. People physically get up and dash away from their cameras. You hear rummaging, see people racing back, watch them proudly hold up bizarre items. The energy shift is palpable and immediate.
When people return, don't just move on to the next item. Ask a few people to show what they found and tell the story. The worst gift category especially generates brilliant stories that have everyone cringing and laughing simultaneously.
10. The Great Christmas Jumper Showdown
Christmas jumpers (or "holiday sweaters" for our international friends) are inherently ridiculous, which makes them perfect for virtual competitions where embracing absurdity is actually the goal.
Invite everyone to wear their most outrageous festive jumpers to the party. Structure a fashion show where each person gets 10 seconds in the spotlight to show off their jumper and explain its origin story. The charity shop finds, genuine family heirlooms, and regrettable impulse purchases all get their moment.
Create multiple voting categories so everyone has a chance at recognition: "ugliest jumper," "most creative," "best use of lights or bells," "most traditional," "would actually wear this outside December." Run polls for each category, letting people vote throughout the presentations.
For teams where Christmas jumpers aren't universal, expand to "most festive outfit" or "best Christmas-themed virtual background."
👊 Protip: Want more ideas like these? Branch out from Christmas and check out our mega list of totally free virtual party ideas. These ideas work fantastically online at any time of year, demand little preparation and don't require you to spend a penny!
The Bottom Line
Virtual Christmas parties don't have to be awkward obligations that everyone tolerates. With the right activities, proper interactive tools, and intentional structure, they become genuine moments of connection that strengthen your team culture. The activities in this guide work because they're built around how humans actually engage through screens. Quick participation, immediate feedback, visible impact, and opportunities for personality to shine through without requiring everyone to become performing extroverts.
AhaSlides makes this easy by removing the technical friction that typically kills virtual engagement. Everything you need lives in one place, participants join with a simple code, and you can see in real-time what's working and what's not.
So here's your homework: pick 3-4 activities from this list that fit your team's personality. Set up a simple AhaSlides presentation with the interactive elements. Send your team a festive invitation that builds anticipation. Then show up with energy and genuine enthusiasm for celebrating together, even if "together" means boxes on screens.
