by Maryellen Greene, PA-C, MMSc, Founder & Creator of NOD & Grow
How do you connect for the Holidays with your family and friends, if you aren’t able to travel and gather in one place?
Have you ever considered an online gathering complete with snacks and games?
Like many families, my 5 siblings and I are spread out across the U.S. from the West Coast and all up and down the East Coast. Last year, we got together several times throughout the year but couldn’t gather for Christmas or New Year’s Eve.
So, we decided to have an online party and it was so much fun!! There were 17 of us at the “party” from 5 different locations.
We kept everyone in the same household on the same team and then took turns joining up with other households, so that everyone got a chance to be on teams together.
For example: Game #1….Team A = Household 1 & 2 and Team B = Household 3, 4 & 5
Game #2…. Team A = Household 1, 3 & 5 and Team B = Household 2 & 4
Game #3+….keep rotating households or keep the teams the same – it’s up to you!
When it was time to play the games, we had each team meet up in separate online meeting rooms or connect via FaceTime.
Then we met back together on the Zoom to go over the answers and announce a winner.
We also kept it really simple and just played for fun. You could include prizes, but you’d have to arrange those details in advance.
Here’s how to throw an online Christmas party:
1. A few weeks (or months) before Christmas, send out a text to find out the best date and time for your online gathering.
2. Send out a simple invite. To make it feel like a real party and put all the details in one place, accounting for time zones, if needed.
3. Schedule the party on an online meeting platform. We used Zoom. (I am not very tech savy, but my siblings helped me out, as usual!)
4. Find a few family friendly online games to play and decide on how you will organize the teams. Listed below are instructions for each game and a link to FREE PRINTABLES for the games our family played. You can email the link to the games the day of the party but advise not to open the link to the games until each one is ready to be played.
5. The day of the party, you can make a few snacks and dress up, if you’d like…or show up in Christmas PJs!
6. Gather online for your party and let the games begin!!! Have so much fun connecting as a family and making memories, even across the miles!!
Here are a few games with instructions and links that you can forward to your party.
These games can be played paperless or they can be printed out by each household.
These games are also fun to play in person – they are not just for virtual parties!
Christmas Emoji Pictionary
Divide into teams. Set a timer for 5 minutes.
Each team meets separately (so the other team can’t hear your answers) and works together to guess the Christmas songs represented by emojis.
After 5 minutes (or more if needed), gather back together and take turns going over the answers. The team with the most answers correct – WINS!
Christmas Scavenger Hunt
Give your party a time limit. The team who finds the most items wins! To make the scavenger hunt even more fun and to find the most items, have each household take a drive around their area to look at Christmas lights.
Christmas “Would You Rather?”
This is an ice breaker activity. One person will read the would you rather options and each person will choose which option they’d prefer. You can have option 1 stand up and option 2 sit down. Or you can have option 1 move to one side of the online screen and option 2 move to the other side. You can be as creative as you want with how to set option 1 apart from option 2. It’s fun to see who picks the same option as you and also to see how well you know what options your family members will pick.
Christmas Scattergories Lists
Divide into teams. Set a timer for 5 minutes.
Each team meets separately (so the other team can’t hear your answers) and works together to fill out the list with original and unique answers that begin with the chosen letter. To choose what letter to use, you can let the youngest kids take turns picking a letter, or you can randomly pick a letter.
To get one point: your answer must begin with the chosen letter and be different from the other team’s answer.
To get two points: your answer can contain 2 words that begin with the chosen letter and be different from the other team’s answer.
After 5 minutes (or more if needed), gather back together and take turns going over the answers and adding up your points.
The team with the most points – WINS!
Take screen shots of your online gatherings (for those who agree to be in pictures), to look back on and remember your online party!
Tag us @NODandGrow if you post on Instagram, we’d love to see your family and friends pause, connect, focus and grow!!
