How To Throw A Christmas Party In 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed so many people’s livelihoods and how they can interact with their family and friends. Fortunately, technology has made hanging out with friends and family easier than ever whether they are a town or countries away. Take these methods in mind to make sure that you can have an enjoyable virtual Christmas party.
Gift Giving
It’s well-known that you can’t have a successful Christmas party without exchanging gifts. However, family and friends might not be able to exchange gifts in-person if they are trying to quarantine. To exchange gifts virtually, make sure everyone passes around their location so that everyone can either send their own gifts through the mail using their local post office or order directly through a website. This modern day convenience has made this much easier than in years past. Always make sure that you incorporate gift-giving in your Christmas party, virtual or not!
Secret Santa
Sometimes, getting a gift for everyone might not be very plausible if you are doing a virtual Christmas party for your office as an example. Hosting a virtual Secret Santa can be a great way to be festive while making sure everyone can stick to a budget. To host a virtual Secret Santa, think about putting up a Google Form in which everyone puts their address and what interests they have. From there, you should be able to email back every participant with the information they need to send the right gift. Just make sure that you use a video service like Zoom when hosting your Secret Santa so everyone can see the looks on their recipient’s face when they open up their gift. Hosting a virtual Secret Santa is just another way you can make a virtual Christmas party festive.
Food
Christmas parties are often a delight when it comes to food - whether you’re planning on having an entire dinner with ham or an array of appetizers. The pandemic has changed the way families will come together. To make sure that everyone can eat all together virtually, think about setting an hour in which everyone will sit down over video and eat a Christmas meal together. This also has the benefit of allowing everyone to be flexible so that they can get the food they enjoy themselves. You might not be having a typical Christmas party but there’s no reason why you can’t eat virtually with the ones you love.
Games
Once you’re done opening presents and eating food, chances are you want to have fun with one another. Fortunately, online gaming has changed so much over the past couple of decades that those that might not traditionally interact with videogames can still enjoy them. Examples of games that can be played online with others include party games like Tabletop Simulator and Jackbox Party Pack. Make sure though that you have everyone attending your virtual party set up the games in advance as it can take hours if everyone doesn’t have their gaming equipment in order. Playing games with your family is just another way you can have fun together while not being there in-person.
Movies
When you want to settle down at a Christmas party, you might think about putting on a movie for everyone to enjoy. Since you might not want to meet up at a house or movie theater together, you’ll want to think about a creative solution in being able to all watch a movie at the same time. Fortunately, video services like Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ have spent the better part of 2020 perfecting their watch party software. Watch parties allow families and friends to all watch movies together with video and text chat as long as everyone has a valid subscription to each specific video service. If the service you are thinking about using doesn’t have an official watch party solution, look into your web browser’s extension store as video services like Netflix have unofficial Watch Party solutions that work just fine. Watch parties are just another way family and friends can have fun together while still being apart.