Celebrating Christmas this year will take a little creativity. Most of us won’t be able to be with our extended family, have our neighborhood get-togethers, mingle at work parties or enjoy cocktails with friends.

With the in person events cancelled this year, people are scrabbling for virtual activities as a way to celebrate the season. What can you do beyond talking to each other on FaceTime or Zoom? Here’s a few ideas to get those creative juices flowing.

Go Caroling

No, not in person, but on FaceTime. Set up a FaceTime call with you and your fellow Carolers and then add someone else to the call. When they answer, surprise them with your song, just as you would when they open the front door. Wish them a Merry Christmas and then go on to the next person on your list.

Host an Ugly Sweater Party

To plan this event, tell the “guests” to gather an old sweater or shirt and get their supplies from the dollar store. Put a dollar limit on the decorations – $5 or $10 and see what they can come up with. Have everyone vote for best and send a virtual prize like a gift card.

Play Bunco

Sure! You can play bunco virtually! You just need to set up a Zoom call and separate break out rooms with table numbers. Everyone will bring their own dice and roll on their own table at home. Someone at each table (break out room) keeps score. The hostess will move people around to rooms based on wins and losses.

Instead of bringing cash, all players pay the hostess ahead of time and she will Venmo the winners of Most Buncos, Most Wins, Most Losses. Or, your ante can go to a charitable cause for the holidays.

Watch the Nutcracker Ballet

If watching the Nutcracker Ballet is your holiday tradition, then you are are luck! There are so many ballet companies offering a virtual option for their version of the Nutcracker. There is a great list on Playbill.com. You simply sign up for tickets for a date and time and they will send you a link.

Play Scattergories

This game is so simple. You have a list of words or phrases like “breakfast foods” or “fictional characters”. One players rolls an alphabet dice to see which letter the players have to use. For example, if they rolled “E” they could say Eggs and Elf.

This great online source offers a way to roll the dice online and has a timer for the players to fill in their answers. If you are looking for a Christmas version of this game, I have a printable available in my store.

Take a virtual tour

Thanks to technology, you can go anywhere in the world this Christmas – virtually that is. You can view museums, zoos, national parks, cemeteries and even tour the White House. Just Google what you want to see along with “virtual tour” and visit the world from the comfort of your home.

Have a Christmas Tree Scavenger Hunt

This a fun game to play with another family. Stand in front of your tree and challenge the other families to find the same type of ornament that you have on your tree. For example, show me an ornament with a dog on it. It gives you the chance to admire their tree or show off yours as if you were standing there with them.

Play the What and How Drawing Game

Players are given a card that tells them what to draw and how to draw it. (As this is a virtual game, the host will text the player or send them a message in chat.) For example What to Draw: “A holiday wreath with holly and berries” and How: “While singing the ABCs”. Here is a printable copy of the game.

Attend a holiday religious service online

Most church services are online via Facebook Live or YouTube, so choose one to attend online with your group. Even if you don’t have a church you regularly attend, this is the year to try out every denomination without the awkward feeling of sticking out like a sore thumb.

Have a Gingerbread House Challenge

Everyone participating should have the same brand and size house if possible. Players have a time limit to put their house together and decorate it. Judges will decide on a winner and maybe even give out prizes.

Taste Test

This can be family friendly – hot chocolate, cookies or flavored candy canes – or an adult version with flavored coffee, wine or holiday cocktails. Whichever you decide, make sure all players have the same items to taste. It might be fun to let everyone suggest their favorite and let everyone taste. Create a score sheet and give the winner (whoever had suggested the best taste) a prize.

Christmas Carol Charades

Use these Christmas Carol cards to have your group act out Christmas Carol titles and let the other players guess. A virtual option is to have the host assign the carol, but then they cannot guess. Or, let each player come up with their own idea – no duplicates allowed.

Have you come up with any virtual ideas for your holiday get-togethers? If so, I would love to hear about them!

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