9 fun and original ideas for your online office Christmas party

The last thing we wanted to be doing during the Christmas season was sitting on Zoom instead of being able to meet up with friends and family in the flesh.

Now, thanks to a four nations agreement to ease some coronavirus restrictions, families will be able to meet in “bubbles” during the festive period.

However, only three households will be able to meet between 23 and 27 December, meaning normal rules will stay in place for the rest of the holidays.

This means that festive parties and work celebrations are completely off the table this year, so it’s looking like a return to virtual hangouts is inevitable.

After spending nearly a whole year on Zoom, instead of meeting people face-to-face, many of us are feeling sick of the extra screen time.

As a lot of offices and friendship groups are already planning for online Christmas parties, there are ways to make sure people actually enjoy the virtual meet-ups.

Here’s a list of simple ideas that could be really fun and festive.

Festive bake-off

The end of the Great British Bake Off has really left a hole in our hearts, but there is one way to bring the magic of the tent to Zoom.

Organise an easy, virtual Bake Off by sending your participants instructions to make a simple and cheap recipe, such as Christmas crispy cakes or festive malteser traybake.

Encourage them to buy the ingredients, then set up their cooking base on-screen so you can all laugh at each other’s inevitable baking failures, and chat at the same time.

Of course, there needs to be a virtual winner, so choose a couple of judges who can pick the best-looking end dessert.

Cocktail making

In the same vein, virtual cocktail making is a fun activity - and who can say no to a cocktail?

Choose a tasty, but easy, cocktail recipe that participants will be able to mix, step-by-step on-screen, such as strawberry daiquiris, mojitos or espresso martinis.

Make it a competition to see who can produce the best-looking cocktail - and who makes the worst.