It’s nearly that time of year again when the office gets together for the annual Christmas party. Instead of simply hiring out a venue where a DJ and meal is provided, why don’t you try something new this year?
We have teamed up with Wyboston Lakes, hosts of Christmas parties 2017, to suggest some alternative Christmas party ideas that your employees will be keen to attend.
Escape rooms
This activity will last around an hour or so and could be followed by some drinks in town if you wanted the night to continue. Either way, it’s a fun task for your employees and can act as a team bonding exercise as there is some thinking and collaboration required.
An escape room is an adventure game where participants solve a series of puzzles and mysteries using clues to complete various tasks. Colleagues can organise themselves into teams, they are then locked in a room and must figure out how to escape. For larger organisations, teams can compete against each other to escape the room in the fastest time.
To add a seasonal twist, encourage Christmas jumpers and Santa hats from all employees along with their festive spirit!
Winter murder mystery
Everyone loves a whodunit and what better way to bond with colleagues than over a murder mystery?
For this party, you will need to hire a suitable venue and ensure that all employees are keen to get involved.
At the start of the night, members are given an identity and they must play their character for the rest of the evening. One person from the party has been murdered by another member of the team – it’s down to your employees to solve who the murderer is.
There are scripts available online, suitable for parties of between 6 and 200 people.
Christmas around the world
This party requires a venue too, but hire one with a blank canvas so you can put your own mark on it.
This is a fun idea to encourage fancy dress and take the opportunity to go all out on decorations. Colleagues can be assigned different countries and they must dress accordingly. This may result in some funny outfits or people may opt for traditional dress.
The venue can be decorated with world flags and the buffet can be ‘foods around the world’. This party will be something different for employees and a bit of fun to end the year with.
Cocktail making
Employees tend to enjoy having a few drinks with one another at the Christmas party – why not let them have more fun and make their own!
Many bars and restaurants offer cocktail-making classes and it seems to be becoming a popular trend. Hosted by a cocktail expert, you are taught how to make a cocktail correctly. By learning how to shake a cocktail mixer in the right way, measure out the precise amounts and ‘smack’ the mint – you and your employees will be expert mixologists in no time. There is the bonus of drinking the cocktails after too!
Christmas party bus
Hiring a Christmas party bus can be more exciting than it sounds. There are many companies that offer Christmas party tours and they make sure that you and your employees get in the festive mood with fancy dress and a bus decorated with tinsel and fairy lights.
There are games on board, music and often karaoke – everyone can sing festive songs to their hearts content! Stay in the bus all night for a full bus party, or use it as a transfer between one bar to the next. Either way, its guaranteed to be a fun night.
With five ideas to choose from, there’s bound to be something suitable for you and your employees that is more exciting than a traditional Christmas meal out. Make sure you get booked up soon though to avoid missing out!
