Sure, the annual office Christmas party can be fun, as a way to kick back with colleagues in a non-professional setting and share some tales about families and friends. But, let’s face it, for many people the yearly office holiday party ranks just above a trip to the dentist for a root canal on the list of least-fun things to do in life. So, whether you love or hate your office Christmas party, here are a few pointers, suggestions, and ideas to make it through those two or three hours of holiday cheer with your workmates.

The first thing many an employee turns to in order to cope with the holiday party? Booze. Now, we don’t not recommend it, but instead of simply jumping on the first beer or cocktail thrown your way, why not try to make the office drinks a little more festive? They can even be a conversation starter and a way to kill off a few extra minutes before it’s time to go home.

One of the best Christmas party mixed drinks is holiday punch and there are many, many ways to make it. A jingle juice includes cranberry juice, mint, vodka and prosecco. Christmas sangria takes white wine sangria and livens it up with some cranberries. Remember, too, that any holiday punch can be made virgin by simply subtracting the alcohol.

Games are one of the best ways to pass the time in a holiday office party, and not just the old standby secret Santa game. The white elephant game has everyone bring a wrapped gift to the party. Then, put all the gifts together in one area of the party space. Now the fun begins. Each person takes turns either opening the present they would like the most, followed by the next person who can steal someone else’s gift, or take a new one from the table. It’s a way to really keep everyone guessing. The best part is knowing which gift is the one you wrapped and whether you tried to fool everyone by thinking it’s something really expensive by the way you wrapped it.

Here’s another fun game that everyone can play, one that you don’t have to set aside much group time for, but which can really keep some conversations going throughout the night. Guess how many ornaments are on the Christmas tree! The winner gets … well, the party organizer gets to make that fun decision. You also can have a runner-up. Even more fun is to split up the guessing into groups and have teams submit guesses.

Guinness Barrel Puzzle.

Also, there’s always a classic group activity like playing cards, playing the whistle, or a puzzle. Or, buy two and have teams compete to see who can complete it the fastest!

Guinness Gilroy Playing Cards from ShamrockGift.com.

Feadog Brass "D" whistle and Tutor Book with CD

This part may sound a tad corny, but you can also watch movies at a Christmas office party. Everything from “Elf” to “Die Hard” is fun for a big crowd, as are Christmas special episodes of countless TV series. Often it’s best to choose a Christmas movie that virtually everyone has seen, so you can have fun speaking along with some of the best parts.

Finally, maybe the most fun you can have at a Christmas office party, and one way to really pass some time in a crazy way, is to hire a photographer to take wacky Christmas photos with a real or fake Santa. Maybe this game should be combined with the holiday punch, but maybe have a contest to see who has the wackiest, craziest photo. (Probably a good idea to attach some rules to this one).

So there you go. You never thought an office holiday party could go by so fast, or be so much fun!

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How do you plan to make the best of your office holiday party? Let us know in the comments! And if you plan to sneakily imbibe, check out ShamrockGift.com’s line of flasks and accessories.

Initially published on Dec 11, 2019