Holiday Party Entertainment Ideas for Work and Home

The best holiday party entertainment depends on size. For a home party of 10 to 30 adults, a gift exchange game, a themed drink station or a living-room performer is plenty. For an office party or a large group, choose things that scale, such as a band, strolling performers, team trivia or a seated show, and keep anything that needs everyone's turn to small tables.

Office or home: what changes

The same idea plays differently in each setting.

The office version has one extra rule: nobody should feel forced to perform, drink or celebrate a holiday that is not theirs. Call it a holiday or year-end party and let people opt in.

Holiday party game ideas for work

White elephant

Everyone brings one wrapped gift under a set price. Players draw numbers. Each turn, a player opens a new gift or steals one already opened. A common rule freezes a gift after it has been stolen three times. State the rules before you start, because every group plays slightly differently.

White elephant takes time: each turn is a minute or two, so 40 players can fill most of an hour. Above about 25 people, split into tables that play at the same time. If you need gift ideas, Sleight has a list of white elephant gifts under $25.

Secret Santa

Names are drawn in advance and each person buys for one colleague. It suits teams that know each other. Set a spending limit and a reveal moment at the party. Run it through a name-drawing app so nobody draws their own name.

Trivia by team

Mix departments on each team. Build rounds around the year: company milestones, office in-jokes that everyone gets, holiday movies and music. A confident emcee matters more than the questions.

Quick games that need no setup

• Guess the baby photo: collect childhood photos in advance and match them to colleagues.
• Name that tune: holiday songs played for a few seconds each.
• Two truths and a lie: works for teams with new hires.
• Minute-to-win-it challenges: stacking cups, unwrapping a gift in oven mitts.

Holiday party activity ideas for adults

Activities give people something to do with their hands while they talk. They work at home and at the office.

• Cookie or gingerbread decorating: set out plain cookies and toppings. Judge it if your crowd is competitive.
• Hot cocoa or mulled wine bar: a self-serve station with toppings or spices.
• Ugly sweater contest: vote by ballot, not applause, so quiet guests get a fair shot.
• Ornament or wreath making: a short workshop, often run by a local florist or craft studio.
• Giving back: pack care boxes or wrap donated toys for a local charity. This works well for teams who would rather do something useful than play games.

Holiday party entertainment ideas for adults

For a home party, the entertainment can be personal. A living-room performer, such as a musician, a magician or a storyteller, fits a party of friends because the room is small and the audience is close. Karaoke works if your friends will actually sing. A holiday movie quote game works if they will not.

Phillip Moore performs a seated parlour show as well as strolling close-up magic; see private parties. For a party that is mostly catching up, background music and a good activity station may be all you need.

Holiday party entertainment ideas for large groups

Large groups need entertainment that reaches many people at once or moves through the room. Ideas that scale:

1. Live band or DJ: the anchor if the night ends with dancing.
2. Strolling performers: close-up magicians, caricaturists and roving musicians reach guests group by group without stopping the party.
3. One seated show: 20 to 40 minutes, after dinner, with everyone facing the same way. A comedian, mentalist or magician fits here.
4. Photo booth with props: runs itself and gives people something to post.
5. Team trivia with an emcee: play by table, not by person.

Ideas that do not scale: anything where each person takes a turn in front of the whole room. Split those into tables or skip them.

Timing and booking

Weekends in December are popular with everyone planning a party, so venues, caterers and performers book up. Book early, or move the party to early December or January, when dates open up and calendars are quieter. A party during work hours often gets better attendance from parents and long-distance commuters.

Plan the night in stages: a social first half with activities or strolling entertainment, then one shared moment, such as a show, awards or the gift exchange, then music for those who stay. For the general approach to company events beyond the holidays, read corporate event entertainment ideas.