The holidays often have a lot of time dedicated to family and home time; however, many people have to keep their regular working schedules for the majority of the time. If your office allows it, decorating your area or cubicle can be a great way to bring the holidays to work with you, and if you’re able, you can even bring some friendly competition to the office and have decorating contests, Secret Santa games, and a White Elephant gift exchange. This way, you still feel like you are celebrating the season even when surrounded by your work family instead of your actual family.
Cubicle/Area Decoration Contest
Starting a contest for decorating your personal area or cubicle can be an exciting and fun activity that brings light-heated rivalry to work and helps people feel involved and connected to something fun even though they are at work. Decorations can involve traditional garlands and tiny Christmas trees or wreaths, lights, and stockings, or you can go extra creative and include toys and scenes of holiday merriment acted out with unexpected props such as toy dinosaurs or animals. Generally the more unexpected and humorous, the more points your peers will give you, so go all out!
Secret Santa
A sort of office tradition, Secret Santa games bring fun to the workplace and the ability to help bring you closer to your coworkers by showing them how well you know them. Starting immediately after Thanksgiving, have coworkers that want to be a part of the gift exchange writes their names on pieces of paper, and then draw from a bowl. Set rules about the amount of gift each person gives the recipient that they drew, and set a date for guessing who everyone’s Secret Santa was. This game gives people the opportunity to give people they might not interact with too much gifts that show they appreciate them and also practice their sneaky skills. Add another level and add an extra prize such as a $5 Star buck gift card for those that correctly guess their Secret Santa’s.
White Elephant
White Elephant games can be some of the most entertaining games for offices and can be extra fun if the competition gets heated. Before the game, set rules. The gifts can either come from home or a price point can be set for gifts from stores. The day of the exchange, have everyone draw a number from a hat or bowl. Number one picks a gift and unwraps it. Number two can take number one’s gift or unwrap and new one and so on until everyone has a gift. Rules such as not being able to take a gift right back after it was taken from you should apply, as should a limit on the number a gift can be traded, such as three times.
Bringing the holidays to the office can be a very fun experience and can helping bring you and your coworker’s closer together. There doesn’t have to be a lot of time or money involved, but it can a lot of fun and excitement in an environment that can too often be too sterile.
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