40 Christmas spirit week ideas for work, with 3 ready schedules
Dress-up, activity, giving, food and remote days for the weeks before the break. Plus three Monday-to-Friday schedules, a 12-day plan and an announcement email, each one copy away.
A Christmas spirit week gives the busiest weeks of the year five small reasons to stop and laugh together. These 40 Christmas spirit week ideas for work are all different from the classics (Ugly Sweater Day, Cookie Swap Day and the rest are in our 45 spirit week ideas). Most use clothes or supplies people already have, and the remote versions give people at home their own days.
Pick five, or copy one of the three ready schedules: a Christmas week, a winter holiday week for mixed teams, and a remote week.
40 Christmas spirit week ideas for work
Mix groups across the week: an outfit day, a thing to do, one giving day and a treat. Every idea works in an office, and most work on camera.
10 Christmas dress-up days
Most cost nothing if you raid a closet or a craft drawer, and all of them show up on camera.
- Tacky Tinsel Day: Wear tinsel or garland as a scarf, a belt, a bracelet or a crown.
- Elf Uniform Day: Stripes, a felt vest, or just a paper badge with your elf name on it.
- Ski Lodge Day: Puffer vests, patterned knits and goggles pushed up on your head. No skiing required.
- Light-Up Day: Anything that glows: a battery light necklace, a blinking pin, light-up laces.
- Candy Cane Stripe Day: Red and white stripes anywhere: shirt, socks, tie or a ribbon in your hair.
- Winter Animal Day: Black and white for a penguin, all white for a polar bear, a red scarf for a fox.
- Toy Shop Day: Come as a classic toy: a toy soldier, a rag doll, a robot, a teddy bear.
- Gingerbread Day: A brown top with white ribbon for icing and paper-circle buttons.
- Gift Bow Day: Stick a gift bow somewhere unexpected, then count the bows in the team photo.
- Sparkle Day: Sequins, glitter and gold, as a preview of New Year's Eve.
Planning a full sweater day instead? Our ugly sweater party guide has DIY ideas, contest categories and games.
10 activity days
For the people who would rather do something than wear something.
- Paper Snowflake Day: Everyone cuts one snowflake at their desk, and by 4 pm the window is covered.
- Lights Walk Day: A 20-minute lunch walk to the nearest light display; remote people post their street's best.
- Winter Jigsaw Week: A 1,000-piece winter puzzle on a break room table. Anyone can add a piece.
- Hide the Elf: A small toy elf hides somewhere new each morning. The first finder posts a photo.
- Holiday Karaoke Lunch: Winter songs on the big screen, duets encouraged, and nobody has to sing.
- Next Year Predictions: Everyone writes one kind, funny prediction for the team, read out at the January kickoff.
- Book Swap Day: Bring a book you finished this year and leave with someone else's.
- Best Photo of the Year: Everyone shares a favorite photo from the last 12 months, work or life.
- Winter Memory Guess: Write a favorite winter memory on a card. Read them out unsigned and guess the writer.
- Teach a Holiday Skill: Ten-minute lunch demos: crisp wrapping corners, a napkin fold, a card trick.
For a decorating day with judging, use the categories in our office Christmas decorating contest guide.
6 giving days
One giving day turns the week into something people are proud of. Pick the charity before you announce.
- Donation Drive Day: Pick one local charity, share its wish list and keep a labeled box by the door all week.
- Food Bank Shift: Book a two-hour team shift sorting donations at a local food bank. December slots go early.
- Cards for a Care Home: Make cards for the residents of a nearby care home, after asking what they accept.
- Charity Vote Day: If the company gives at year end, everyone gets three votes on where the money goes.
- Kindness Bingo: A card of small kind acts: refill the coffee, give a specific compliment, fix the printer jam.
- Thank the Building Crew: A group card and a treat tray for the cleaners, security and front desk team.
6 food days
No alcohol, all easy to set up in a break room. Label every dish with its ingredients.
- Waffle Bar Breakfast: Two waffle irons, fruit, whipped cream and syrup, served before the first meeting.
- Family Recipe Book Day: Everyone sends one holiday recipe, and one person turns them into a team PDF.
- Candy Cane Taste Test: Line up odd candy cane flavors, taste them blind and rank them on a whiteboard.
- Popcorn Bar Afternoon: Plain popcorn plus toppings like cinnamon sugar, parmesan and a chocolate drizzle.
- Chocolate Fondue Hour: A pot of melted chocolate with strawberries, pretzels and marshmallows to dip.
- Tea and Cider Tasting: Four teas or hot apple ciders, no alcohol, tasted blind with a vote at the end.
8 remote versions
Built for a video call and the team channel, so people at home get their own days, not a view of the office.
- Tiny Tree Challenge: Build the smallest decorated tree you can from desk supplies, then show it on camera.
- Winter Weather Report: Everyone posts the temperature outside at 9 am. The coldest and warmest spots get a shout-out.
- Blind Snowman Draw: Everyone draws a snowman with eyes closed, then holds it up for the gallery view reveal.
- Collage Card Day: Everyone sends a festive selfie and one person builds the team's holiday card.
- Winter Sounds Quiz: Play ten short sounds (sleigh bells, a crackling fire, boots on snow) and guess each one.
- Out-of-Office Contest: Everyone writes their funniest holiday out-of-office reply. The team votes on one to use.
- Winter Bucket List: Everyone posts three things they want to do this winter, and anyone who has done one adds a tip.
- Peppermint Bark Cook-Along: One teammate leads a no-oven recipe on camera, and everyone buys the same four ingredients.
3 Christmas and winter spirit week schedules to copy
Most days pair an outfit with something to do, and every day comes from the 40 ideas above. Copy one into your team channel or the email below.
The Christmas spirit week
For teams where most people celebrate Christmas and want the full red-and-white week.
- Monday
- Tacky Tinsel Day + Donation Drive Day. The box stays out until Friday.
- Tuesday
- Elf Uniform Day + Hide the Elf. The elf moves every morning until Friday.
- Wednesday
- Candy Cane Stripe Day + Candy Cane Taste Test
- Thursday
- Toy Shop Day + Teach a Holiday Skill
- Friday
- Light-Up Day. Finale: a hosted holiday game at 3 pm, then the donation drop-off.
The winter holiday spirit week
The inclusive version: every day works whatever people celebrate in December, or if they celebrate nothing at all.
- Monday
- Ski Lodge Day + Winter Jigsaw Week. The puzzle stays out all week.
- Tuesday
- Winter Animal Day + Tea and Cider Tasting
- Wednesday
- Paper Snowflake Day + Book Swap Day
- Thursday
- Kindness Bingo + Waffle Bar Breakfast
- Friday
- Sparkle Day + Best Photo of the Year. Finale: a hosted winter trivia game, or the photos as a slideshow.
The remote spirit week
For a team that only meets on video. Each day takes 10 to 30 minutes of a call, or none at all.
- Monday
- Winter Weather Report + Collage Card Day. Selfies due Wednesday.
- Tuesday
- Peppermint Bark Cook-Along
- Wednesday
- Blind Snowman Draw + Winter Sounds Quiz
- Thursday
- Out-of-Office Contest + Winter Bucket List
- Friday
- Tiny Tree Challenge. Finale: unveil the card, then a hosted game or a kit everyone opens together.
12 days of Christmas ideas for work
Spirit week too much for your team? Run one small thing a day over the last 12 workdays before the break. The organizer does the work, everyone else just shows up.
- Hang the countdown: A 12-link paper chain by the coffee machine, or a pinned post. Remove a link each morning.
- Mystery desk treat: A small wrapped treat on every desk before 9 am. Remote teammates get a coffee e-gift card.
- One-question trivia: One holiday trivia question opens the day's first meeting. The winner picks tomorrow's question.
- The wins wall: Everyone adds one thing the team got done this year to a board or a shared doc.
- Fruit bowl drop: A big bowl of clementines in the kitchen, refilled all day.
- Secret compliment: Draw a name and leave that person a specific, kind note by noon.
- Meeting-free hour: One hour where no meetings run and everyone meets in the kitchen or on camera.
- Early log-off: Everyone signs off an hour early, in the office and at home.
- Lunch is on us: Order in for everyone in the office and send remote people a lunch credit.
- Name that tune: Post ten seconds of a winter song in chat at 10 am. The first right answer wins.
- Year in numbers: One slide of the team's year in fun numbers: coffees, tickets closed, new faces.
- The finale: The party, a hosted game or the gift exchange, and the last link of the chain.
Ending on a gift exchange? Our gift exchange ideas are sorted by budget, so nobody has to guess what to buy.
Christmas spirit week announcement email
Send it about two weeks ahead. Fill in the brackets; the days are the Christmas schedule above.
Subject: Christmas spirit week starts [Monday, date]: here's the plan
Hi team, Christmas spirit week runs [Monday to Friday, dates]. Every day is optional, nobody has to buy anything, and every theme works on camera too. Monday: Tacky Tinsel Day + Donation Drive Day. The box stays out until Friday. Tuesday: Elf Uniform Day + Hide the Elf. The elf moves every morning until Friday. Wednesday: Candy Cane Stripe Day + Candy Cane Taste Test Thursday: Toy Shop Day + Teach a Holiday Skill Friday: Light-Up Day. Finale: a hosted holiday game at 3 pm, then the donation drop-off. Post your photos in [#channel] and we'll show a few favorites on Friday. The donation box for [charity] is by [location] all week, and their wish list is here: [link]. Not into Christmas? Any winter outfit works on every dress-up day, and showing up in your usual clothes counts just as much. Questions or ideas? Just reply. [Your name]
How to keep a holiday spirit week inclusive
Not everyone celebrates Christmas, and plenty of people celebrate nothing in December. Six habits keep the week open to all of them.
- Run the winter version next to the Christmas one. Pair Ski Lodge Day with Elf Uniform Day and let people pick. Nobody has to explain why.
- Name it for everyone. On a mixed team, call it holiday spirit week or winter spirit week. The ideas stay the same.
- Keep every day optional, and score teams, not people. One point per department per day joined. Nobody gets singled out for sitting a day out.
- Always leave a free way in. Never require a purchase. For food days, add a non-food option and list the ingredients.
- Let people give time, not only money. A food bank shift or a card table is open to everyone, whatever their budget.
- Keep religious symbols out of required themes. Anyone can bring their own traditions to a show-and-tell. Nobody should be asked to dress in someone else's.
For the dates of other December holidays and how to mark them at work, see our inclusive holiday party ideas.
How to run Christmas spirit week at work
- Work back from the party. Most teams run it the week of the holiday party or the week before the break. Skip any year-end close week your team can't step away from.
- Send the email two weeks out. December calendars fill fast, and people need time to find tinsel or a toy soldier hat.
- Put the best day midweek. Long weekends are popular in December, so Tuesday to Thursday is the safest bet for a full room.
- Book any host or kit early. Hosted games book about 2 weeks ahead and kits about 3 weeks (about 5 weeks for international addresses).
- Pick the charity before you announce. Share the wish list in the first email so people can bring things on Monday.
- Keep client days normal. Dress-up days are for internal days. A gift bow on a client call is fine; a full elf uniform can wait.
Want someone to run the Friday finale?
A live host can run Friday for you: a holiday game show or winter trivia for about 60 minutes on Zoom (Teams, Google Meet or Webex on request), or a kit workshop where everyone decorates the same cookies together. Book hosted games about 2 weeks ahead and kits about 3 weeks ahead. See every option on our virtual holiday party page.
Three hosted games and a cookie kit, with today’s prices.
Planning the party after the week? Start with our office holiday party ideas, or get a free quote with your date and headcount.
