If you’ve been following us for some time now, you know that Red Door’s mission is to deepen relationships through creative entertainment. We design and build our escape rooms to bring people together, whether the players are family, friends, coworkers, or even strangers—as Kat shared in her story with Kennedy last week.
Sometimes, in a professional setting, it can feel more challenging to connect with those whose affections aren’t necessarily unconditional. If you want to throw a Christmas party this year that will double as a bonding experience—between coworkers or anyone for that matter—try out some of these great ideas:
1. DIY PHOTO BOOTH
I’m not really into selfies but if I see a cute little photo booth, there’s nothing holding me back from pulling my friends along to wear the crazy props and make silly faces. At every event that I throw, you can bet that I’ll have a place for people to capture the fun memories. Photo booths are a lighthearted way to lose your inhibitions and have fun with fellow partygoers! My go-to is pretty simple and mainly requires a backdrop stand, sheer curtains, and curtain lights. The left image shows a purchased stand that I borrowed from my church and the right shows one that I made myself out of PVC pipe that I spray painted copper. If you don’t already have a background stand, follow this easy diagram below to make your own. You can find the necessary materials at your local hardware store!
How to make a DIY Photo Booth Backdrop Stand out of PVC pipe:
Once you’ve got your stand, dress it up however you like! You can use a metallic finish spray paint as I did or leave it plain. I’ve hung handmade banners and fake flowers taped onto strands of fishing wire. I can usually find holiday-themed props at the dollar store during the corresponding seasons, but you can also find printables online or make your own. Costumes and balloons are always fun. And everyone loved the DIY polaroid frame I made out of posterboard for my graduation party! These are just some of the many ideas you can use to pair with your backdrop.
2. CHRISTMAS SUPERLATIVES
Shout out to my sister for making up this fun activity for our church’s youth group! You might know the superlatives that you find at the back of your old high school yearbook: best smile, class clown, most likely to be a reality TV show, etc. This is a game for everyone to have a good laugh and test their knowledge on the people they hang around almost every day. Our youth group has already played this game with regular superlatives and we’ll also be playing a holiday version for our Christmas party. Feel free to use these ideas or come up with your own personalized categories! Print out your own chart of superlatives and have your party guests fill them out. We laughed so much finding out the results at the end and my sister made it even more fun by awarding customized stickers to the winners.
3. SECRET SANTA MAD LIBS
In my experience with past Secret Santa gift exchanges, you usually draw a name and shop according to that person’s mini wishlist scrawled on the paper. While that’s always fun, it doesn’t really leave room for getting to know or growing closer to your gift recipient. Try out this Mad Libs version of Secret Santa in which each person will fill out some info about themselves that will help each Santa find a gift based on what they’ve learned. Print out this card that I made or you can make this game unique to your guests.
We hope that your holiday season is full of joy and fellowship! Stay tuned next week for a special announcement that’ll help any procrastinators manage to pull together an exciting last-minute holiday activity!
