The holidays are a great time for families to get together and enjoy each other’s company. 

Whether during Christmas or Thanksgiving, families worldwide take time off their busy schedules to have fun and play games.

However, not every family can be complete every year. Some live countries away, while others are too busy to attend. Despite these challenges, families can still have fun through virtual conferencing apps.

Since the pandemic, using video call programs like Zoom or Google Meet has become the new norm. Though the world has returned to normal, families can still create virtual holiday parties to bridge the gap between one another. 

But what activities can be done virtually? Let us delve into the best online holiday activities to help you feel closer to your family members, regardless of distance. 

Virtual Escape Rooms 

Relatives who cannot be physically present do not have to miss out on the fun! 

They can join the rest of the family through one of the online holiday activities organized by Escapely. With exciting mechanics, thrills, and easy-to-use directions, virtual escape rooms can help you connect.

Escape rooms have always been a great way for people to put their puzzle-solving abilities to the test while helping them bond and grow together. 

Since the main goal is to escape before the time runs out, everyone learns how to work and communicate with one another.

However, distance makes it difficult to do physical escape rooms. Fortunately, virtual escape rooms still give you the same thrill and suspense without needing to leave your home.

A host gives families various puzzles and situations using a virtual escape room. The host puts them in virtual breakout rooms, where each person plays a part in solving escape puzzles. 

Even if a team doesn’t win, they create fun memories and a new favorite activity to explore with family members. They hardly feel the distance as they work against the clock, laugh with one another, and celebrate the holiday together. 

Virtual Secret Santa

Christmas parties are all about gift-giving, and a fun way to do this is through a game of Secret Santa. 

With this activity, people get a random person’s gift request while someone else gets their gift request. All they know of each other is the gift and a code name.

On the day of the Secret Santa activity, each person requests a gift for their Secret Santa. It is a fun and endearing activity that teaches people to be thoughtful and creative with their gifts.

Secret Santas can still happen even virtually, as there are many ways to give gifts. First, they can use a Secret Santa name picker website to enter their names and gift requests. Putting a gift budget helps narrow down possible gift requests.

Each person then draws a name and gift. After everyone buys the gift, they can ship it to the recipient. After everyone receives their gift, they can set up a video call to open them together.

If the shipping costs are too expensive (especially cross-country shipping), they can explore virtual gifts such as online vouchers or online tickets for an event they want. You can even set the delivery address as their home to cut costs. 

Thanks to virtual Secret Santa, everyone of all ages can experience the joy of gift-giving, even if they live far apart. 

Virtual Murder Mystery 

While holidays are often a fun and relaxed time, one way to spice things up and add even more excitement is through a murder mystery game. 

Like escape rooms, murder mystery games like Unsolved Case Files unite everyone to solve the puzzle. A great advantage of it is that you do not need to only do murder mystery games physically together. 

Picture this: you are a detective with an unsolved murder case. All you have are details about the murder and possible clues. 

Using your deduction skills and the help of your teammates, you will need to find the culprit before time runs out. 

Virtual murder mysteries take the excitement of an unsolved murder case to your personal devices.

Using video conferencing apps and the help of a host, your family can get together and solve various scenarios, murders, and experiences together. 

As everyone deduces the motive behind the murder and connects the details, each player’s bond with one another deepens. If communication is an issue within your family due to distance, this may be a great idea to help everyone communicate better. 

Virtual Holiday Dinner 

Delicious holiday foods are often the biggest highlight of holiday parties. Whether it’s a potluck or one family cooks for everyone, holiday meals are a great way to sit down and enjoy eating together.

These traditions do not have to end due to distance. Using online video call programs, everyone can still eat together as if they shared the same room.

Families can cook holiday meals with the usual holiday cuisine or other cuisines agreed upon by everyone. 

They can set up a video call and show everyone what they cooked, including funny stories while cooking or special ingredients they used. 

As they eat together on call, everyone can share stories or reminisce about past holidays together. Even if they do not leave the comfort of their own home, they can still feel the warmth of comfort of one another virtually. 

Virtual Holiday Party Bingo

Bingo is a tried-and-tested party game that many people of various ages can enjoy. 

Whether it’s the classic bingo style of calling out letters and numbers or customized bingo boards focusing on various phrases, it’s a simple yet effective way to have fun. 

Many online sites let you customize a Bingo card to include any words, numbers, or letters you want. For family activities, these phrases could refer to specific family memories, traditions, or members. 

For example, if the family often went to a beach during the summer, a tile on the card could be about whether anyone visited that beach within the year. 

It could even be funny traits some members have or family nicknames and inside jokes. 

Everyone can have a virtual copy of the bingo card using video calling programs. 

One person will pick out phrases within the tiles from a random picker online, and the first person to cross out tiles in various ways wins. 

Not only is it a fun way to bond online, but it is also a way for everyone to get to know each other, especially if the family has been separated by distance for a long while. 

Conclusion 

While the holidays are fun and heartwarming to spend with your loved ones, it may be difficult when a large distance separates you from your family. 

However, with the right virtual activities, planning, and cooperation from everyone, you can still feel the holiday cheer online. 

Whether you go for an escape room or decide on a virtual holiday dinner, everyone can have fun and create new memories and traditions together.