With the semester coming to an end and final exams quickly approaching, winter break is closer than ever! To me, winter break is the best part of the year. I can relax and visit all of my friends from home and make plans with family. No matter how winter break looks for you, here are some fun activities to do with friends over winter break!
Holiday Murder Mystery Party
Who said Halloween traditions have to end in October? Murder mystery parties are exciting no matter the time of year—and for the holidays, you can put a festive spin on the mystery.Â
Online stores like Amazon and Etsy offer holiday options for murder mystery kits, which ship quickly to your doorstep and are fun to play in person. There are even virtual options for those of you who have friends living far away! If you’re down for a holiday mystery, parties can be held over FaceTime or Zoom.
If you don’t want to pay for a party kit, you can write a holiday murder mystery yourself! There are three main elements to a murder mystery party: setting, characters, and plot. To keep things festive, you can choose a winter setting, like a snowed-in log cabin, a holiday train station, or an ice-skating rink. Once you choose your setting, you can write character cards for each player! On a card, write down costume ideas, personality traits, friendships with other characters, and secrets they must keep to advance the game and solve the mystery. Some murder mystery games involve props, like snow-globes, hand-written letters, coded messages, and fake IDs for characters. Once you’ve got a good idea for your characters and setting, choose the murderer and their motive! As the host, you’ll have the power to shape the game as it unfolds.
Ornament Exchange
Much like a white elephant gift exchange, in an ornament exchange, each person brings an ornament (or small holiday gift) to exchange with friends. When the party begins, everyone draws a number to determine the selection order. On the first turn, the starting player chooses a gift to unwrap from the unopened pile. Subsequent players can choose to unwrap a new gift or steal from the original player who unwrapped the first ornament. When someone’s gift is stolen, they can choose to either steal another gift or choose from the unwrapped pile. This continues until everyone has an ornament!
Alternatives to the traditional white elephant style of gift exchange include a Secret Santa style game, wherein players buy ornaments tailored to their friends. There is a game version of the exchange, where players roll dice to determine how many times their wrapped gift gets passed around to other players. This style is better for larger groups!
Hot Chocolate Bar and Cookie Decorating Station
If you’re looking to decorate a dessert for the holidays but aren’t too keen on making a gingerbread house, you can instead create a cookie decorating station! When my family makes cookies for the holidays, we also buy pre-shaped cookies, which are ready to place in the oven as soon as they are bought. Alternatively, you can band together as a group to make different kinds of cookies yourself, like sugar or gingerbread cookies, which are easy bases for decoration. Then, you can use frosting and sprinkles to decorate them!Â
If you’re feeling especially festive, you can set up a hot cocoa bar, which can include different types of hot chocolate (like regular, white chocolate, or peppermint flavors) and various toppings (like marshmallows, whipped cream, and caramel or chocolate syrups).
Holiday movie marathon
If you have a favorite childhood Christmas movie or even a recent film that has come out in the past few years that you want to show your friends, you can host a movie party! Other than watching holiday movies, you can also do other festive activities, like wearing matching pajamas, making warm drinks or cookies, or eating white-chocolate covered popcorn. The possibilities are endless! If you have a large number of people, you can vote from a selection of movies and choose a few to watch. The best part about this option is that the party can last for one movie, or extend into a day-long marathon!
The choice is yours!
Holiday parties are a great way to gather with friends and family while you have the time to get together. Whether you choose to explore any of these party options or create your own, I hope you enjoy a fun, relaxing winter break!