Play Socially Distant Santa This Christmas
These are the best ways to share holiday joy with those you love.
With a global pandemic raging around us, Christmas as we know it is off the table this year. Most of the typical ways we celebrate the holidays are no longer suitable or safe in the world of COVID-19. No more parties or extravagant gift shopping trips to the mall or New York City. Family gatherings are limited, and the list of special holiday events has shrunk dramatically. It might seem like there’s no point to having any Christmas spirit at all and that we should all just give up and embrace our inner Scrooge.
Photo: Tumblr
I, however, politely disagree. Yes, the winter holidays, as with most things, look very different this year compared to what we’re used to. But, that doesn’t mean you still can’t find new and creative ways to have fun with your nearest and dearest. Use this unique situation as an opportunity to let your imagination run wild. There are still plenty of ways to have a great holiday while keeping everyone safe. Who knows? You might even find yourself with a new end-of-year tradition!
Contactless Secret Santa
Gone are the analogue ways of simply drawing a name on a piece of paper out of a hat. With online services such as Elfster, an online Secret Santa generator, you can host your own virtual gift exchange with friends and family far and wide. With Elfster, you simply enter the email addresses of your participants, their names, and any other necessary information such as budget, whether the present should it be gift-boxed, wrapped, or shipped direct, and party details (full-out holiday glam? A red and green theme maybe?). Let the website’s algorithms decide who buys for whom. The next step is to set a date when everyone can meet up online and open their gifts. Make sure it’s far enough in advance that all participants are given sufficient time to purchase their gifts and mail them to recipients. You can use any number of online video chatting platforms for your virtual gift exchange from Zoom to Skype, Google Hangouts to FaceTime. Just make sure everyone is sent the link in advance, as no one enjoys having to scramble to find the link right before the meeting actually starts. It’s helpful to include the order in which participants will open their present in the meeting invite. Setting an order helps eliminate confusion over who goes when and saves time that could be spent enjoying each other’s company.
Virtual Gingerbread House Decorating Contest
A classic part of the holiday, gingerbread houses provide the perfect outlet to unleash your creative decorating skills (and eat handfuls of the candy meant for decorating of course). This year, inspire a bit of Christmas competition by hosting a gingerbread house decorating contest, all virtual, of course. There are a few different ways in which this can be done. Some people find the physical process of decorating to be an essential part of the competition. It certainly provides the opportunity to taunt your competitors over the flawlessness of your gingerbread house or the speed in which you’ve finished your design. The new virtual aspect allows you to harmlessly boast to your heart's content from the safety of your own home without fear of retaliation or sabotage from fellow competitors. Or, perhaps you would rather skip all of that and just have participants show off their completed designs. It’s all up to you, including whether you plan on offering a physical prize of some sort, besides bragging rights obviously. Make sure to send a meeting link in advance as well as include any details you think are necessary. It wouldn’t be in the holiday spirit to leave a friend high and dry over the particulars.
Socially Distant Ugly Christmas Sweater Party
Ah, yes, the famous ugly Christmas or Hanukkah sweater party. Whether you believe in sweater authenticity (only thrift store-scrounged sweaters count in my humble opinion; bonus points if they’re itchy and uncomfortable, too) or prefer the pop culture novelty offerings available at many retailers, there is no denying how much fun an ugly sweater party can be. While the ordinary manner of hosting and attending may be out the window, there’s no reason why you can’t still host an altered event of your own. Zoom has been a commonplace feature in our school and work lives, why not make it a holiday one as well? Send out a meeting link to your guests. One upside to not hosting a physical party in your own home is the freedom to invite as many people as you want, not as many people as will fit in your house. There is also the additional advantage of not having to provide food or cleanup. Encourage invitees to show off their most appalling sweater finds as well as their Christmas decorations. Play some fun virtual-oriented games such as Christmas movie trivia and share some laughs. Tis the season to be jolly after all!
Holiday Cookie Exchange
Baking, decorating, sharing, and most importantly eating cookies is a delicious Christmas tradition beloved by pretty much everyone. Inviting scores of loved ones over to bake and enjoy your holiday creations might be a no go this year, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still share a bit of holiday joy with your friends and family. Host a cookie exchange instead! Find out who is interested in receiving cookies and/or baking them and set up a delivery date (outdoors preferred, and mask-wearing essential!) for everyone to drop off and share their cookie masterpieces. Cookies can be placed in bags on a table outside, or in the trunk of the car to be exchanged one person at a time to ensure social distance. Nothing beats person-to-person interaction, but adapting to these strange times doesn’t mean you have to forego holiday baked goodies completely.
Just because Christmas doesn’t look exactly the way we’re all used to, it doesn’t mean an end to beloved holiday celebrations. Adapting to new and unusual situations is a necessary part of life. Things will, hopefully soon, be back to normal and therefore, so will Christmas. Until then, however, use your imagination and dream up new ways to enjoy the many joys of the season, while spending time with those you love the most in a safe and socially distant manner. After all, the safer and more careful we are, the sooner will things get back to normal. I hope you enjoyed this small taste of potential 2020 holiday activities. Feel free to come up with your own incredible ideas as well!
Wishing you all the safest and most joyous of holiday seasons,
Au revoir et joyeuses fêtes.