As we navigate 2020, we have been faced with disappointments, challenges and uncertainties. We have also learned and tried new things! We know how important social interaction is to our mental health, and it can be challenging now to fill that need. As we head into the holiday season, we are considering new ways that we can celebrate the holidays and socialize with our families and friends. Here are some ideas from your co-workers to connect with your loved ones over the holidays, if you aren’t able to be with them in person.
- Apps such as House Party – you can have a virtual gathering where you can video chat and play games with a group of people.
- Kahoot for family games – your kids may use this in school and they probably love it. It is a game based learning platform (ex. quizzes) that multiple people can join, and does have a fee.
- Send printed photos or kid’s drawings to family members.
- Send an encouraging note, email, or card to friends, family, and co-workers.
- Virtual family gatherings via Zoom, Microsoft TEAMS, Skype, FaceTime, etc.
- Call on the phone if Grandpa doesn’t ‘zoom’ 🙂
- Consider your holiday traditions, and see if you can continue any of them in a different way – maybe someone makes Grandma’s special Christmas candies and ships some to family members, or individual families do the annual sledding at their homes and share photos or videos of it with everyone, or a Zoom call while watching the Thanksgiving football game.
- Have a younger family member help put together a collage or scrolling pictures of family members or past gatherings – throw in some new and funny pics to share with everyone!
- Have a family trivia contest – ask each family member ahead of time for some random/interesting facts about them, put them into trivia questions and see how everyone does.
- Family members or friends each put together a Power Point about a topic and
share it while video chatting, like which breed of dog each person in the friend group would be and why, favorite memories of grandparents, bucket list of top 5 things you want to do in your lifetime, etc. - Christmas tree or gingerbread house decorating contest
- Secret Santa or White Elephant – you could pick names and mail the gift ahead of time to be opened during the zoom meeting!
Plan ahead so that your holidays are more enjoyable and can still provide you that precious time with loved ones. You may make some fun memories that you’ll talk about for years!