50 Great Staff Party Games for Teachers (or other Working Adults)
April 21, 2025
Are you on the planning committee for this year’s holiday or end-of-year staff party? This can be a daunting task, even for the most practiced of party-hosts. Unlike throwing a party for friends, at a party with coworkers, there can be a mix and clash of personalities, enthusiasm, and engagement, as well as the wildcard addition of spouses and partners. It can be helpful, regardless of the chumminess of your colleagues, to have a couple staff party games in your back pocket.
Why To Have Games at Your Staff Party
Whenever I think of staff holiday parties, I recall the iconic party scene in the 2002 Christmas comedy, The Santa Clause 2. The scene opens in the high school gymnasium, where the teachers and staff of the high school are attending the most underwhelming holiday party imaginable. Half of them look bored out of their minds, the other half might as well be asleep. But all of that changes when Tim Allen’s character (who is secretly Santa Claus) shows up with a bag of presents to hand out to everyone. Each person has been gifted the toy or game they most loved as a child, and the rest of the party is a roaring success, as they all spread out across the gym playing their new (old) games.
The truth is, everyone would rather have a good time at a staff holiday party than a bad time. Everyone loves to be entertained, to find connection, to laugh. Now, I might not be Santa Claus, but you will find below a robust and varied list of games to play at staff parties, regardless of the season. These staff party games are especially suited for teachers, but many can be used for a range of workplaces. We’ve split our list into several helpful categories, so you can find the ideal staff party games for your particular group of colleagues:
50 Great Staff Holiday Party Games for Teachers
- Simple low-prep staff party games
- Fun contests for competitive coworkers
- Get-to-know-you games for the start of the year
- Winter holiday-themed staff party games
- End-of-year staff party games
- Elaborate games for enthusiastic coworkers
Keep reading to see our entire list of games to play at staff parties. We hope you find a game or two to add to your party plans!
Simple Low-Prep Staff Party Games
Are you working with a limited budget for your staff holiday party (or maybe you spent it all on the food already)? These simple activities and games to play at staff parties are great no-cost and low-cost options, and good choices for staff who might be less willing to buy into more elaborate games.
1) Sticker Secret Agent
This simple game can run for the length of your party. Each person is given a sheet of ten small stickers, which they have to secretly place on other people throughout the night. If anyone sees them stickering, they have to accept a sticker from the person who noticed. Whoever is first to empty their sheet of stickers wins!
2) Don’t Say School
A variation on the classic baby shower game, “Don’t Say Baby,” this game designates a forbidden (but highly relevant) word that attendees are not allowed to say. Everyone starts with a clothespin or other small attachable item on their clothing. If anyone hears someone else say the forbidden word, they take a clothespin from them. Whoever ends up with the most clothespins at the end of the party wins! You can choose whatever word works best for your party: school, Christmas, summer, new year, etc.
3) Wink Assassin
Looking for simple staff party games without a lot of materials or prep? Look no further than Wink Assassin. All you need is enough chairs for everyone to sit in a circle, and slips of paper (or an impartial non-participant) to assign one person the “murderer.” That person subtly winks at other players to “murder” them—dramatic death scenes encouraged! The other players try to guess the murderer before they get offed themselves!
4) Rock Paper Scissors Tournament
A fun and easy way to get people moving—try a Rock Paper Scissors tournament. In this single-elimination tournament, winners move on to play another winner, while losers join their winner’s “hype squad.” At the end of the tournament, you should have one final match-up, and two crowds of supporters!
5) Who Am I?
A DIY version of Headbands or Heads Up, this simple party game has players trying to guess what secret identity has been assigned to them (their identity can be written on an index card and taped to their back, or affixed to them in another way they can’t see). They can ask simple yes or no questions in order to deduce who they are.
6) Categories
A simple party game that only requires a deck of cards. Players take turns drawing a card without looking and holding it face out for the rest of the players to see. The drawer names a category (like “types of dessert,” “kinds of weather,” or “sports teams”) and the other players have to name something in that category, based on the drawn number. For example, if the player draws a 3, and gives the category “brand name candy,” then each player would choose a brand name candy that is in their opinion a “3” (or not very good) on a scale of 1-13 (or Ace to King). The drawer then uses all these clues to try to guess the number on their card.
7) Board Game Party
Inspire some nostalgia by bringing a bunch of different board games and card games and allowing people to pick their passion. Lots of games can go on at once, and people can spectate, or switch games up as they like. Crowd-source by asking everyone to bring their favorite game from home or their classroom! Some public libraries also now have board game lending programs.
8) Donation Drive Raffle
If you want to add a civic-minded spin to your staff holiday party, try organizing a donation drive. Tell attendees ahead of time that you’ll be gathering donations at the party (e.g. non-perishable food or gently used clothing), and encourage them to participate by creating a raffle. For each donation someone brings, they get a ticket for a raffle. You can have one bigger item or several small choices.
9) Film screening
If you know your colleagues aren’t the type for interactive games, or if they’re just burned out from a long semester of teaching, try screening a classic movie. You could choose a holiday movie or a school-themed movie (The Breakfast Club or The Holdovers would be great choices!), or send out a poll and have your colleagues vote on what they want to watch!
Fun Contests for Competitive Coworkers
Do you have a competitive group of colleagues? Then these games and contests might be some good choices for your staff party!
10) Quantity Guessing Contest
A simple and classic contest that will take very little time to prep. Fill a glass jar or container with festive candies or another small item (and make sure to count them!). Each attendee can make a guess as to how many are in the jar. Whoever gets closest to the correct quantity wins—the prize can even be the jar of candy itself!
11) Mitten Hunt Game
If you’re having your party at your school, or in a rented space, you can set up this simple competition ahead of time. Hide one or two dozen of a small recognizable object around the party space. This can be a themed object, such as mittens or ornaments for a winter holiday party, or a school-themed item such as tiny cut-outs of your school mascot or your principal. Whoever finds the most of the objects by the end of the night wins a prize!
12) Who’s That Kid?
A fun competition that tests your colleagues’ facial recognition skills. Have everyone send a childhood picture of themselves to the party host. The host can put together a paper display or a PowerPoint, and everyone can place their guesses as to which childhood photo is which colleague. For a holiday twist, have everyone bring in a childhood picture from a winter holiday celebration.
13) Guess the Eyes Game
A variation of the above guessing game, Guess the Eyes challenges attendees to pick out who is who from only a slim photo cropped to just the eyes. For this game, colleagues will have to provide or take a picture of themselves straight on, and the host can crop each and place them in a numbered column or grid. It’s harder than it might seem!
14) Name That Tune
For this guessing competition, the host will play just the opening seconds of a song (five seconds, or ten seconds). The first person to identify the song gets a point. Try to choose a range of popular songs so everyone can participate. We recommend starting with the most recognizable songs and increasing the difficulty from there.
15) Trivia
Do you have some trivia nuts in your midst? This is a great competition that can be played in teams. Prepare a list of trivia questions ahead of time, and see how your colleagues do! You might decide to set a theme for your trivia, such as school-themed or holiday-themed. You can also do a range of questions to engage each of your colleagues’ specialties.
16) Cooking/Baking Contest
A fun competition for your culinarily-inclined colleagues. Offer up a cooking or baking contest, and have people sign up ahead of time to enter. At the party, the rest of your coworkers can be the judges, and privately rate the entries, with a blue ribbon going to the highest ranked! Try to choose a set category, like pies, cookies, soups, or chilis. You can also do a thematic category like “Sidesgiving” (favorite Thanksgiving sides) or festive charcuterie boards. Bonus: this will make your party double as an interactive potluck!
Get-To-Know-You Games For the Start of the Year
Are you organizing a party for the start of the school year, or as an orientation for new teachers and staff? These fun staff party games are perfect for getting to know your colleagues better!
17) Staff Bingo
For this getting-to-know-you game, you can provide blank or pre-made bingo boards. Each square can have a different category, such as “youngest sibling,” “has been to another country,” “has three kids,” “loves scary movies,” etc. Attendees can cross off a box when they find someone who matches a category, so this game encourages mingling and asking questions about one another.
18) Passions Tic Tac Toe
For a different variation on getting-to-know-you bingo, this game allows each player to share their interests with the group and find out what they might have in common. Players fill out a 3×3 grid with nine things they are passionate about. Then they mingle and compare notes, and if two people match passions, they sign each other’s board in that square. The first person to get tic-tac-toe (or three boxes in a row) wins!
19) Staff Trivia
For this variation on a trivia game, the host can gather a random fun fact about each person, and test each other’s knowledge (or first impressions!). This game is probably better for colleagues who have had some interaction with each other ahead of time, rather than complete strangers. It could also be fun for groups that know each other well, if the fun facts can stump your coworkers!
20) Speed Meeting
This fun and fast-paced game is based on the concept of speed dating. Attendees pair up for three-minute mini-meetings to get to know each other, and when the timer goes off, they switch to the next person. You can add an additional game element by challenging each pair to find something they have in common with each other.
21) Group Map
An interesting game for a group of colleagues that come from many different places (international schools would be especially well-suited). This collaborative activity asks participants to imagine the space they’re in as a map of the country, or the world. Everyone then arranges themselves on the map based on where they grew up.
22) Never Have I Ever
A classic party game that can be easily tailored to a work setting. It can be fun to get to know some of the particular work-related hurtles, milestones, challenges, and cringe-y moments that your colleagues have experienced. All players start with ten fingers up. Then players take turns sharing something they’ve never done or experienced, and if someone has, they put a finger down. The last person with fingers still up wins, and everyone learns about each other in the process!
23) Classroom Personality Challenge
A fun guessing game for a new school year. Ask each attendee to bring a unique item from their classroom or desk (or, for a slightly harder version, something new they acquired for their classroom for the new school year). Everyone can try to guess which item belongs to which person!
24) That’s My Line
Another fun guessing game that will help colleagues get to know each other and connect on similar media tastes and cultural touchstones. Each player recites a famous line from their favorite movie. The first person to guess the movie gets a point!
25) Jenga with a Twist
This fun party game adds an additional layer to the classic Jenga. You can buy a pre-made icebreaker Jenga game, or customize a set yourself. A “truth or dare” style Jenga game could include both challenges and icebreaker questions on alternating blocks, and players have to either complete the challenge or answer the question before they finish their turn.
26) Cell Phone Scavenger Hunt
A simple, low-prep scavenger hunt game that can help your colleagues get to know each other a little better! Create a list of prompts or tasks for players to find on their phone, with points awarded to whoever fulfills them. Some examples of prompts: a selfie from today; a pet photo as your phone background; over 200 contacts; less than 20 contacts; zero unread texts; zero unread emails; battery is at least 75%, etc.
Winter Holiday Staff Party Games
Perhaps the most common kind of staff party is the winter holiday staff party. Here are some activities and games to play at staff parties that are perfect for celebrating the holiday season and the new year!
27) Ugly Sweater Contest
Encourage your colleagues to come to the party dressed in the ugliest holiday-themed sweater they can find! Have everyone vote on the best (and/or ugliest) sweater, or give out different awards for best homemade sweater, best Christmas sweater, best teacher-themed sweater, etc.
28) Gingerbread House Contest
A fun interactive activity for your holiday staff party! This will require the hosts to gather supplies for the contest, including premade cookie houses or graham crackers, along with plenty of icing and thematic candies. Choose a judging panel to award winners for the most creative constructions, or have participants vote on their favorites!
29) White Elephant Gift Exchange
This game-ified gift exchange is a great idea if your colleagues are open to gifting each other. Each attendee brings a wrapped gift (make it easier with a spending limit). Then you draw numbers for what order people choose and open gifts. Any subsequent opener can choose to either keep the gift they open, or steal/trade it for a gift someone else already opened.
30) Blind Date with a Book Exchange
Another fun gift exchange idea that would work especially well for teachers! Each attendee brings a wrapped book (maybe a favorite of theirs, or a recently released book), with a tag that gives a one-line description and/or some genre stats about the book. Then people can choose which one they want based on the description. Or, you can do this gift exchange white elephant style as well!
31) Cookie Swap
This is a festive and delicious activity for a holiday party! Each attendee bakes and brings one or two dozen cookies (or, if you have the RSVP list ahead of time, you could request they bring one for everyone). Then everyone gets to try—and take home—a sampling of all the different cookies!
32) Holiday Minute to Win It
Based on the game show of the same name, Minute to Win It games are great for more enthusiastic and competitive groups! These brief timed 60-second challenges and race games can be themed specifically around the holidays. Some examples: a festive-colored cup stacking race, a marshmallow toss into hot chocolate mugs, or a reindeer antler ring toss.
33) Candy Cane Game
This silly and fast-paced holiday party game challenges participants to hook and transport as many candy canes as they can using only a single chopstick held in their mouth. Players can be in teams, relay-race style, or compete individually.
End-Of-Year Staff Party Games
You’re nearing the last day of school and summer is inching closer. Is your school planning an end-of-year celebration for teachers and staff? These fun staff party games and activities will help everyone toast another successful school year in the books!
34) Superlatives Ceremony
Celebrate the end of the school year with your own set of faculty and staff superlatives. You can send out a questionnaire beforehand for everyone to vote on who they believe best fulfills each superlative category, and announce the winners at the party. Remember to keep the categories fun and light!
35) The Prediction Game
In this light-hearted game, players write down predictions about the other players—the more specific and wittier the better. For an end-of-year party, these predictions could be themed around what will happen over the summer break or when you return for the upcoming school year (e.g. “This person is going to travel more days than they’re home this summer” or “This person is going to come back to school with dyed hair”). Then, people take turns reading the predictions allowed, and everyone guesses who they think will fulfill that prediction.
36) PowerPoint Party
After a whole year of teaching a set curriculum, your colleagues might be a bit tired of their core subjects. In this fun activity, attendees can create a brief 3- to 5-minute PowerPoint presentation on any topic of their choosing, the sillier and more specific the better! This will give your coworkers a chance to share some of their interests and obsessions outside of the classroom.
37) Two Truths and a Lie
A fun way to wrap up the school year, this game can be tailored to what happened over the course of the year. Players say three statements out loud to the group, two that are true, and one that is a lie. Then the other players try to guess which is the lie.
38) Prom-themed Costume Contest
Celebrate the end of the year by throwing your own faculty prom! Challenge your colleagues to come dressed in their best formal finery, or perhaps in a throwback to their own prom style. It can be fun to see all the different eras of formalwear between the generations! Award the best dressed as Prom Kings and Queens!
39) Staff Talent Show or Cabaret
For more gregarious groups, a staff talent show or cabaret could be a fun activity! Theater and music teachers will especially excel at this, but you might find some hidden talents in the group as well!
40) Picnic & Field Day
Take advantage of the turn of the seasons by hosting your staff part outdoors, with picnic refreshments and lots of lawn games! Cornhole, bocce, horseshoes, and croquet are easy portable games, but you could also set up dodgeball, Wiffle ball, badminton, or a water balloon toss.
Elaborate Games for Enthusiastic Coworkers
If you know your colleagues would be excited about some more elaborate staff party games and activities, try the ones below! We wouldn’t suggest trying these with your coworkers unless you’ve had enthusiastic buy-in for games in the past!
41) Staff Olympics
This will require some planning from the hosts as well as enthusiasm from attendees, but an Olympic-style competition could be a great way to bond as a staff! This kind of competition is adaptable, and can include a range of relay races and team-based activities. This can also be adapted specifically for a winter holiday party by doing a festive set of games and calling it Reindeer Games.
42) Indoor Snowball Fight
This could be a fun holiday party game for a group that wants to let loose a little. The “snowballs” here are crumpled-up pieces of paper, making it easy to do indoors. Once someone gets hit by a snowball, they’re out of the game. You can play on teams or individually!
43) Charades
This classic party game will definitely work best with enthusiastic participants! Depending on the occasion, you can choose charade prompts around a certain theme, or have players make up their own.
44) Fishbowl
A fun variation on charades, this three-round game is not for the faint of heart! Players start by writing people, places, and things on pieces of paper, and placing them in a shared bowl: the sillier and more specific the better. The group splits into two teams, and players take 60-second turns trying to get their teammates to guess as many prompts from the bowl as they can. During the first round, they have to describe the prompts without using the words on the paper. During the second round, they have to use a single word. And during the third round, they have to act out the prompt without speaking.
45) Karaoke
A fun activity for a more extroverted group of colleagues! Karaoke could also pair well with some more low-key activities that could be done simultaneously, to put less pressure on the singers.
46) Costume Contest
A fun themed costume contest is a great way to engage your colleagues and get them to let loose. Some possible themes: pajama party, summer vacation attire, New Years celebration, wildest school spirit, etc.
47) DIY Escape Room
If the hosts have a bit more time on their hands, they could plan and execute a homemade escape room for partygoers. With a combination of smaller puzzles, riddles, and physical tasks, you can create a larger “escape room” style challenge. There are many premade puzzles online that can be combined into a unique challenge!
48) Murder Mystery Game
A classic party game that may require a bit more planning on the part of the hosts. Attendees are each assigned a character or role, and have to gather clues to try to solve the mystery. This game works especially well if people are willing to get into their characters.
49) Paint and Sip
This activity will require some materials and preparation ahead of time. If you have an art teacher willing to lead a tutorial, that could be a fun option, but it also could be entertaining for the group to paint along with a Bob Ross painting video.
50) Retro Video Game Tournament
If you have access to tech setup in your staff party space, it would be fun to put together a video game tournament with retro games. You will probably need several screens or projectors for a full tournament-style competition. You could also set up these kinds of games in tandem with a board game party.
More Resources
Looking for more ideas for games and activities? Check out these additional resources:
