Hallo g’vner! You found our list of fancy virtual tea party ideas.

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Tea parties are a time-honored tradition where guests gather to sip tea, nibble on desserts or light refreshments, and enjoy light conversation. Virtual tea party ideas are ways to entertain guests during an afternoon tea held via video conference software like Skype, Zoom, or Microsoft Teams.

These parties are an example of virtual social event ideas, and can function as online team building activities or virtual birthday parties.

This list contains:

• virtual tea party games
• online tea party crafts
• virtual tea tastings
• Zoom tea party backgrounds
• printable tea party games
• tea party games for adults

Plus more online high tea tips. ☕

Grab a cup and take a sip, because here comes the tea!

List of virtual tea party ideas

From care packages, to crafts, to games, here is a list of ways to make your remote tea party equal parts comfy and engaging.

1. Tea vs Coffee (Fully Hosted) 🍵

Virtual tea tastings are a calming yet energizing way to spend time together online. Tea vs Coffee is a zen virtual tea and coffee tasting ceremony for remote teams.

Guests join the host on Zoom for thoughtful icebreaker questions, short meditations, and an instructional brewing and tasting session. The goal of the gathering is to inspire calm and mindfulness, achieving group unity and serenity through the act of being present while physically distant.

Learn more about Tea vs Coffee.

2. Virtual Tea Party Bingo

Virtual Tea Party Bingo, similar to Online Team Building Bingo, is a one of many printable tea party games to play as the party progresses. Simply send cards to partygoers, and instruct attendees to be on the lookout for behaviors listed on the card. When another guest commits an act on the card, players will write their name in the square.

The first player to connect five consecutive squares and call Bingo wins!

We made a Virtual Tea Party Bingo template for you to use:

Feel free to add your own clues, and be sure to randomize the squares so that not everyone wins at once!

3. Virtual Tea Party Scavenger Hunt

Scavenger hunts make great tea party games for adults and kids alike. When playing online, lightning scavenger hunts tend to work better than traditional hunts, since the quick nature of the game holds players’ attention more effectively. To play a lightning scavenger hunt, simply read prompts one at a time, then award points to the team member who performs a task or fetches an item first.

We made a virtual tea party scavenger hunt template for you to use during your bash:

For more information, check out our guide to virtual scavenger hunts.

4. Decorum or Deceit?

Playing virtual tea party games entertains party guests between bouts of insightful conversation. Decorum or Deceit? is a fun challenge that asks partygoers to discern whether etiquette rules are phoney or for-real. To play, read off the rules, then ask guests to decide whether the etiquette tip is fact or fake. The polling or reaction features in Zoom facilitate the voting process.

We made a template and answer key you can use to run your game:

For added fun, make up your own bogus rules to share with each other. You can even turn the etiquette into a tea-drinking game, making players sip after breaking a rule.

Also, brush up on good behavior by checking out our virtual meeting etiquette tips article.

5. Teatime Care Packages

Mailing tea-themed care packages makes your online affair a more hands-on experience and builds anticipation for the event. Plus, everyone loves to receive presents!

Here are some ideas of items to include in teatime care packages:

• Teas
• Infusers
• Fun mugs
• Cup koozies
• Cookies
• Mini cupcakes or cupcakes in a jar
• Honey sticks
• Stirring spoons
• Fake flowers
• Doilies
• Paper fans
• Printed napkins

If your online tea party occurs at work, then consider sending these fancy care packages as virtual employee engagement idea. Goodie bags do wonders for keeping family and friends interested during events too!

6. Virtual Tea Bake Off

Drinks might be the main event at a tea party, but snacks come in as a close second. If you Google “tea party,” then you will find pages of pictures of pastel pastries, dainty finger sandwiches, scones, cupcakes, cookies, and plenty of other scrumptious baked goods.

You and your crew can channel your inner “Great British Bake-Off” and whip up desserts together on camera. Simply choose your treats, prepare your recipes, then give guests 30 minutes to prepare the confections. Because the point of a party is to socialize, ask attendees to bring their phones or laptops into the kitchen so that you can chat while you bake. When the bakers finish, show off the finished products and choose a winner. While you cannot judge a winner by taste test, you can cast votes based on appearance, structural integrity and other factors.

Even if you do not wish to compete, you can bake together on camera, or before the party. Consider swapping recipes beforehand in a Slack channel, social media group, or Google Doc. You could even send participants a “secret ingredient” to incorporate into the recipes. If your crew would rather the oven stay off, then purchase and send artisan desserts instead.

Check out this list of virtual cooking classes too.

7. Mug Decorating

Mug decorating enables guests to customize cups for the event, as well as mementos to enjoy long after the party ends!

To host a mug decorating session during your remote tea party:

1. Purchase blank mugs to send to participants
2. Assemble decorating kits with supplies like sharpies, paint pens, mod podge, nail polish, or chalkboard paint.
3. Send craft kits to guests.
4. Embellish your mugs together while on a video call.

Be sure to show off your finished projects before brewing beverages. As a fun follow-up, create a social media hashtag or online photo album so attendees can share pictures of themselves enjoying the cups post-party.

8. Candle Making

Fancy teacups make great candle containers, and teacup candles make great virtual tea party crafts.

First, find pretty teacups. Flea markets and vintage sales often sell porcelain cups for low prices, but you can find inexpensive online options at Goodwill, or similar vendors.

Guests will also need candle-making materials: at minimum, wax chips and wicks. Aromatherapy oils and dyes are good additions too. Craft stores carry these items, but buying in bulk might be more prudent. Either send supplies to attendees, or reimburse for the cost of materials.

To make the candles:

1. Set the wick in the cup.
2. Melt the wax, adding fragrance and color if desired.
3. Pour liquid wax into the cup.
4. Wait for the mixture to cool.

Once the candle sets, it is ready to burn.

9. Tea Painting

Tea painting is an art project that uses materials your guests will already have at hand: tea and water. To make the paint, use twice as much tea and half as much water. Cardstock or watercolor paper tend to be the best canvas.

To mix certain colors, use the following teas:

• Blue or pink – berry tea
• Red – rooibos
• Yellow – chamomile
• Green – matcha
• Brown – black tea

One of the more intimate virtual tea party ideas is to paint cards together, write personal messages, and send the greetings to fellow guests after the call. This activity helps participants feel closer, even when physically far apart!

Check out our list of online art classes for more ideas.

10. Zoom Background Contest

Chances are, your guests will not join the party from decadent tea parlors or lush gardens, but thanks to Zoom’s custom virtual background feature, you can pretend!

Zoom tea party backgrounds set the proper atmosphere for your party. Consider holding a Zoom background contest to help set the tone for a fancy affair.

Here are a few suggestions for tea party Zoom backdrops to inspire you:

• Victorian Mansion
• Rose garden
• Enchanted forest
• Mad Hatter’s table from Alice in Wonderland
• Princess palace
• Fairytale landscape
• The Boston Harbor

Simply announce the contest on your invitations, then join the party, judge the scenery, and choose a winner! Feel free to use the poll option to anonymously vote for the best background.

11. Tea Leaf Fortune Telling

After you finish your beverages, read fortunes in the tea leaves at the bottom of the cups. Tasseography, the practice of tea reading, works best if you use loose leaves.

Here is a list of common tea leaf shape meanings:

• Anchor – luck in business or love
• Apples – longevity and health
• Birds – good luck or happy travels
• Circles – material good fortune
• Cross – trouble or death
• Hammer – overcoming struggles
• House – success
• Line – journey or travel
• Moon – prosperity or happiness
• Squares – peace
• Sword – arguments or unrest
• Worms or snakes – enemies or deceit.

Simply drink the tea, study the shapes, and discuss possible meanings. For more information, check out this guide to tasseography.

12. Hot Toddies

Hot toddies are warm drinks blended with spirits that serve as comforting pick-me-ups during colder months. Brewing these delightful drinks livens up remote tea parties by creating a virtual happy hour atmosphere.

Here is how to make a basic hot toddy or tea cocktail:

1. Add honey to the bottom of the mug.
2. Brew a cup of tea within the mug.
3. Add 1.5 oz whiskey, rum, or brandy.
4. Garnish with lemon.

Feel free to experiment with different flavors of tea.

For extra fun, turn standard drinking games like Never Have I Ever and Truth or Dare into classy tea party games for adults.

Check out our list of virtual happy hour ideas for more inspiration.

Virtual Happy Hour Bingo

13. Teatime Talking Topics

Teatime is a time to chat and catch up with friends. By preparing talking points ahead of time, you ensure that chatter flows just as readily as tea at your virtual party.

Here are a few virtual tea party conversation starters:

• What is your favorite kind of tea?
• What is the most beautiful location you have ever visited?
• What is the best way to spend a rainy afternoon?
• Describe your dream house.
• If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
• What is one interesting thing you recently learned?
• Who do you admire?
• What is the last book you read?

Check out our lists of icebreaker questions and fun question games for more ideas.

14. Online Murder Mystery

Tea is a Victorian tradition, and while many folks think of this period as prim and proper, crime and scandal are also recurring themes of the era. Which means that murder mysteries are fitting virtual tea party activities.

First, find a virtual murder mystery with a theme that fits into your tea party. Then, invite your guests to become detectives and unravel the cold case while sipping and snacking.

For more ideas, check out our list of virtual murder mystery party games.

Final Thoughts

Virtual tea parties are great mid-afternoon ways to unwind and catch up with coworkers, friends, or family. The casual, relaxed atmosphere encourages mindfulness, friendly interaction, and joy. Most folks enjoy the chance to catch up, dress up, share a snack and drink, and celebrate a special occasion in an informal setting.

Next, check out this post on virtual wine tasting and this one with games to play on Zoom.

FAQ: Virtual Tea Party

Here are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about virtual tea parties.

What are virtual tea parties?

Virtual tea parties are online gatherings where guests meet up via video call to share tea, light snacks, and stimulating conversation. These parties occur via video meeting software like Zoom, Skype, GoogleMeet, or Microsoft Teams.

How do you do a virtual tea party?

To host a virtual tea party, first choose a date and time. Since tea is usually an afternoon affair, consider holding the event around lunchtime. Next, create a virtual meeting link and send it to your guests. Designing an artful ecard is a great way to grab attention and boost attendance.

Then, plan out activities, games, and talking topics to entertain guests during the party. Sending physical items like teatime care packages, craft kits, or food is a nice touch. Finally, when the day of the event arrives, gather with attendees on Zoom, Skype, WebEx, GoogleMeet, or a similar video meeting platform, and enjoy each other’s company alongside a nice cup of tea.

What are some good virtual tea party ideas?

The best virtual tea party ideas are whimsical yet practical and encourage gentle socialization. Some good virtual tea party ideas include Tea vs. Coffee, tea party Zoom backgrounds, virtual tea party scavenger hunts, crafts, and tea leaf reading.

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Team building content expert. Angela has a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and worked as a community manager with Yelp to plan events for businesses.

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2020 may have put a dampener on in-person events, but there are still some great virtual holiday party ideas to get inspiration from!

With the holiday season just around the corner, there are many ways to keep the traditions of Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hannukah and other special holidays alive, and spread a little bit of cheer!

Here are some of our favorites…

Virtual Happy Hour Bingo Games

Table of contents

• 9 Great Virtual Holiday Party Ideas
• 6 Virtual Holiday Party Themes

9 Great Virtual Holiday Party Ideas

1. Book a pre-made, professional Virtual Team Party!

If you’ve got a large team (50-250+ people), don’t try to find a single virtual activity that can cater to everyone in your office. We’ve created the Party In A Box, an online party for remote companies, with various virtual activities running simultaneously!

With a menu of fun, hosted Zoom activities and breakouts, you can ensure there’s something for everyone, and let your distributed coworkers choose their own adventure!

Some of our favorite online activities for team parties:

• Virtual Karaoke: it’s your time to shine, with a hilarious host and your living room as the stage (read our guide to running Zoom karaoke here)
• Team’s Got Talent: an AGT-style open mic, and chance for everyone to share their talents
• DJ Dance Party: get down with a high energy DJ playing top hits
• DIY Cocktails + Drinking Games: with an innovative cocktail bartender
• Intro to Improv Comedy: with a Chicago improv instructor teaching improv basics using Zoom
• Clown School 101: with an instructor from the SF Circus Center
• Graffiti Workshop: a fascinating, hands-on masterclass with a renowned graffiti artist. Develop your own graffiti name, and practice lettering your own tags and pieces!
• Virtual Vacation: our tropical vacation (Hawaiian shirts are encouraged) with fun ice-breakers and meaningful skill-building games (learn more about it here!)
• Drag Show: a group of incredible drag queens led by the renowned Mary Vice will dazzle you with a live virtual drag show, banter and Q&A
• Ghost Stories: creepy campfire ghost tales told online by a haunted ghost tour guide
• Acoustic Cafe Show: get swooned by a folksy duo with an incredible acoustic concert on Zoom

Sample itinerary for a 2 hour remote office party:

• 15 minutes: All join for intro games and orientation
• 45 minutes: Session 1 (2-3 breakout rooms)
• 45 minutes: Session 2 (2-3 breakout rooms)
• 10 minutes: Wrap up with everyone together

At Wild SF, we are experts at setting up customized online events for remote teams.

We cover everything from organizing invites to coordinating experienced, high-energy online activity leaders, and taking care of the logistics of online facilitation.

2. Take a Virtual Vacation

Brush off winter blues during quarantine by traveling to warmer climes.

On the Virtual Vacation remote team builder by Kabloom, your team gets transported to a tropical vacation (Hawaiian shirts are encouraged). But there’s a catch: your team must work together (escape-room style) to navigate across waters to your destination.

Our energetic, quirky guides will get everyone laughing and connecting, and working together through fun challenges.

3. Play virtual holiday bingo

Bingo is a familiar and fun game, and can easily be adapted to a holiday theme and played online during a virtual holiday party.

If you mail out a gift box, include bingo cards, and let people play along at home while the virtual party happens.

Our favorite tool to create a free and customized bingo game is Bingo Baker. It offers thousands of ready-made bingo cards, or you can generate your own.

This Merry Christmas bingo game has 300 words and phrases, including All I Want For Christmas, Jingle Bells and Jack Frost.

4. Send your virtual employees a holiday gift box

During COVID, we’ve all felt isolated from our family, friends and remote coworkers. What better way to cap off a difficult year by sending them a box of holiday treats?

Holiday gift boxes could include:

• hot chocolate mix
• Christmas cookies
• candy canes
• stockings
• chocolates
• gift cards
• card games
• board games

If you wanted to add a personal touch, pop a handwritten note in there to show your appreciation for their work during this challenging year.

5. Organize a holiday dress-up competition

A big part of the traditions of the holiday season is getting dressed up in festive gear. Given that we’ve been stuck in our homes for a large part of this year, people are excited to have an opportunity to get dressed up! And why not include dressing up your beloved pet while you’re at it?

You can spice this up by organizing an online voting system for the best-dressed and/or offering prizes. You could also do this for Halloween or Thanksgiving.

6. Host a karaoke night

Since COVID, many companies have turned into remote teams looking for fun virtual holiday parties. Good news: a virtual karaoke party is an awesome (and easy) virtual team building idea to get your team connecting!

This dedicated guide explains everything you need to know to organize a virtual karaoke party on Zoom, including how to host a great event for your team working from home, and how to choose a great karaoke song.

7. Host a holiday virtual trivia night

An online trivia night is a fun and interactive way to get your team working together and letting a little loose. It does require a bit of planning, so you can save time by searching for holiday trivia questions.

You could also include categories like:

• Name this holiday song
• Holiday traditions from around the world
• Company- or employee-specific questions

For a little more fun, encourage each team to incorporate a holiday theme into their team name, like ‘The Rudolphs’ or ‘Eggnoggens.’

(Yes, we can organize this for you!)

8. Organize a holiday happy hour

Who doesn’t love an excuse to wind down and enjoy a drink to cap off the year and get in the festive mood? You could encourage the participants to wear holiday-themed clothing and accessories, like an ugly sweater, Santa hat or reindeer ears.

To replicate the atmosphere of a festive office or bar, you can play music in the background. (More on that below.)

9. Create a holiday music playlist

Festive-themed music like All I Want For Christmas Is You gets people in the mood for the holidays. So why not create a collaborative playlist on Spotify and allow everyone to choose a song or two?

If you want to play it background music at a virtual holiday party, here’s how to do that on Zoom:

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1. Click the Share Screenbutton in the toolbar
2. Click on the Advanced tab
3. Select Computer Sound Only
4. To end, click Stop Share at the top of your meeting screen

6 Virtual Holiday Party Themes

Virtual Christmas Holiday Party

• Christmas bingo (with festive words like reindeer and chimney)
• The Great Christmas Bakeoff
• Christmas trivia night
• Create a Christmas music playlist together

Hanukkah Virtual Holiday Party

• Hanukkah sweater party
• Synchronized candle-lighting
• Latkes-making competition
• Donut decorating

Festivus Virtual Holiday Party

• Festivus pole decoration competition
• Share a Festivus meal together, including meatloaf and a hip flask
• A virtual ‘Airing of Grievances’
• ‘Feats of Strength’ talent show

New Year’s Virtual Holiday Party

Set your Zoom background to one of the following themes:

• Sydney: put up the Sydney Harbour Bridge and pour yourself a Foster’s
• New York: set Times Square as your backdrop and get ready to count down!
• London: settle down in front of the London Eye and bundle up in warm clothes to welcome 2021!
• Paris: why not welcome the new year in front of the Effiel Tower with a glass of champagne in hand?
• Rio de Janeiro: fancying a tropical theme? Head off to Copacabana and don your swimsuit
• Kiribati: want to be the first to celebrate? This Pacific Island nation is the closest to the International Date Line

If you wanted to do a trip-around-the-world party, you could follow the globe as it strikes midnight from east to west!

Thanksgiving Virtual Holiday Party

• Gratitude sharing
• Virtual recipe swap
• Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade watch party

Halloween Virtual Holiday Party

• Dress-up competition
• Surprise chocolate and candy delivery
• Murder Mystery Party
• Pumpkin decorating competition

How to host a virtual holiday party

1. Prepare the guest list
2. Decide on a theme for your virtual holiday party
3. Prepare games
4. Choose your video conference application, e.g. Zoom or Google Meet
5. Send invitations to your guests
6. Prepare your outfit
7. Test games and video application
8. Send a reminder to guests the day before

Frequently asked questions

Virtual holiday parties are online gatherings of family, friends and/or coworkers. The aim is to provide opportunities for people to connect and have fun during the festive season. An example might be a festive-themed trivia night, or a holiday happy hour.

Virtual Happy Hour Bingo Card

The best virtual holiday parties are those that are engaging and easy to organize. They include festive-themed online bingo, karaoke and trivia nights. There is a full list of virtual holiday party ideas in this guide.

Celebrating important holidays in an online manner does not have to require a lot of preparation. Easy ideas include a holiday happy hour, festive-themed bingo (with pre-made card templates), and a Christmas dress-up competition.

First, make your guest list. Next, decide on the theme and games, e.g. happy hour, trivia or bingo. Then choose a video conference application and send invitations. Finally, test out the games and software, and send a reminder to your guests.

Virtual holiday games are activities like festive bingo, holiday trivia and a dress-up competition. They are played during online gatherings of family, friends and/or coworkers. The aim is to provide opportunities for people to connect and have fun during the holiday season.

Who can help organize fun virtual events & activities for teams?

Wild SF leads meaningful virtual events that get you and your coworkers, family and/or friends laughing, connecting, and learning more about one another.

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Ready to bring people closer together? Start here.