Fun Ideas For The
Holidays
by: John Kinder
The holiday season is a great time to share some
smiles and laughs! And holiday humor helps you
develop a well-tuned humor radar.
1. Have a
humorous gift exchange at your holiday
party. This works great if you have a
healthy humor climate where people use humor
in a positive way.
2. Just before
the holidays, encourage people to bring some
of their favorite ethnic holiday treats to
work or one of your group meetings. Coming
from a Norwegian background, I'd bring
rosettes, fatigmand and lefse.
3. Decorate a
tree for the holidays with a humorous flair.
For example, a car dealership could decorate
a tree using car parts. If you travel a lot,
collect fun trinkets from your trips to
brighten your tree.
4. Save the
holiday cards you receive this year and
"recycle" them next year. Just cross out the
sender's signature, sign your name, and mail
it back to the person who gave it to you.
You'll start a humorous tradition. I do not
recommend sharing this humorous exchange
with everyone you get a card from. Be
selective!
5. Look for
opportunities to take a funny photo of
yourself, your staff, or your family. Then
use it on a photo holiday greeting card.
I've sent a photo card sharing my Halloween
costume as a power-nerd.
6. Create your
own customized gift wrap. For example, on a
large-sheet photo copier you could make
personalized wrapping paper decorated with
family photos or pictures from your office.
7. Wrap a
holiday gift in a "nest of boxes" (a small
box in a larger box, in a larger box, etc).
When the large box is opened by the
recipient, the box inside is addressed to
someone else. And the next box is addressed
to someone else! The final box indicates who
really receives the gift; a "musical chairs"
style of gift exchange. A nice touch is to
give a gift in the final box that can be
enjoyed by the whole group. For example, in
a family situation, the final box may have
Mom's name on it, but contain a trip to
Disneyland for the whole family. This is fun
because everyone shared in opening the gift.
8. Make extra
effort to guarantee that your holiday party
is FUN. People won't remember a chicken
dinner a year from now. But they'll always
remember when they've had a great time and
spent the evening laughing together. Your
investment making sure the event is
entertaining gives you great returns in
goodwill and valuable experience in the
planning process.
9. Assign a
committee to prepare some holiday fun. Write
a script filled with humor about your
company and people you work with. Write a
song parody of one of your favorite holiday
tunes which is a tribute to your staff.
Present it at a holiday party, or post it on
a bulletin board in your office.
10. Remember
the true sprit of the holidays. Tis the
season to be jolly! Decorate your face with
a smile and share it with others.
