Work Christmas Party Ideas That Include the Kids

The best work Christmas party ideas for an Australian summer start with a simple point: it’s really a thank-you for the year you’ve had together, before everyone scatters for the holidays. That makes it a party for the whole team, whatever their faith.

Then pick something that suits the weather: a family day with a kids’ zone, a long lunch, a backyard-style social, a park picnic or a give-back afternoon. The first is the one most workplaces skip, and the one your working parents will thank you for.

Start with who’s actually coming

Before you book anything, answer a few questions. They decide almost everything else.

• Who’s invited? Just staff, partners too, or the whole family?
• When does it work? A weekday lunch is easier than a Friday night for people with kids. And for families, a morning that’s done by midday is easiest of all.
• What do people want? Ask. A two-question poll beats a guess, and it tells you which of these ideas to skip.
• Where is everyone? Got people in other cities or working from home? Pick a day most can get to, and send a shared lunch to each office so nobody’s watching it on a screen.

Eight work Christmas party ideas for an Aussie summer

1. A family day with a KidsCo kids’ zone

Staff bring their kids. KidsCo runs a supervised, themed kids’ zone onsite. Parents get to enjoy the party, and the kids get a party of their own.

Every KidsCo educator is a qualified, registered, experienced teacher who holds a Working With Children Check or state teacher registration. We run at one educator to every 10 children, for ages 5 to 12, and we’re fully insured including public liability. We do it in every state and territory.

• What the kids do: games, craft and hands-on activities, themed to your event and run by teachers who do this every week.
• What parents get: a hot lunch, a proper conversation with colleagues and kids who are happy down the hall.
• What HR doesn’t have to chase: supervision, ratios, risk assessment and pack-down. We handle them.

See how our corporate family days and event childcare work, or tell us about your date.

2. The long lunch

Still the champion. Book a venue with shade, a decent cold menu and somewhere to sit for three hours. Easy to run, easy to say yes to. Add a kids’ zone in the next room and it’s a family lunch.

3. The backyard summer social

Think prawns, a cricket set, lawn games and a sausage sizzle. A park, a rooftop or your own car park with some bunting will do. It feels like a summer party, not a function.

4. A waterside or park picnic

Beach, river, harbour or botanic garden, depending on your city. Bring rugs, cold drinks and plenty of shade. Pick a spot with toilets and parking, and have a wet-weather plan, because December can surprise you.

5. A team challenge day

Escape rooms, a cooking class, a mocktail-making session, a gingerbread competition or a quiz. Everyone joins in, and nobody’s stuck holding a drink at the edge of the room.

6. A give-back afternoon

Pack hampers, volunteer for a local charity or run a gift drive. It suits teams who’d rather spend the afternoon doing something useful. Set up a craft table for the kids and they can pitch in too.

7. A progressive dinner

Entrée in one place, mains in another, dessert somewhere else. Good for city teams who want to be out and about, less good for anyone with a sitter on a clock.

8. A small, early-finish celebration

Not every team needs a big night. A morning tea, a long lunch and everyone home by 3pm can be the most popular option of the lot.

A party for the year you’ve had

Call it a Christmas party if that’s what everyone calls it. The reason for it is the year and the people: projects landed, new faces, a lot of hard work. That belongs to everyone, whatever their faith, and the planning should say so.

• Say what it’s for. Put “a thank-you for the year” on the invite, so it’s clearly about the team.
• Keep the decorations festive, not religious. Lights, bunting, summer flowers and a good playlist work for everyone.
• Cater for different diets and religious requirements. Ask on the invite, and make sure there’s plenty for everyone, such as halal, kosher, vegetarian and vegan options where needed.
• Make the drinks list generous. Iced tea, mocktails and plenty of cold water, so there’s something everyone enjoys.
• Check the calendar. Religious and cultural observances fall at different times each year. A quick look before you lock the date means more people can come.
• Offer choice. Let people drop in for an hour or stay all afternoon, join the games or just eat and chat.

Running it with kids on site

For a lot of your people, the end of the year is a scramble. School concerts, last-day assemblies and then the holidays, all at once. Check the school holiday dates for your state and you’ll see how fast they arrive. A family-friendly party tells them you noticed.

• Make it a morning, late in December. Once school has finished for the year, 9am to 12pm works well. The kids are fresh, parents aren’t juggling school pick-ups, and everyone’s done by lunch.
• Set aside a big open area in the office. Clear a large meeting space or open floor for the kids’ zone. Plenty of room to move, out of the summer heat, and close enough that parents can pop in.
• Feed the kids early. Simple food keeps the mood up. Ask about allergies on the RSVP.
• Keep the ages sensible. Babies and toddlers need a parent close by, and teenagers usually want to be somewhere else, so plan something simple for both.
• Tell people the plan. Send the details a few weeks out, with start and finish times and what’s on for the kids.

Already running a Bring Your Kid to Work Day? An end-of-year family day is the same idea with a party hat on. Our guide to Bring Your Kid to Work Day in Australia has the planning basics.

Keep it budget-neutral

You don’t need a huge spend to run something people remember. A few ideas:

• Use the venue you already have. A courtyard, a rooftop or your biggest meeting room, decorated and shaded.
• Go early. A daytime event skips the late-night extras, and it’s easier on parents.
• Let teams chip in. A shared table, someone’s famous pavlova, a playlist. People enjoy contributing.
• Do one thing well. One great activity beats five average ones.
• Combine events. Fold your end-of-year thank you, a kids’ activity and a team lunch into one afternoon.

The boring-but-important bit

Kids at a work event means duty of care. Before the day, make sure you’ve sorted:

• Who’s supervising the kids, and that they hold a Working With Children Check or their state’s teacher registration
• Ratios. We run at one educator to every 10 children.
• Insurance, including public liability
• The space, including where kids can and can’t go, and how an evacuation works with children in the building

That’s a lot for one organiser on top of the actual party, which is why plenty of workplaces hand the kids’ side to us. KidsCo runs programs for Nine, Westpac and carsales. See how Nine runs its program, or use our HR checklist for safe holiday programs.

After the party comes the holidays

Here’s the thing about December. The party’s one day. The summer school holidays run for weeks. Plenty of parents who’ve just enjoyed a family party are about to hit the biggest childcare scramble of the year.

That’s where an onsite school holiday program picks up. When Ford brought school holiday care into the workplace, productivity rose 55% and engagement rose 76%. Read how Ford did it.

Throw a party the kids will talk about

KidsCo works with over 100 ASX-listed companies. We run kids’ zones, family days and school holiday programs right inside workplaces. Tell us your date, your venue and how many kids, and we’ll handle the rest, right down to the last bit of glitter on the floor.

See how a KidsCo kids’ zone works, or talk to us about your end-of-year event.

Plan your kids’ zone

Frequently asked questions