Whether I like it or not (I do), my company still has us working from home. If your work is the same, then you’re probably doing some sort of virtual celebration for Halloween and may not know how to make it fun. Never fear! Here are a few fun ways to keep it spooky on your virtual Halloween Happy Hour.

If your work isn’t as casual as mine, these can also be done on a virtual party or happy hour with friends!

Costume Contest

Just because we aren’t in person doesn’t mean we can’t dress up! My company does a yearly theme, and then an award is given to the person whose costume best fits the theme. The winner then gets to pick the next year’s costume.

We did a goth theme for our first costume contest, mainly because a lot of our employees were a variation of goth in high school. The next year the theme was the 70s. This year, for our virtual Halloween happy hour, we are doing a sports theme.

For a virtual costume contest, it’s important to give each person a moment to show off since we can typically only see from the shoulders up. To do this, make sure you have presentation mode on, so whoever is speaking fills the screen. Give each person a minute or two to stand up, dance, and show off their costumes. Once everyone has gone, have your team fill out a form (I like to use Google Forms) to anonymously vote on the winner.

Spooky Pet Fashion Show

The best part about working from home is spending the day with your pets. Personally, anytime a furry friend makes an appearance on a video call my heart is filled with joy.

Since we’re already dressing ourselves up for this, why not make our pets dress up too! Every year I go to a dog costume parade in Phoenix. The options for pup costumes are basically endless now! There is nothing in the world that would make a work happy hour more fun than to see all of our furry-coworkers in their best costumes.

Pumpkin Painting

Have you ever been to a pumpkin carving party? If not, it’s super fun. Picture all of the struggles of carving a pumpkin but surrounded by friends! Even if you misjudge a cut and lose half of your image it’s still fun because you’ve got your pals around.

Carving pumpkins might be too messy to do on your desk or home workspace, but painting them doesn’t have to be. For this activity, you’ll need a mini pumpkin, acrylic paints, and a paintbrush or two. For less than $10 per person, you have a fun way to keep people engaged even if they don’t want to talk a ton on the call.

Is it even a Halloween Happy Hour without cocktails?

One of the fun things about virtual events is the signature cocktails. I’d recommend picking a relatively easy cocktail recipe, preferably one that uses ingredients most people already have at home. You can either share the recipe in advance, or you only share the ingredients and have someone lead a small cocktail workshop. Not only is it fun for everyone, but it’s a good way to practice public speaking in front of a group.

Looking for something fun to do at home? Check out my post on how to Boo! your neighbors HERE.