Christmas icebreaker questions for work

The last team meeting before the break needs a warm-up, and the Christmas party needs something better than small talk by the prawns. Here are 60 Christmas icebreaker questions for work, written for an Australian summer Christmas: pavlova, backyard cricket, the long, hot break.

Every question is safe for the office. Nobody has to share anything personal, and not everyone celebrates Christmas, so most of them work just as well for "the holidays" or "the summer break". Swap the word as you go.

• Quick warm-ups
• Aussie summer Christmas
• This or that
• End of year
• Remote teams
• Rapid fire
• How to run them

Quick Christmas warm-up questions

1. What's the best present you've ever been given?
2. What has to happen before it feels like the holidays to you?
3. Which Christmas song can you not stand?
4. What do you bring when someone says "bring a plate"?
5. What's the best thing you've ever got from a Secret Santa?
6. Are you a decorations-up-on-1-December person, or a Christmas Eve panic person?
7. What's a holiday tradition in your family that other people find odd?
8. What was the best toy you ever got as a kid?
9. What's your favourite Christmas or holiday film?
10. Who in your family takes the holidays most seriously?
11. What's the best thing about the last week before the break?
12. If you could spend the break anywhere, where would it be?

Aussie summer Christmas questions

1. Prawns, ham or turkey: what's on your table?
2. Beach, backyard or air-con: where are you on Christmas Day?
3. What's the hottest Christmas you can remember?
4. Who's the backyard cricket champion in your family?
5. Boxing Day: the cricket, the Sydney to Hobart, or the sales?
6. Mango, cherries or watermelon: what's the fruit of summer?
7. What's on your summer holiday playlist?
8. Have you ever had Christmas lunch at a campsite or a caravan park?
9. Pavlova or Christmas pudding, and who makes it?
10. Where's the best Christmas lights display near you?
11. Do you head away over summer, or stay put and enjoy the quiet?
12. What's the best thing about Christmas in summer?

Christmas this or that questions for teams

Fast and easy for a big group: everyone points left or right, then a few people say why.

1. Real tree, or fake tree?
2. Christmas carols, or Christmas films?
3. Presents wrapped neatly, or stuffed in a gift bag?
4. Gift cards, or surprises?
5. Ham, or prawns?
6. Christmas Eve, or Christmas Day?
7. The joke in the bonbon, or the paper crown?
8. Leftovers for days, or a clean fridge?
9. Host, or guest?
10. White fairy lights, or every colour?
11. Secret Santa, or no presents at all?
12. A swim after lunch, or a nap after lunch?

End of year questions for work

1. What's one win from this year you're proud of?
2. What did you learn this year that surprised you?
3. Who on the team helped you out this year, and how?
4. What small thing made your workday better this year?
5. What's one thing you're looking forward to next year?
6. If this year at work were a film, what would it be called?
7. What was the best lunch you had near the office this year?
8. What's a skill you'd like to pick up next year?
9. What's your favourite team moment from this year?
10. What are you most looking forward to over the break?
11. Sum up this year in one word.
12. What would you tell yourself on the first day of this year?

Christmas questions for remote and hybrid teams

1. Show us the most festive thing within arm's reach.
2. What's the view from where you're working today?
3. What's the weather doing where you are?
4. What will you be eating on Christmas Day, and where?
5. What's the best thing about working from home in summer?
6. Show us your favourite mug and tell us its story.

Rapid-fire Christmas questions for big groups

One-word answers only. Go round the room as fast as you can.

1. Your favourite Christmas food, in one word?
2. The best present you can buy for under $20?
3. The office Christmas party, in one word?
4. Beach, or pool?
5. SPF 50, or a big hat?
6. Sleep in, or early swim?

How to run Christmas icebreakers at work

• Pass is always allowed. Say it up front. People relax when they know they can skip one.
• One question each, not every question for everyone. In a group of 20, pull a question for each person and keep it to a minute.
• Go first yourself. Whoever runs it answers the first one, short and a bit silly. It sets the tone.
• Mix the sets. Start with a this or that to get everyone talking, then one end of year question to finish.
• On a call, use the chat. Everyone types their answer at the same time, then a few people say why.

Turn it into a game: Deck the Desks

Deck the Desks is our work Christmas party pack. Put it on the office TV and everyone plays on their own phone: an office Christmas quiz, a Secret Santa bluffing game, office answer cards where the room votes for the best fit, and Read the Room: Silly Season. Up to 20 phones, and bigger offices play in teams. No downloads, so nobody needs IT to install anything.

Launch Party: every game is free to host until 30 November 2026, Party Pack 01 and Deck the Desks included. Sign in free to host. Guests never need an account.

Need a quiz to read out? Here are 50 office Christmas trivia questions with answers.

Updated 28 October 2026.