People are going back to spending time with each other which means HOSTING EVENTS. Hosting is one of my favorite things in the entire world! I am a firm believer that anyone can host and entertain. It just may require training and practice. This blog is to help you plan events from start to finish! I want people to finish reading a blog post and say, “That was not as hard as I thought it would be!” This is a round-up of 12 events that you can host for a year of events. Make it a goal to have people over at least once a month to have fun and laugh!
01 | January: New Year, New Skill
Start off your year of events with a one-of-a-kind event where you get your friends together to learn a new skill. There are millions of videos on YouTube dedicated to you learning a new skill. So, start off the new year by improving yourself. Do you want to learn how to cook or bake? Get a recipe book, and make a recipe together with your friends. Are you interested in learning a new language? Get the Duolingo app to start learning the new language and practicing together. Have you always wanted to be able to draw or paint? Look up some basic tutorials on Pinterest or TikTok, and try to all create the same piece in your own style. Are you trying to learn how to host events? Well, you’re already in the right place, so read this blog post!
With an event like this, all guests are together trying to learn something new. As the year goes on, this can be a reoccurring event to make sure you are all growing in the skill. Furthermore, you can hold each other accountable for growth. You can practice and compete with one another to get better at your new skill. Let this new year be a year you learn something new.
02 | February: Kitchen Competition
I love kitchen reality shows, and it can be a really fun event to host one of your own! As kitchen space is often limited, I suggest hosting the first part virtually through FaceTime, Zoom, Google Hangouts, or another video conferencing service. Then, you will all come together to eat everyone’s great creations.
a. Chopped Competition
There will be a few ingredients that all need to be included in the dish. The ingredients should be based on the skill level of your competitors. As I doubt that you are competing against a group of only professional chefs, I would not have a time limit. Inform your guests of the required secret ingredients in advanced, and have a time where you will all come together to bring your dish together. Then, everyone will vote on their favorite secretly.
b. Star Ingredient
Based off of Beat Bobby Flay’s first round, you will have one ingredient that you need to show off. This is similar to Chopped, but you will have only one required ingredient. With Chopped, there are many ingredients, and none particularly have to be the star. But with this variation, you want your main ingredient to be obviously and creatively displayed. Everyone will make their own dish, and they will vote on which is the best.
c. Recipe Roundup
With this competition, all of you will be given the same dish which you have to make your own. For example, everyone may be told to make macaroni and cheese. It will be up to the competitors to be unique in coming up with ways to create a delicious and one-of-a-kind macaroni and cheese. You will all eventually come together to vote on whose is the best.
d. Full-Course Champion
Bring your appetites for this variation. You are going to have people go head-to-head for various courses in a meal. There will be at least two people per round competing to make foods for their assigned course for people to vote on whose is better. You will have two-people making appetizers, entrees, and desserts. People will vote on each round on which dish was better. You better not eat before this one because you’ll be eating a lot of great food.
03 | March: Game Night
The classic game night is a quintessential event when thinking of a way to bring everyone together. The healthy competition and hearty laughter is something that is always welcome. Game nights are my favorite things to host, and I love hosting them all year round. March is a perfect time for one because the weather is slowly beginning to get warmer, and you could have a nice game night either outdoors or indoors. You could do a combination of both.
If you are at a lost for how to host an unforgettable game night, check out this post that I made to teach you my method.
https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});04 | April: Craft Night
I LOVE CRAFT NIGHTS! To me, they are basically just hanging out with your friends while doing crafts. It’s been a while since my last craft night that I have hosted, but they are essentially just nights where people get together working on whatever creative project they would like. I could be working on a painting, another friend could be doing crotchet, another friend will be knitting, and another friend could be writing a story. Each friend is doing his or her own creative project, but everyone is together doing it with their loved ones around.
If you would like, you could have extra crafts for people to work on individually. But the beauty of this is that it is very LOW-MAINTENANCE. It is important in hosting a year of events to have events which require little effort from you. You could even have a movie going on in the background while each of you is being creative.
05 | May: Karaoke Night
There aren’t many events that are funnier than a classic karaoke night. Embrace your voice, especially if you’re not a professional singer, with this event and a cheering audience. Whether you are virtual or in-person, this event is bound to be loads of fun. There are videos, like those on Sing King’s YouTube Channel, that makes hosting karaoke nights super easy. But, what are some ways to mix up your classic karaoke night to something more memorable.
a. Song Association Challenge
The Song Association Challenge is a challenge popularized by ELLE where contestants are given a word. Then, they have 10 seconds to sing that word in a song. That word must be said in the 10 seconds in order to get the point. One channel on YouTube, Song Association Words, has made a lot of videos that just has the words and the countdown. So for your karaoke night, make sure that you try this out for size. Check out the current 4 seasons of Song Association on ELLE’s YouTube Channel. (Season 1) (Season 2) (Season 3) (Season 4)
b. Harmonizing Challenge
The Harmonizing Challenge is, just like it sounds, a challenge where you and your loved ones try to come up with a good harmony. It has a few different formats, to be either competitive, cooperative, or a mix of both. This challenge was created by Cimorelli, one of my favorite groups of all time. Only do this one if you are a more musically inclined group because this is such a hard thing to do, but it can be super fun even if some harmonies are disastrous.
- Working Together: As an entire group, you will select a song from a hat. After getting that song, you will start singing a part of the song trying to come up with good harmonies. Here are some examples of Cimorelli doing this variation:
- Versus: In this variation, two teams will compete against one another to come up with harmonies for the same songs. You may want a judge to be a party to decide which team did better.
- Recorded: For this variation, you will be recording all of the parts to a song to make creative harmonies. You will need an audio recording app where you can record various parts. There is a free one called Take that I have been using for years, but it will limit you to only 3 parts (one of which I assume would be the melody). Spire Song Maker is another app which has gotten good ratings for being able to do similar functions. Watch the Cimorelli version for an example.
06 | June: Binge Watch Party
Does anyone else feel like they are behind on a television show? Glad, I’m not the only one. Chances are that your friends are also behind on your favorite television show, so what is better than to plan an event for all of you to catch up together. Grab your friends together for a night (or day) together watching, reacting, and discussing all the best moments from your favorite television shows. Are you all caught up on your shows? There are thousands of shows to pick from on the various streaming services that exist.
It is not hard to plan a Binge Watch Party. All you need is a television, a streaming service subscription, some snacks, and all of your loved ones. Just like that, you have an event for this month. Are you watching a long-television show? Split it between various nights. Pick a night of the week where you guys meet weekly to watch a couple of episodes. If you do not want the brunt of the hosting on you every week, swap houses each week to give everyone a chance to host the television show. Come up with creative ideas for each of you to make it your own. Looking for tips on hosting a successful binge watch party, check out our post here. After this is over, you have made it halfway through your year of events.
07 | July: Cookout
A cookout seems rather obvious because it is the middle of the summer! (Plus, it has Independence Day if you live in the States.) The weather is warm, and it is the perfect time to grill out with all sorts of food. There are various creative summer recipes that you can try for food and drink. And, you finally can dust off your outdoor games like cornhole and ladder ball.
But, you can make your cookout next level with a few small additions! Have a themed-cookout where all the decorations, foods, and outfits match the theme. It could even be a simple color theme, where everyone comes in the same colors for a picture perfect moment. You can easily buy colored plates and napkins from Wal-Mart to go with the theme.
Plan for a few stations at your cookout! Cookout food pairs well with different sauces, so you can have a sauce station. This can be made into a competition where people combine various sauces and spices to try to make the BEST ORIGINAL SAUCE that they can. Or you can try to recreate your favorite restaurant sauces, like Chik-fil-a sauce.
Create a question and answer station as an icebreaker. Find colored paper that goes with your theme, and make small sheets of paper with good get-to-know you questions. Guests can write their answer to the questions, and put it in a container. Later on in the night, gather everyone together to get people to guess who said what. Check out my blog post on the best question book ever and how to use it for fun games.
https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});08 | August: Photo Scavenger Hunt
When was the last time you did a scavenger hunt? Photo scavenger hunts take your normal everyday scavenger hunts to the next level. They also only require cell phones and the scavenger hunt sheet. Plan a time for everyone to meet at a predetermined space with their charged cell phones. Everyone will need to be in separate groups with a scavenger hunt paper for each group.
On the scavenger hunt paper, there will be a list of pictures that they have to take. All group members, except maybe the one taking the photo, must be in the picture. These will contain various poses and locations for people to take the photos. Different photos will have different point values. Closer spots and easier photos will have lower point values whereas more difficult locations and photos will have higher point values.
There will be a time limit, so make sure all groups arrive on time or they lose. The group to have the highest point value in the time assigned wins. You want it to be a short enough time for groups to have to make decisions on if they are going to go for more pictures of smaller point values or the fewer pictures with higher point values. Ultimately, this is a fun an innovative activity having people run around taking photos at various locations. You have some great photos with friends, and a lot of fun competing with others.
09 | September: Movie Night
Movie Nights are the coolest! Two hour movies in a dark theatre are not my thing, but a movie night is so much better. You can sit on your super comfortable couch with your friends, under the comfort of a nice warm blanket eating popcorn that is not super expensive. For half the price, you can have an amazing experience, customized however you want it.
If you have a projector, this is the PERFECT opportunity to host an outdoor movie night. September is not too hot and not too cold, so an outdoor movie is perfect. Plus, it is a last ditch effort to use the grill before fall is in full swing. But in case of inclement weather, it can easily be moved indoors to your living room. Make whatever foods you feel like having, and make the space perfect for your movie watching experience.
How do I make this movie night different from any other movie night? As long as your hosting it for the people you love, any movie night you have will be amazing. But if you are looking for ways to make it stand out a bit more, have a critic’s panel. Have sheets with a grading rubric for how you would rate the movie and the various aspects. Talk about characters, development, predictability, set design, costumes, engagement, and re-watch-ability (if that’s even a word). Discuss with one another why you gave the score you gave and what they could have done to improve to you. If you are an creative bunch, write a new ending for the movie and vote for your favorite. However, you cannot vote for your own! Whatever you choose to do, a September Movie Night is 100% the way to go.
10 | October: Murder Mystery Dinner
This is the event that no one ever thinks to host, but if implemented correctly, it can be a huge hit. This requires the most planning out of all of the events, especially because you DON’T want to split the work between various people! You are the host and the only one that knows all of the information going in. If other people help, that will ruin the surprise which is the key element to a Murder Mystery Dinner. Mystery is literally in the name!
When you send out the invitations, you will provide your guests with a character name and description. Give them a few days to practice getting into character: finding outfits, practicing character choices, etc. When they arrive to dinner, give them an envelope or booklet with all of the information they will need for the night. But, they cannot open it until directed by you because it will hold secret information for each character! Make notecards or sheets that each person will grab at random when coming in (also to be kept secret) on whether or not they are the murderer.
Planning a Murder Mystery Dinner can be a lot of hard work (and I definitely want to make a blog post devoted to just this event in the future). In order to lessen the work load on you, check out Broadway Murder Mystery which has cheap kits to make it a whole lot easier on you for planning.
11 | November: Friendsgiving Potluck
Potlucks are the best events to host because it requires the less work than many others. You cook one dish because everyone else is also bringing their own foods. You do not have to make an entire elaborate feast by yourself, nor should you have to. Create a sign up form with Google Docs or Google Slides. Collaborate with everyone to make sure that they know what they are bringing. Keep food allergies in mind to keep everyone healthy. If you are having outside of the home, make sure someone knows to bring plates, utensils, and napkins! Then, everyone will bring their dishes to the venue for a nice dinner together with friends.
Now, you know that there is going to be people who have dishes that they will want to make for themselves. So, make sure everyone brings a few copies of the recipe for everyone to take home and make for themselves. You can check out our editable recipe pages and cards, right here. (If you’re not a subscriber to Noteworthy, check out the bottom of the Noteworthy page for our newsletter archive for the password. Then, subscribe so that you do not miss another freebie!) This way everyone has a chance to make their new favorite recipes at home. You have new recipes to make with your family. If you do not know what to make, we’ve got you covered because we have a crowd-pleasing recipe that friends of all ages will love. Make adorable mini cheesecakes for everyone to enjoy.
https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});12 | December: Christmas Party
There’s nothing better than a quintessential Christmas party. There are so many variations to this classic event which cumulates all the skills from hosting your year of events. Host a Christmas Movie night where you and your friends watch a classic Christmas movie, such as Home Alone. You can opt for the traditional Ugly Christmas Sweater event (or it’s classier cousin, making an Ugly Christmas Sweater look good). Go with another potluck for a Christmas feast because everyone knows that you cannot diet in November and December. If you haven’t planned a game night in a while, do one while everyone is in town for the holidays with some Christmas-themed fun! Do another karaoke night but with Christmas music only, or go caroling around the town. Plan a Secret Santa or White Elephant with your loved ones.
Or do my favorite… COMBINE THEM ALL FOR A END OF YEAR SPECTACULAR! You have practiced, and you are ready for the biggest event of the year! Have everyone come in their Christmas attire bringing one of their favorite dishes and a gift. Start with a bit of light competition with a game of sorts with the winner being the first to choose their present for White Elephant. After presents have been opened (and wrapping paper has been cleaned up), it’s time to enjoy your Christmas feast! Play some Christmas music in the background, so your musical friends can jam out. When everyone is stuffed to the brim, cool down with a nice Christmas movie. And there you have it; a complete Christmas event combining many events from the rest of the year! This will be a great end to your year of events.
Final Thoughts
An entire year of events for you to plan may seem like a lot, but I hope this post took some of the fear out of it. At least, it is to give you some ideas of what you can do. If you want to only host games nights for your year of events, you should do it. But make it your goal to host something each month, even if it is with the same group of people each month. Twelve events may seem like a lot, but it is worth it to find new ways to laugh and have fun with your loved ones.
Do you have ideas for other events that were not mentioned in this post? Please leave a comment sharing your ideas with others. I would definitely love to get new ideas for things to host!
Until Next Time,
noteworthy 