Summer is just around the corner, so it’s the perfect time to plan your corporate party. We’ve collected a list of summer team-building activities and ideas for an unforgettable corporate party.
Enjoy 30 team-building activities suitable for any occasion, whether you just want to hang out and enjoy a themed party or engage in active sports to promote a healthy lifestyle.
- Athletic team-building activities
- Online team-building activities
- Thematical parties
- Creative team-building activities
- Fun team-building activities
- Adventurous team-building activities
Athletic team-building activities
These activities are perfect for teams who enjoy staying active and having fun together, instead of just relaxing.
Company Olympics
Create your Olympics-style event. Ask employees to split into groups or “nations”. Each group should choose a national symbol and design a custom flag.
Then, set up 5-7 challenges where each nation competes to win the gold medal.
Example challenges:
- Relay races
- Archery
- Volleyball
- Football
- Long jump
- Hammer throw
- Mini obstacle courses
The team that scores the most points will be named Olympiad champions. Remember to reward the champions with branded prizes, such as custom hoodies or T-shirts combining Olympic symbols or wordplay with your company’s logo.
Bike rides/walking tours/marathons
Go for a casual bike ride around your neighborhood or organize a nature walking tour. To make it more fun, give your team a custom map with the route you’ve planned. At the end of the route, celebrate with a picnic or barbecue party.
What do you need to pack? BBQ sets, utensils, beach towels, thermal bags, camping lights, music, a badminton set, a multi-tool, and plenty of food and drinks.
You can also organize a corporate marathon to promote a healthy lifestyle witin your company. Set up teams, offer prizes for different achievements, and create a supportive atmosphere where colleagues cheer each other on.
Retro sports festival
Bring everyone together for a fun sports festival with classic, light-hearted games like egg-and-spoon races, three-legged races, and passing the hula hoop.
Ask your team to prepare themed costumes from a specific decade to make it even more fun. Add music from that decade to set the mood for the event.
Mini sports tournament
Organize a mini sports tournament with one or several classic games. These could be:
- Badminton
- Table tennis
- Cornhole
- Mini-golf
- Ultimate frisbee
Participants compete individually or in teams, earning points in each game and climbing the tournament leaderboard. To increase motivation, add rewards. For example, present some small branded items like caps or tote bags, or bigger rewards such as Stanley tumblers or portable photo printers.
Quest games
Here’s an example of an athletic quest scenario:
Teams race through a course with different stations. Each station offers a fun challenge, and the first team to complete the challenge wins.
Teams might have to:
- Solve a puzzle to get the next clue
- Complete a mini obstacle course
- Carry water without spilling to fill a container
- Escape the room before time runs out
Online team building ideas
Many companies have teams spread around the world. So, how do you stay connected when half of your team is in Warsaw and the other half is in Dublin? Below are fun ideas for virtual team-building activities.
Online cooking class
Host a live cooking class where a chef guides your team through a recipe. This can be a complete meal with a starter, main course, dessert, or a simple recipe like a delicious pie. Make sure everyone gets to taste the dishes they’ve prepared together.
Or you can split into roles—chefs and assistants—and take turns in teams where each chef presents their dish and gives tasks to their assistants who cook alongside them. Then, everyone votes to choose the winning team.
Add a fun cooking quiz or share surprising food facts during the session. Plus, send your team branded cooking essentials like personalized waffle makers, custom pans, or branded drinkware.
Remote talent show
Host a virtual talent show where team members can share their non-work talents and hobbies. It’s a nice way to get to know each other better.
Examples of talents to showcase:
- Sharing a unique hobby
- Playing a musical instrument
- Telling the funniest story
- Sharing surprising facts about themselves
- Performing a magic trick
Online quiz
Organize a trivia or online game night. Include questions about general knowledge, pop culture, or funny facts about team members.
Here are some quiz ideas to try:
- Guess the team member from their childhood photo
- Trivia about books, movies, or music
- Fun “Would you rather” questions
- Questions about your company
- Brain teasers and mind puzzles
Virtual escape room
Organize a virtual escape room challenge in which participants work together to solve puzzles and riddles to “escape” within a set time. Provide hints when needed to ensure everyone is engaged and motivated.
Popular escape room themes include finding a lost treasure, escaping a haunted house, or solving a mystery on a midnight train.
Virtual movie night
Host a movie night using a streaming service that allows group watch parties. After the movie, ask a few questions about what you watched so everyone can share their thoughts and different points of view.
Thematical parties
These summer team-building ideas are perfect for teams seeking themed activities like beach parties, barbeque days, costume parties, and festival-themed events.
Pool/beach parties
Find a local outdoor pool or beach in your area and take your team to hang out there.
Here are some ideas to blend fun with collaboration and bonding:
- Organize water volleyball
- Ask your team to create a themed sand sculpture or poolside towel art
- Write fun questions on a beach ball, toss it around, and whoever catches it should answer the question under their right thumb
- Create a coctail competition. Ask everyone to make a signature drink with tropical ingredients. Judges score on taste, presentation, and name the winner
- Organize dance-off on the sand or pool deck
- Host lip sync battle with beach playlist
Must-haves for your beach/pool day:
- Beach towels
- Pizza maker
- Barbecue grill
- Cocktail set
- Utensils
- Food and drinks
- Music
- Waterproof phone-cases
Boat party
If you’ve got tired of picnics and pool parties, spend a day with your team on a boat cruise. Offer some food, chillout music, and interactive games.
- Organize a boat challenge with small and fun tasks like “Take a selfie with your teammate” or “Dance on the deck”
- Play short clips of songs with a beach, boat, or summer theme and have teams guess the title or artist
- Ask teams take creative group selfies around the boat and award categories like “The funniest pose” or “The best team spirit”
- Let teams take turns being the DJ for 15–20 minutes
Murder mystery party
For teams seeking non-standard summer team-building activities try murder mystery party. Choose a theme like glamorous party, corporate gala, or cruise ship.
All guests take themed caracters (e.g., mysterious tourist, detective, assistant, celebrity) and work together to solve a fictional “murder” that happens during the party. Each person receives clues and secret objectives, encouraging teamwork, deduction, and fun role-play.
Masquerade
Create a themed masquerade party asking guests to wear masks and take on fun personas. To increase motivation, create rewards for the best costume.
Plus, ask your team to complete secret missions throughout the event like finding someone with a certain mask or uncovering a hidden identity.
Karaoke night
Host a lip-sync competition where teams choose songs, prepare light choreography, and perform live. Here’s the main rule: two participants go head-to-head with random songs while the audience votes on who “sold it” best.
To add some interaction, ask your team to vote for a themed playlist like 90s, pop divas or rock starts. Also, create themed photo booths for post-performance fun.
Creative team-building activities
Connect with your colleagues by joining in on creative and fun team-building activities like art, cooking, or creative workshops.
Pie baking contest
Split into teams to bake the most creative or delicious pie using a set list of ingredients. For a twist, let them pick a surprise ingredient to include.
Wrap it up by awarding prizes to the winning teams. Consider cooking-themed gifts like branded kitchen tools, drinkware, or custom dish sets.
Arts and wine
Organize a guided painting session while sipping wine. You can also include a light wine tasting with a sommelier and ask teams to vote on their favorites.
To add more interaction, mix in some art and wine trivia questions between painting breaks.
No-programming hackathon
Try hosting a no-coding hackathon. Give your teams a fun challenges lile “Improve your daily workflow” or “Create a fun team tradition”, and ask them to come up with a concept using simple tools like whiteboards and slides.
At the end, each team gives a quick pitch of their concept to judges or peers. Don’t forget to hand out fun awards like “Best team pitch” or “The funniest idea”. Plus, reward the best ideas with small prizes like tech accessories or smart gadgets (e.g., Insta360 X3 Creator Kit, a Bluetooth selfie stick, or custom power bank).
Creative workshop
Working on creative projects helps to bond with your team and pick up new skills. So, here are fun workshop ideas:
- Pottery painting or clay sculpting
- Candle making
- DIY jewelry making
- Herbal tea blending
- Tote bag or T-shirt customization
- Bath bomb making
- Watercolo or acrylic painting
Summer picnic
Since office work usually means lots of sitting and little time outdoors, summer is the ideal season to get outside and organize a fun picnic party.
Nothing brings a team closer like hiking trips and singing songs around a campfire. You can prepare simple food together—like tasty bruschettas, light salads, or fire up the grill for a BBQ.
Plus, add some physical activities, for example, frisbee, badminton, or volleyball.
Here’s a basic checklist of what you might need for your picnic:
- Blankets or folding chairs
- Cooler with drinks
- BBQ grill
- Reusable tableware
- Music speaker
- Games and sports equipment
- Food
- Camera
- Portable mosquito repeller
- Water sprayer with a built-in fan
Fun team-building activities for small teams
Here are some fun team-building activities for 5-20 people:
Outdoor cinema
Grab a projector, some popcorn, and snacks, and head out with your team to a rooftop, courtyard, or any open space.
Let everyone vote on which movie to watch. You can even give it a theme. For example, an Italian movie night with pizza, or a 90s throwback with classic snacks.
Board game night
A board games night is a fun way to bring people together, whethe they’re solving puzzles as a team, compete against each other, or just enjoying some laughs.
Bring a mix of board games in different genres—strategy, party, trivia, cooperative—so there’s something for everyone. Split into small groups and let each team choose the game they enjoy most.
Add some snacks, drinks, and a cozy atmosphere, and your team-building evening is all set.
Escape room challenge
Find a themed escape room challenge in your area like, for example, a haunted pirate ship, where your team will solve puzzles, look for clues, and crack codes before time runs out. The immersive story and themed setting will make the experience memorable and engaging.
Dancing lesson
Take a dancing lesson to learn a new dance style with your team, like hip hop or jazz funk. Or simply have fun dancing to the music. Such activity will help you take a break from the usual office routine and relax.
Yoga class
Practicing yoga isn’t just trandy but also very beneficial for your body and mind. So, book a private yoga session with your team. You’ll learn to breathe correctly and control your body, try different asanas, and enjoy a calm, relaxing vibe.
After the session, head to a cozy café together for herbal tea, fresh juice, and a light snack.
Adventurous team-building activities
Want to boost your adrenaline and energize your team? Try these summer team-building activities:
Kayaking/ canoeing
Paddle with your team, exploring a calm lake, a scenic river, or the open sea. Add some engaging challenges during the journey.
For example, hide waterproof objects or clues around a lake and ask your team to follow a map or solve riddles to find them. Or try kayak races, where teams race in turns, tagging the next teammate after a short paddling loop.
Karting
Head to your local go-kart track for an exciting dose of speed and competition with your team. Race against each other and crown your top three fastest drivers. And don’t forget to pop the champagne—just like in a real Formula 1 celebration!
To make the experience more memorable, reward the champions with fun branded corporate merch or racing-themed prizes.
Camping
Organize a weekend retreat with your team in a relaxed setting. Camping will bond your team through shared experiences like setting up tents, cooking over a campfire, and exploring nature.
Plan some team games in advance, such as capture the flag, outdoor cooking challenges, or a storytelling circle by the fire.
And here are some camping essentials to keep in mind:
- Tents
- Sleeping bags and mats
- Camping chairs
- Headlamps and flashlights
- Reusable water bottles
- Cooking gear
- Cups and plates
- Multifunctional tools
- Coolers
- Garbage bags
- Music players
- Games
Go orienting
Split your team into small groups, hand them a map, a compass, and a set of clues. Then, send them off on a journey to find their way to a shared destination. Each group starts from a different location but they will have the same final destination.
While the game is traditionally done in forests or parks, it works just as well in urban areas like city centers.
Paintball/laser tag
Get everyone moving, thinking strategically, and working together toward a shared goal like capturing the flag or defending a base.
Both games offer fun interaction, yet laser tag is a great non-contact alternative to paintball, especially for indoor venues or teams looking for a more playful (less messy and painful) option.