Conjure The Spirit Of Halloween With These Team-Building Activities
Halloween season is, once again, upon us. This centuries-old tradition, historically celebrated in various forms and cultures, marks the end of summer and the approaching end of yet another demanding year. Over time, Halloween has found its way into less conventional contexts of celebration; neighborhood-bound trick-or-treating is but a childhood memory. Now, more and more businesses are incorporating associated activities into their calendars, with ghosts and ghouls becoming the centerpiece of the corporate office space. If you still haven't engaged in spooky celebrations, don't you think it's about time? Here's how you can take your next L&D event to another level, all while targeting team engagement and collaboration. Review our list of team-building activities that celebrate the spirit of Halloween to help your people create meaningful connections and strong bonds.
Why Halloween Is The Perfect Occasion For Your Next L&D Event
It doesn't matter if you've never celebrated Halloween before or if it's one of your favorite times of the year. You might not see a point in celebrating Halloween in a corporate context. Sure, while the premises of such a celebration might not directly align with how we conceive office-related events and L&D activities, it actually provides a great opportunity to enrich your employees' experience and foster more solid team dynamics. The best thing is that you can flexibly adjust your Halloween program to accommodate both in-person and remote employees. But before we dive into some of our recommended activities for team-building, let's discuss why Halloween is the perfect occasion to celebrate with your co-workers.
- Encourages participation and engagement
Halloween brings back wonderful childhood memories. For those who haven't celebrated before, it becomes an occasion that feels intriguing and fresh. No matter the category your employees fall in, both are encouraged to participate in planning the festivities, present ideas, decorate, or simply have fun. It's a significant boost for employee engagement rates. - Fosters creativity
Task a planning committee and watch as amazing things happen. Halloween-themed celebrations are perfect to unleash your employees' innate creativity, which may show up in unconventional, but highly entertaining, ways. - Strengthens team dynamics
Is there a better occasion to bring teams together than feeling the holiday spirit? As a precursor to your upcoming Christmas celebrations, your Halloween event can help your people relax and connect in a more casual manner than the typical day-to-day. Moreover, the planning phase requires close collaboration, communication, and collective problem-solving. Need we say more? - Raises morale
Three business quarters into the year, and your teams need some rejuvenation to see the last one through. All Hallows' Eve adds some needed spice to the daily routine, bringing down stress levels before the end-of-year rush begins and allowing your employees to take a breather and enjoy the moment.
6 Halloween Activities For Your Team-Building Event
To mark this year's spooky season, we have compiled a list of Halloween team-building activities that are perfect for your next L&D event. Of course, we encourage you to run wild and create your own fun activities to strengthen your teams' bonds and, at the same time, celebrate! However, these are a good start if you need some inspiration.
1. Trick-Or-Treat Station
Can you imagine celebrating Halloween without some tricks or treats? Perish the thought! For an authentic Halloween experience, treats—if not tricks—are a must. Find a nice corner in your office to set up your station and task a team with collecting everyone's preferences, be it candies, savory snacks, or refreshments. It's interesting to see the final assortment of goodies, not to mention, a great conversation starter. Let your people collaborate and organize this buffet according to everyone's preferences. On the day of, this will also allow your team members to interact more casually, treat themselves, and learn more about each other. Food is known for bringing people together, after all.
2. Halloween Movie Marathon And Trivia
What's the best way to spark conversations, find shared interests, and test your knowledge all in one? Trivia games are always fun but the Halloween element adds an extra kick. To make this a success, pick a couple of films to watch (either during working hours or as homework), then congregate to test your knowledge! For non-horror fans, there are plenty of films that go easy on the spookiness, so your movie marathon/trivia event can accommodate different categories and preferences. This team-building activity can easily be done virtually, making your Halloween event remote work-friendly; everyone can join in! To make this game even more collaborative, you can split everyone into groups (with horror-themed names, of course) where teams can work together to win a spooky or tasty prize.
3. Decorate-Your-Workspace Challenge
It's not Halloween unless there's a pumpkin or a skeleton lying around somewhere in close proximity. Make this L&D team-building activity special by catering to your team's decorative or competitive side—or both. Start by decorating your own desk and let the competition commence to mark the winner/Ultimate Halloween Decorator. Alternatively, you can split into groups and pick a part of the office to decorate. If you want to take things to the next level, create a DIY station, where everyone can try their hand at creating their own decorations and ornaments. This activity can really bring your teams together while simultaneously fostering creative thinking and problem-solving. After all, figuring out how to seamlessly incorporate spooky decorations into a corporate space requires some extra contemplation.
4. Volunteer In Costume
Halloween is the perfect occasion to combine volunteering with team-building. Is there a cause you're interested in supporting? Call a meeting to review organizations that reflect your values and accept volunteers. If you schedule it for Halloween, then there's no one stopping you from showing up in costume—if it's context-appropriate, of course. It's a great way to bring an element of fun while supporting a cause that matters to everyone and provides a helping hand. Generally, corporate volunteerism is an excellent option for team-building all year round, but when scheduled during holidays, it becomes an ever more memorable experience.
5. Mystery-Solving Events
Whether you wanted to be a detective as a child or enjoy a good riddle, mystery-solving is an excellent Halloween-themed team-building activity. It helps to exercise one's deduction skills by coming up with theories or action plans and simultaneously encourages team interactions through entertaining back-and-forths. Perfect for those of a more competitive or inquiring nature, a mystery-solving event can merge the spirit of the holiday with some good old sleuthing, providing opportunities for collaboration and connection.
6. Boo Baskets
This social media craze can become the perfect addition to wrap up your Halloween festivities. Boo baskets are Halloween-themed gift baskets sporting an assortment of seasonal items, Halloween decorations, and other knick-knacks that show appreciation and encourage self-care. There are two ways you can go about this. You can compile small boo baskets to hand out to everyone around the office, just like party favors. Alternatively, you can start a Secret Santa-inspired exchange where you match each person to another. Both options provide the opportunity to make everyone feel appreciated. However, the second option helps foster individual connections, allowing team members to get to know each other better. Not to mention, it's also a great way to mark the end of your celebrations.
Conclusion
After reading this list, is there anyone left who's not excited to do something Halloween-related? It's easy to combine Learning and Development initiatives, like team-building events, with fun celebrations. Nurturing healthy team dynamics is an ongoing process but it doesn't hurt to leverage the holiday spirit to elevate and enrich your employees' experience. These activities are only the tip of the iceberg—Halloween is the perfect time of year to unleash your creative side. It's an opportunity to focus on building meaningful interpersonal connections while dabbling in a bit of fun. Let's see what you do this year!
