Ideas for Company Picnic Games

Company picnics are the means to achieve integration of employees in a fun atmosphere. They help in fostering a team spirit in the company employees and most importantly, prove to be a refreshing break from work. Company picnics are an occasion to get all the employees together and give them an opportunity to interact informally. No company picnic is complete without some exciting games. Games are the most important part of company picnics and team gatherings. They serve as a break from monotony, act as stress busters and give the employees a chance to switch off from work for a little while. Following is a list of some ideas for company picnic games.

Sports: Games like football, softball or volleyball are some of the best options for company picnic games. You can make arrangements for miniature golf or basketball depending on the availability of space.

Our Suggestion: If you are going to have exhausting sports like football or volleyball, keep them during the first half of the day. After lunch, you can have something less exhauting like golf or foosball (this one had worked pretty well for our company picnic).

Entertainment: You can make provisions for entertainment facilities such as a DJ, musicians, a magician, face painting and tattooing booths and other recreational activities like bingo, jumping gym or pinball. You can even arrange for a tarot reader, astrologer or palmist. Trust me, there is a section of people interested in things like these. If you are going to a resort which offers video gaming facilities, go for them!

Our Suggestion: Remember, it may not be wise to spend the entire day of the picnic in only entertaining activities. A magic show after lunch and music or dance in the afternoon but not immediately after lunch are good supplements to picnic games and team activities. Tarot reading and the like or even face painting and tattoo booths can be kept open throughout the day if the resort allows.

For the Kids: If you have invited the employees along with their families, plan some games for kids too. You can include fun activities like pony rides, face painting and tattooing for kids, video games and also races or one-minute games for children. Minute to win it kind of games attract people of all age groups and kids are no exception. Running races, sack races, word games, tug of war, balloon toss, among other kids games can be included. It's a good idea to plan a scavenger hunt. For this, you should know the location really well. Have a photo booth set up at the venue. Employees can avail of this with their fmiliy or their peers.

Our Suggestion: In case of a company picnic where employees are accompanied by their families, make provisions for babysitting if you can. You don't want employees or their partners to remain busy with their kids throughout the day.

Water Games: If the picnic venue has the facility of a swimming pool, you can add water activities to your company picnic games list. Check if the resort has a swimming pool facility and if it requires special bookings. Book a comfortable slot; preferably, afternoon or early evening for water games. You can arrange for a miniature water polo or waboba! A dunking booth is sure to invite a lot of excitement. See if you can arrange for it. Other fun water games like dropping different colored balls or balloons in water and having the participants fetch them, or having teams hunt for a treasure placed underwater are other company picnic activities to choose from. Water sports like boating, rafting and skiing are great options if the picnic venue allows for them.

Our Suggestion: Take all the water safety measures before having the participants enter water. Second half of the day is a good time for water activities. Ensure that no one enters water without proper safety gear and that no hydrophobic enters water just because someone forced him to.

Team Building Games: Company picnics are the best time for conducting team building activities. One of the basic purposes of picnic games is to bring together the employees and foster a team spirit in them. Hence, it is best to organize team building activities. You can have in-house enthusiasts plan these or arrange for a third-party event planner who would do that for you. You can look up for games in corporate team building activities. Divide the group into teams and have a quizzing session, give them brainteasers and riddles to solve, ask company trivia. Games like these foster a team spirit and also test the employees' problem-solving abilities. Have them play mine field, a trust-building game where employees are divided into pairs. In each pair, one person is blindfolded. He has to walk along a predetermined path following the instructions of his partner. Arrange for interactive games which foster team communication.

Our Suggestion: Start with easy games like charades and know-eachother-better kind of games. Introduce physical activities a little later. Make the employees comfortable before you start the team activities. It may not be a great idea to explicitly refer to these games as 'team building activities'. Let the building of team spirit be a side effect of the whole idea of picnicking together.

Too add to all the fun, you can plan a fishpond session. If taken in the right spirit, this can add to the fun and excitement of your company picnic. Avoid mockery or gross humor and ensure that everyone enjoys the activity. Games like pass the parcel, tug-of-war and treasure hunt are all-time favorites. Put the travel time to good use by having some entertaining activities when traveling to the picnic spot. It takes greater effort to pep up an already bored group of people. So let the spirits be high, right from the moment your company picnic begins! A well-planned company picnic is sure to serve as an excellent platform for the employees to come together and enjoy. Though games are an important part of picnics, they are not enough. To add to the enjoyment, do not forget to make arrangements for good food. Remember to cater to the needs of people of different ages and from varied backgrounds. Plan the picnic games in such a way that everyone coming for the picnic will be able to participate. Carry a first aid box and other safety gear (as required). Instruct the employees to wear comfortable clothes and footwear and carry an extra pair of these, especially so if water activities are involved. Take maximum care to avoid any mishaps or accidents during the trip.

Company picnics are occasions to get the employees together and give them a break from work. Picnic games should not be restricted to the enthusiastic few. They should engage everyone, young and old, to take part and have fun.