The holiday season is an excellent time for team-building. It’s an opportunity to connect, recognize, and reward employees for their dedication before they enjoy some well-deserved time off.
For employees overwhelmed with a heavy workload, a break from the stress of the workday can serve to rejuvenate them before the new year.
If you’re searching for the right experience for your team, here are 16 team-building ideas that can spark joy in your team while improving connection and well-being.
16 Holiday Team Building Ideas
Table of contents:
Celebration:
- Hosting a Gift Exchange
- Crafting Winter Cocktails
- Making Hot Chocolate
- Ice Cream Making
- Cookie Decorating
Connection:
- Tea-Tasting
- Wine-Tasting
- Beer-Tasting
- Sampling Maple Syrup
- Building Communication with LEGOs
- Sharing Coffee and Snacks
- Improving Team Collaboration
Well-Being
- Decorating Winter Wreaths
- Painting a Holiday Picture
- Building Holiday Terrariums
- Creating Purposeful Artworks
Below is a detailed overview of each experience to help you decide whether it’s the right fit for your team.
Team-Building for Celebration
The holiday season is an excellent time to celebrate your team’s accomplishments and take time to relax.
Below are several ideas for team-building activities to help your team celebrate.
1. Hosting a Gift Exchange
Studies have shown that when employees receive recognition and appreciation, they’re more engaged. Gift exchanges can be a fun, festive way to help your team feel appreciated.
These events can be difficult to coordinate, however, especially for distributed teams. Furthermore, your team might not be interested in spending extra money on gifts for coworkers in addition to family and personal friends.
Teamraderie’s holiday gift exchange experience is a great solution.
The session includes a virtual gift-giving activity in which participants assign various positive characteristics to their team members. Following the session, a gift will be sent to each participant based on their assigned characteristics.
2. Crafting Winter Cocktails
Enjoy a virtual happy hour with your team!
Teamraderie’s cocktail-making experience is a great way to connect and bond with your team while participating in a shared activity.
During this experience, you’ll assemble and enjoy two holiday-themed cocktails while learning the history of this unique beverage. There are also non-alcoholic options for team members who don’t drink.
3. Making Hot Chocolate
Enjoy a steaming mug of hot chocolate with your team!
If you’re searching for ways to take a break from the busy holiday season and connect with your team, Teamraderie’s hot chocolate experience is an excellent option.
You’ll learn the secrets to making hot chocolate and the beverage’s fascinating history with your team. In the meantime, you’ll prepare a mug of hot chocolate from the comfort of your desk.
4. Ice Cream Making
Ever wanted to learn how to make ice cream?
In Teamraderie’s ice cream-making experience, your team will be provided with the ingredients needed to make homemade ice cream. They’ll then be guided through the process by a food and beverage expert.
This experience is an excellent opportunity for team members to learn more about this delicious dessert—as well as one another.
5. Cookie Decorating
Connect with your team while enjoying a tasty treat!
Decorating cookies is a popular tradition you can enjoy with your colleagues to celebrate the holidays.
During Teamraderie’s cookie decorating experience, you’ll learn decorating tips and techniques while connecting with your team and expressing individuality in your decorating style.
Team-Building for Connection
As teams are attempting to hit year-end goals and complete projects, connection is especially important during the holidays. This makes it an excellent theme for team-building.
Below are several ideas for helping your team connect during this busy season.
6. Tea-Tasting
Snap your team’s mid-day slump and invite them to afternoon tea!
Much like the cherished English tradition, Teamraderie’s tea-tasting experience is a time to gather, celebrate, and brighten your afternoon.
This experience will include five types of winter-spiced teas, various shortbread cookies, honey, and a ceramic Tea Forte tea-infuser mug. Your host will guide you through the process of brewing tea and teach your team about traditional English afternoon tea.
7. Wine-Tasting
Connect with your team by inviting them to share a glass of wine.
Teamraderie’s wine-tasting experience is led by an expert wine educator. In this session, you’ll learn the history of the renowned Napa Valley winery Chateau Montelena while enjoying a glass of wine and snacks.
You’ll come away with an understanding of the winery’s success and how these lessons can be applied to your team.
If you have a team member who doesn’t drink, non-alcoholic wine is also available, as are vegan and gluten-free alternatives.
8. Beer-Tasting
Celebrate the end of the year with your team by enjoying a beer together.
In Teamraderie’s beer-tasting experience, join an acclaimed beer expert to enjoy unique, holiday-style craft beers. This experience aims to unite your team and build camaraderie while giving everyone a break from the stress of the holiday season.
Attendees will receive four different beers for tasting while learning about the impressive growth of the craft beer industry, the different types of beer, and the ins and outs of running a brewery.
Non-alcoholic versions with similar flavor profiles are also available.
9. Sampling Maple Syrup
It may seem unconventional, but exploring the complexities of maple syrup can be a great way to connect with your team during the holidays.
Teamraderie’s maple syrup experience is led by a food and beverage expert. With each team member receiving four different maple syrup samples—representing four grades of maple syrup—your team will learn the fundamentals of maple syrup.
10. Building Communication with LEGOs
Build trust, build communication, and build LEGOs all at once!
Collaboration and communication are fundamental to Teamraderie’s LEGO experience, as your team works together in pursuit of a common goal—completing a LEGO set.
In this experience, everyone will have all the LEGO pieces they need to construct their set, but nobody will have the complete set of instructions. The team must work together to accomplish their shared goal.
11. Sharing Coffee and Snacks
Research shows that sharing food is an excellent way to cultivate trust and cooperation—vital ingredients for the holiday season.
In Teamraderie’s Tartine & French Press experience, you’ll have the opportunity to bring San Francisco’s famous Tartine Bakery to your team!
During this experience, everyone will be provided with a hand-picked box of Tartine’s most sought-after items, paired with 12 ounces of ground coffee and a YAMA Coffee & Tea Press. Your barista host will instantly refine your team’s coffee preferences by demonstrating the proper use of a French press while you enjoy the savory baked goods.
12. Improving Team Collaboration
Does your team struggle to collaborate effectively during busy seasons?
A team-building session designed to bolster team collaboration is an excellent way to help improve your team’s ability to work together during the holidays.
In Teamraderie’s experience, Meaningful Connections, your team will work with a Stanford Professor to increase empathy and improve communication. This experience is an excellent way to learn more about—and from—your team members.
Team-Building for Well-Being
If the holiday season stresses you out, you’re not alone.
Research from Harvard Business Review (HBR) shows that, whether due to finances, tight schedules, or other factors, a significant number of employees struggle with stress over the holiday season.
For this reason, team-building sessions designed to increase employee well-being are an excellent option for the holiday season.
Below are a few ideas.
13. Decorating Winter Wreaths
Express your creativity and get into the holiday spirit by building and decorating a winder moss wreath!
If you’re searching for an experience to spark joy and give your team a well-deserved break, Teamraderie’s wreath-building experience is an excellent option.
During this experience, you’ll learn how to build winter moss wreaths with your team. You’ll be guided by a facilitator who will instruct you in wreath-building while encouraging individuality in your decorating.
14. Painting a Holiday Picture
Explore your team’s creative side with a unique painting experience!
Led by a female-founded art studio in Northern California, Teamraderie’s experience, Painting with Purpose, is an excellent way to get to know your team.
Your instructor will facilitate discussion to allow team members to learn more about one another and lead you through the creation of your masterpiece.
This experience will focus on an identified theme, like a regional landmark or logo. Although each team member will receive the same instructions, everyone will have the opportunity to express their individuality through their artwork.
15. Building Holiday Terrariums
Promoting wellness at work is important for today’s leaders.
During Teamraderie’s terrarium-building experience, you’ll be guided through important elements of self-care by a wellness expert—all while bonding over a shared hands-on activity.
Team members will receive the materials needed to create a unique succulent terrarium while learning about the healing properties of plants. Your host will also discuss health and wellness, including opportunities to promote self-care and reduce stress.
16. Creating Purposeful Artworks
While art is enjoyable and relaxing by itself, leveraging it as a tool for learning can be effective in enhancing employee well-being.
In Teamraderie’s experience, Progress Through Art, your team will learn to embrace comfortability through an engaging art workshop.
Your team will be guided in a session designed to help them recognize how they’ve progressed through moments of discomfort by leveraging the medium of art.
Need Help Planning Your Holiday Team-Building?
Although team-building is important during the holidays, planning it can be tricky—especially if you’re dealing with stress yourself.
If you need help planning your team-building sessions, schedule one of our live, virtual team experiences, and we’ll handle the logistics!
Each experience is research-backed and led by an expert host.
While many of our holiday-themed experiences are food and beverage-based, Teamraderie also offers a wide range of thought-based experiences led by top academics, Olympic athletes, accomplished authors, and more.
Teamraderis has over 60 unique experiences to choose from, so there’s truly something for everyone.
Happy holidays!
