Try these ideas for fun activities to engage your team for the upcoming Thanksgiving Celebration at the Office
Holidays are a great way to spend time with your family. Having in mind that we spend most of our time in the office, our co-workers are part of our family too. For that reason, many companies organize Thanksgiving celebrations at the office and that’s a good time for the team to bond with each other and make the days in the office more interesting.
Traditionally, Thanksgiving is the time for everyone to gather around the table, have a feast and think about everything they are thankful for and share it with the rest. Thanksgiving is associated with turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, not to forget the pumpkin pie and the family around you.
All of this sounds amazing until you reach a point when the Thanksgiving celebration at the office is the same each year and this party becomes just another task for you between sending tons of emails and sitting through long meetings, so you wish it’s over before it has even begun. Every year, you recognize the pattern – the same colleague can’t wait for the lunch to be ready, the other one has the role of Grinch by hating it and you just wish you find a way to skip it.
For that reason, we have found some amusing ways to celebrate Thanksgiving in the office that would follow the Thanksgiving spirit, and everyone will enjoy it.
Organize a “Secret Thanksgiving Santa”
Who doesn’t love the Secret Santa game for Christmas? The excitement of buying a gift to a random colleague and find out how much you know about them by choosing their gift. Well, why not have a similar game for Thanksgiving?
Write down the names of each employee on small pieces of paper and get everyone to choose their Thanksgiving buddy. These gifts are usually symbolic, shouldn’t be expensive and should be fun. It’s even more interesting if it’s a creative customized gift. Alternatively, this can just be a “Thank you” card instead of a gift.
Create a “Thank You” Wall
Thanksgiving is the time to think and share what you are thankful for, so what’s a better way to celebrate it than to share your thanks with your team. Get a whiteboard and a stack of post-it notes and get everyone to write one thing they are grateful for on a note and put it up on the wall. You can also encourage the team to write the name of one or two colleagues they are grateful to for helping them. The Thanksgiving gratitude wall will definitely help your team bond.
Give Donations instead of a Thanksgiving Celebration at the Office
One suitable way to celebrate Thanksgiving is to give back to the community. Contact the local charity organizations and find out what kind of activity your team can do and volunteer there. Replace the traditional Thanksgiving celebration at the office by visiting the local kitchen to cook for the homeless people. Those who aren’t really into cooking can bring canned food from home or maybe old clothes to donate.
Have Fun With Team Activities
Why not make this year’s Thanksgiving a day for competition. There are different kinds of team activities where the colleagues will be competitors and the winners may win some prizes at the end. These games can be with a Thanksgiving theme or just a regular table-tennis tournament. If you have an entertainment room in your office it would be an ideal location for the tournament.
Be creative, there are various group games that your team can enjoy.
Bring Your Family to the Office
Many companies organize the so-called “bring your daughter/partner/mother to work” days. Thanksgiving is the ideal day to get the families of your employees/colleagues in the office and celebrate it together with a nice meal. In this way, everyone will get to show their family where they spend most of their time and introduce them to their coworkers. The families would feel appreciative and honored to be included in the professional life of their loved ones.
Be Thankful
Whatever you decide to do for the upcoming holiday, what matters the most is spending quality time with your team and enjoy it. Thanksgiving is the time to be thankful for everything you have and to think about what can you do to improve your life. Use this time to think about how to make someone else thankful for having you as a friend or colleague in their life.
The team at Ignite Global Media would like to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving and to appreciate their gratitude by offering special discounts to the video production services. Contact us to find out more.