A Guide to the Best Team Building Events in Chicago

Chicago isn't just known for its skyline, world‑class food scene, and arts culture; it's also an incredible city for team building. Whether your team is local to the area or visiting for a conference, Chicago offers a wealth of experiences that go far beyond the usual after‑work happy hour. From hands‑on art workshops to interactive cooking classes and immersive tastings, the city is packed with creative opportunities that bring people together in meaningful ways.

If you’re overseeing a team and want to reward employees for a job well done, strengthen camaraderie, or simply give everyone a chance to connect outside of daily work tasks, planning a team building event can be an excellent way to achieve those goals. Chicago’s mix of unique venues, skilled hosts, and diverse cultural offerings means you can easily find an activity that fits your group’s size, budget, and personality.

Art Events

Terrarium Workshop

If you are looking for a unique art event, consider this terrarium building workshop in which you and your team members will have the chance to create living art that they can put on display in their homes or office. This course will provide participants with all of the succulents, stones and mosses they need to start designing and creating their own beautiful terrariums and everyone will leave with the skills and training they need to start working on larger and more elaborate projects if they want to follow up on the practice.

Pottery Making Group Event

Another fun option for a group art event is a pottery wheel throwing course like this one. In this event, participants will learn how to use a pottery wheel to turn a block of wet clay into a functional mug or decorative container that you’ll be able to glaze, fire and pick up at a later date to take home with you. Pottery is a skill that few people ever seriously consider learning though it is far more accessible than one would lead themselves to believe, making a course like this a great way to give your team members an experience that they might otherwise never have had the chance to do.

Office Paint and Sip

Art events can feel intimidating, especially for team members who don’t think of themselves as particularly artistically inclined. This can be addressed by hosting a very low-stakes art event like a paint and sip session. These painting classes are ostensibly art courses but the focus is far more on socializing with one another, enjoying a few beverages (wine and beer are very popular, though these events can have non-alcoholic options available) and stepping slightly outside of your comfort zone for a night of fun. You can even customize the painting project your team members will work on during the course to make things feel even more tailored to them.

Clay Hand Building Course

Another popular option for art classes is a clay hand building course, which is essentially a pottery event without the need for elaborate pottery wheels or kiln firing the finished product. This makes the course very accessible and the kind of thing that you can easily hold at your own office while also allowing participants to join the event online. Everyone will have the opportunity to make their own hand molded sculpture or container, which they can then take home with them after the event. As far as art classes go, this is one of the most accessible and enjoyable options and it is also great to pair with some nice snacks and drinks.

Cooking

Pasta 101

One of the best kinds of events to hold for your team members is a cooking workshop, because not only is it a fun, enjoyable social event but it is also a practical skill that people want to learn and an excuse to make dinner for the evening. This pasta making course is a popular choice because pasta is such a versatile food and there are so many different ways that individuals can prepare it to fit their personal tastes. Participants will learn to hand roll, cut and stuff pasta and how to make their own delicious sauces.

Sushi Night

Another popular team building cooking option ironically involves almost no cooking at all. These hand-rolled sushi courses will teach participants how to prepare delicious nigiri, sashimi and maki that can serve as a unique appetizer or a complete meal. This course will provide participants with the chance to make their own sushi during hands-on lessons on fileting fish, rolling rice and seaweed and cutting the finished product in preparation for service. There are also versions of the course that focus on vegetarian or cooked seafood options for participants who are unsure about their desire to handle raw fish.

Cake Decorating 101

Cooking is often thought of as an art form all on its own, but there is also a chance to be visually creative when making your meals. For example, this cake decorating event is a great way to let participants express themselves in a creative way while also getting a delicious dessert once the event is completed. You and your team members will get to decorate and shape their own personalized cakes in a fun and low-stakes environment. This event is a great way to get your team members to come together, share their creative work and enjoy a fun evening with one another.

Cooking & Queens

Treat your team members to a unique dinner and a show experience with this Cooking & Queens event. Team members will either learn how to prepare a sushi or pizza meal while enjoying a pair of drag sets from some of Chicago’s finest professional queens. This is an exciting opportunity to learn a new skill, take in a show and enjoy a handmade dinner all at the same time, which is the kind of unique experience that team building events are all about.

Tasting

Wine and Cheese Tasting

There is a reason that wine and cheese tastings have an aura of class and sophistication to them and they make excellent bonding events. If you sign your team members up for one of these tasting events, you will be signing them up for an enjoyable and educational experience as they sample a collection of wine and cheese from across the globe while an experienced host explains to them the science and art of making wine and cheese and the process of pairing them together.

Mixology Workshop

If you want a more hands-on tasting experience, consider signing your team members up for a mixology workshop. In this event, participants will receive all of the supplies and spirits they need to make a trio of classic and modern cocktails with a menu that rotates and can be customized to fit the needs of your party. They will learn the science of cocktail making and why it is that certain drinks are prepared in certain ways. Participants can also make non-alcoholic mocktails as an alternative if they would prefer to participate without drinking.

Why Host a Team Building Event

Hosting team building events is an excellent way to bring your team members together, reward them for a job well done or simply build team bonds between the people who are going to be working on potentially high-stress projects over a long period of time. Teams that work closely with one another are very likely to need to build some degree of close association with one another and large teams may need an icebreaker event that they can use to get to know one another and become more accustomed to working together. 

These events are also just a fun and exciting way to bring your team together for a bit of much-needed rest and relaxation. These events can help everyone wind down after a stressful week of work or just give them an opportunity to have a bit of fun with their coworkers.

Things to Consider When Hosting a Team Building Event

When choosing a team building event for your team members, there are a few different things you may want to consider, particularly if you have never hosted one of these events before. Every team is going to be different and thus, every team is going to want to approach the team building process differently. That said, there are some things you may want to consider regardless of the makeup of your team.

Size of Your Group

While it may seem obvious, it is important to consider the size of your group and the amount of energy it takes to bring everyone together when planning an event. Very large and very small groups will have different requirements and need different accommodations than groups of a dozen or so participants. Some events will necessarily be harder or impossible for groups that are sufficiently big (for example, a group of 75 people can’t realistically do an escape room) and there are some events that require slightly more collaboration among individuals, which can be harder in small enough groups.

Large groups are likely to benefit more from an event wherein everyone is given the freedom to work on projects on their own, like a paint and sip event or a clay hand molding event. Large groups will also probably benefit from events that require minimal supplies and focused instruction (since space is a premium in something like a cooking class and you don’t want your team members fully away from the instructor).

Logistics

While not the most immediately obvious concern, you’ll want to consider the logistics of hosting an event and getting everyone together for the team building activity. This can be an issue if you are working with a large group but it can also be an issue when it comes to navigating the city and getting everyone to a location on time and invested. The more hurdles you put in front of your team members, the more likely it is that you will run into problems and that people will start dropping out. This is why many hosts opt to schedule events that can take place either at your office or are offered online. 

Reviews

One way to ensure that you are getting what you want out of a team building event is to look up reviews and see what other people have experienced when signing up for an activity. This can be especially helpful if you aren’t entirely sure what an event entails and what kind of support or guidance you and your team members will receive. You can also use reviews to judge whether or not the event is going to deliver on its promises.