Tired of the usual lame, awkward, and cheesy team-building activities? It's time to prove your team wrong and show them just how cool team-building activities can be with CourseHorse's wide variety of options.
If people on your team groan and roll their eyes at the idea of team-building activities, then you’ll want to prove them wrong by showing them just how cool team-building activities can be. If you choose the right activity, your team will have fun while creating bonds, finding common ground, and learning how to work successfully as a team.
Some team-building activities might seem lame, awkward, cheesy, or just like another item to mark off a to-do list. But it doesn’t have to be that way: CourseHorse offers a large variety of team-building activities that aren’t just fun – they’re downright cool.
Can Team Building Be Fun?
Short answer: yes! Not only can team-building activities be fun, but they should be! According to Harvard Business Review, having fun at work can increase your team’s creativity, initiative, job satisfaction, and overall productivity. You won’t just build a stronger team when you schedule a fun team-building activity. You’ll be increasing the company’s productivity and profits.
Top Not Lame Team Building Activities
#1: Virtual Murder Mystery: Team Escape
Murder mystery and escape room are combined in this unique Virtual Murder Mystery: Team Escape event. Your team will race against the clock to solve a murder and escape the murder scene. The game is set at a high school reunion where a classmate goes missing. Participants use a combination of clues to solve the murder and escape their high school gymnasium.
#2: Virtual Artisanal Cheese Tasting
Your team will learn to understand the world of artisanal cheese in this Virtual Artisanal Cheese Tasting. A professional cheesemonger will educate your team about cheese tasting and storage as they taste a selection of artisanal cheeses: a young goat gouda, creamy St. Stephens, and a clothbound Jaspar Hill cheddar. Each participant will be shipped three half-pound packages of artisanal cheeses, enough for them to share with their family afterward.
#3: Virtual Grow Your Own Home Garden (Materials Included)
Get your team’s hands dirty and their garden growing in this hands-on, fun, and relaxing Virtual Grow Your Own Home Garden. Your group will be taught the basics of planting, growing, and maintaining their own miniature herb garden. An herbal kill will be shipped to all participants, including starter pots, planting markers, peat discs, and seeds (parsley, thyme, chives, tarragon, and cilantro).
#4: Virtual New York Style Pretzels (Materials Included)
Your team will get to know each other better while learning to make delicious, fresh pretzels in this Virtual New York Style Pretzels. Together, they’ll mix, roll, shape, and bake pretzels from scratch. Then, everyone will socialize while enjoying their creations. All materials will be shipped to participants, including yeast, flour, cornmeal, sea salt, and baking soda.
#5: Virtual Paint & Sip Party (Materials Included)
Your team will relax, create, and enjoy a glass of wine in this Virtual Paint & Sip Party. Participants will receive a bottle of wine and an acrylic painting kit so they have everything they need for the event. Even someone who has never painted before will leave with a beautiful painting after sipping wine and bonding with their co-workers.
#6: Virtual Tarot Cards 101
The tarot is an ancient meditation, guidance, and inspiration tool. Give your employees insight into their lives in this Virtual Tarot Cards 101. Participants will take part in an interactive workshop on how to use tarot cards to connect to their own inner wisdom. All materials will be shipped to participants, including their own tarot deck.
#8: Virtual Sushi Making Workshop (Materials Included)
The Virtual Sushi Making Workshop teaches your team the art of making sushi at home. They’ll learn about fish selection, sushi rice, basic knife skills, hand rolls, crunch rolls, and nigiri. After the event, everyone will be able to make their own sushi using the included sushi kit. The sushi kit will be shipped to participants before the event and includes a bamboo rolling mat, reusable chopsticks, sushi rice, rice vinegar, sesame seeds, nori, soy sauce, wasabi, pickled ginger, and a gift card for fish and vegetables.
#8: Virtual 90s Pop Culture Bingo
Put on your Doc Martens and sail on the Titanic back to the last great decade with 90s Pop Culture Bingo. Bingo is combined with trivia as your group separates into mini-teams to compete like Tonya and Nancy to get B-I-N-G-O by answering 90s pop culture trivia questions. Identify songs from Nirvana or answer questions about popular movies, tv shows, and video games such as Sonic and Super Mario World. This event will make your whole team want to zig-a-zig-ahhhh!
#9: Virtual Private Mixology Workshop (Materials Included)
Your team will enjoy this interactive Virtual Private Mixology Workshop. Your group will be guided by a Mixologist to learn how to build three craft cocktails: an old-fashioned, a ginger lime margarita, and a mint julep. Your employees will get to know each other better as they make and enjoy their cocktails. All materials will be shipped to participants, including a gift card to purchase spirits, a Hawthorne strainer, a jigger, garnishes, and artisanal syrups and bitters.
#10: Virtual Comedy Show
Get your whole team laughing with this Virtual Comedy Show. A professional stand-up comedian will entertain your team while they release stress and enjoy themselves. You can choose an hour-long or a half-hour show. This event is perfect for livening up a company happy hour. The length and content ratings of the show can be customized to your team’s preferences, so everyone has fun and no one leaves offended.
More Engaging & Entertaining Virtual Team Building Activities
Virtual Timewarp Trivia
Take a tour through time in Virtual Timewarp Trivia. Your team will be tested on their knowledge of four decades in four rounds: 70s, 80s, 90s, and 00s. Grab your bell bottoms and your Grunge cassette tapes and enjoy this fast-paced, fun trivia journey through the last great decades.
Virtual Premium Bourbon Tasting (Materials Included)
If you’re looking for a sophisticated adult event, you should consider the Virtual Premium Bourbon Tasting from CourseHorse. Your team will taste a selection of premium bourbons in this one-of-a-kind team-building event. A professional spirits expert will teach your team about tasting notes so they have a lively discussion during the tasting. A selection of premium bourbons will be mailed to each participant after the event. This event is great for Bourbon enthusiasts and Bourbon newbies.
Virtual Steak Workshop
Learn how to make the perfect piece of meat in this Virtual Steak Workshop. Each participant receives a guide for selecting a great steak and is then guided by a chef instructor to cook it on the grill (or a cast iron pan) during this workshop. The course includes instructions on the different cuts of meat, cooking techniques, and steak temperatures. As a bonus, the chef instructor will show everyone how to make a delicious, fresh chimichurri sauce to pair with it.
Virtual Team-Building Improv Workshop
Teach your team to say “Yes…And” in this Virtual Team-Building Improv Workshop. Contrary to popular belief, improv is not about being funny but about listening, connecting, collaborating, being creative, and going with the flow. Your team will boost their communication skills and confidence when they work together as an improv team.
Virtual Dumpling Making
A professional chef will guide your team through learning how to make dumplings in this hands-on Virtual Dumpling Making workshop. You’ll start by making the two-ingredient dough by hand and then create two different fillings: pork & celery and mushroom veggie. The chef guides everyone through each step of the process: kneading dough, shaping the dumplings, and cooking them. Your team will finish by creating a vinegar-soy dipping sauce and enjoying their dumpling creations together.
Virtual Tequila Tasting (with Materials)
Learn to taste tequila like a professional in this Virtual Tequila Tasting. In this one-hour virtual event, a tequila expert will guide you through how to taste tequila and how to use it to make delicious adult drinks. You will be tasting three different types of tequila: a Blanco, a Reposado, and an Anejo. You’ll enjoy a fun, relaxing event while learning about the cultural heritage of Mexico. All materials are shipped to participants, including all three types of tequila.
Virtual Charcuterie Board Party
Create a spread worthy of The Gram in this Virtual Charcuterie Board Party. Participants receive an ingredient list before the event, and then they’ll embark on a 1.5-hour exploration of what makes a great charcuterie board. You’ll be making board staples such as pickles, a mostarda, and a salami rose.
Virtual Hot Sauce from Scratch (Materials Included)
Your team will master the art of making hot sauce in Virtual Hot Sauce from Scratch. Hot sauce is a fun, healthy, and addictive way to add a little flavor to your life. A chef instructs participants in making hot sauce from scratch and also educates them on pepper essentials: how to choose peppers, work with peppers safely, learn to identify different types of hot sauces, understand hot sauce ingredients and flavor balance, and give your sauce the perfect density and texture. A Hot Sauce Kit will be shipped to each team member, including a funnel, gloves, spice blend, jars, and three types of freeze-dried peppers.
Virtual Pet Portraits
Combine your love for your pet with a relaxing art event in Virtual Pet Portraits. This 90-minute workshop is taught by a professional artist who walks participants through sketching and painting their pet from a picture. Your team will get a chance to share their best friend with their co-workers in this cheerful, fun, and relaxing event. All materials will be shipped to participants, including palettes, brushes, canvas, and acrylic paints.
Virtual Afternoon Tea Party (Materials Included)
Your team will go pinkies up for this proper English tea together in this Virtual Afternoon Tea Party. They’ll learn how to make tea, blueberry scones, and delicious cucumber dill sandwiches. At the end of the class, everyone will talk while they taste their delicious British creations. All ingredients are shipped to participants before the event, including materials for baking scones, English Breakfast or Earl Gray tea, ad a gift card for perishables and produce. Gluten-free options and non-caffeinated herbal tea can be provided by request.
Virtual Guacamole & Margaritas Workshop (Materials Included)
This fun and fast Virtual Guacamole & Margaritas workshop makes a great team happy hour or team-building event. A Professional chef teaches your team the principles of making delicious, fresh guacamole from scratch. They’ll also learn how to mix the perfect margarita to pair with it. Materials will be shipped to participants, including simple syrup, a jigger, a Hawthorne strainer, a cocktail pick, and a gift card to purchase tequila, avocados, tomatoes, lime, onion, and cilantro.
1) Games
Virtual Brick Building Team Challenge (Materials Included)
Let your creativity soar with this collaborative Virtual Brick Building Team Challenge. Work together to come up with one-of-a-kind Lego® structures to compete for the best build title. Each round will have a prompt, and teams will need to work together to create a unique build that tells a story, like building a zoo scene or creating the tallest stable structure. Lego® kits are included and will be sent to team members.
Virtual Pictionary
A family game night favorite becomes a fun team-building activity with Virtual Pictionary. Participants will draw on a virtual whiteboard as team members attempt to guess what it is. The team that gets the most right wins. The event takes place on a game platform with interactive elements and scorecards.
Virtual Scavenger Hunt
Your team will enjoy the Virtual Scavenger Hunt whether they are working from home or the office. After dividing into small groups, participants will solve riddles to identify common objects and earn points. The next stage will be hunting of items from prompts, followed by show and tell.
2) Cooking
Virtual Cinnamon Rolls Workshop (Materials Included)
Enjoy some baking time with your team in this Virtual Cinnamon Rolls Workshop. Your group will learn to make Swedish cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting from a professional chef who will give you tips of the trade to make the process faster and more convenient. Ingredient kits will be sent to team members before the class.
Virtual Pizza from Scratch (Materials Included)
Go beyond the office pizza party with Virtual Pizza from Scratch. Your team will learn to make homemade pizza dough, roll it out, spread the toppings, and bake it, then eat their creations from their homes. Participants will receive a kit including extra virgin olive oil, a can of tomatoes, flour, yeast, garlic, and a $10 e-gift card to purchase the cheese and toppings of their choice.
Virtual Bubble Tea Making Workshop (Materials Included)
Get the team together and learn to make this popular drink in a Virtual Bubble Tea Making Workshop. Learn to make three different flavors of bubble tea, cook tapioca pearls, and make matcha brown sugar, while learning fun facts about the history of boba tea from Taiwan. Participants will get a kit with everything you need to make bubble tea. You will also need access to a stove, a pot, a sifter, a strainer, drinking glasses, measuring spoons, water, and ice.
Virtual Italian Cheese Making Workshop (Materials Included)
Learn to make a variety of simple fresh cheeses in this Virtual Italian Cheese Making Workshop. Your team will enjoy working together virtually to learn how to craft Mozzarella, burrata, ricotta, and mascarpone. Participants provide the milk and before the class will receive a kit including a cheese basket, thermometer, cheesecloth, vegetable rennet, citric acid, and salt.
Virtual Doughnut Making (BYO Materials)
Nothing beats a fresh, hot doughnut, and your team can learn to make these delicious pastries in a Virtual Doughnut Making Workshop. Participants will need to provide their own baking materials and ingredients to follow along with the process. Learn to mix the dough, cut, and fry doughnuts. Then glaze and sugar coat them and enjoy them with the group along with your favorite beverage. A materials list will be provided to participants.
3) Holiday
Virtual White Elephant Team Gift Experience (BYO Materials)
Your team will love this Virtual White Elephant Team Gift Experience! Participants "unwrap" a collection of virtual gifts, and as the game progresses, they will choose to unwrap a gift or steal one from form another team member. The gift each participant ends up with will be sent to them after the experience.
Virtual Holiday Ornament Workshop (Materials Included)
Get your team together to express their creativity in this Virtual Holiday Ornament Workshop. Participants will get a kit with materials to make three different paper mache ornaments with tissue paper, paint, a brush, sequins, glue, glitter, cording, and beads to decorate the ornaments. Crafting together is a fun bonding experience.
Virtual Gingerbread House Holiday Party (Materials Included)
Team members bond over building and decorating gingerbread houses in this Virtual Gingerbread House Holiday Party. Participants will be sent a kit including gingerbread cookies, icing, and assorted candy decorations. Give your team a chance to explore their holiday creativity!
4) Escape Rooms
Virtual Escape Room: the Office Holiday Party
Can you break out of the Virtual Escape Room: The Office Holiday Party? A collection of mini teams have 75 minutes to complete puzzles and activities in the form of virtual maps, audio clips, character descriptions, video clips, and games to escape from corporate-enforced merriment.
Virtual Escape Room: the Arctic Circle
Complete puzzles and riddles to solve a crime and escape from the North Pole in Virtual Escape Room: The Arctic Circle. Your team will divide up into mini teams to work together to navigate the harsh environment and get to a warm cabin. Groups will have an hour to solve puzzles, follow clues, and complete activities to help reach their goal on an interactive virtual game platform.
5) Arts & Crafts
Virtual Candle Making (Materials Included)
Make your own candle using soy wax in this Virtual Candle Making Workshop. In this relaxing, beginner-friendly event, participants will learn to make their own candles using an environmentally friendly soy and beeswax mixture. Materials, including candle tins, a melting/pouring pitcher, and wicks, will be sent to participants before class.
Virtual Terrarium Workshop
Explore the concept of feng shui in this Virtual Terrarium Workshop. Feng shui is a Chinese practice that strives to create balance and harmony through organization and arrangement. Under the direction of the instructor, participants will use these principles to create an arrangement of succulents, rocks, moss, and soil in a harmonious way. The finished terrarium can be displayed or hung up. Before class, participants will receive a kit containing a glass terrarium, plants, reindeer moss, rocks, crystals, and soil.
Virtual Cartooning & Doodling Workshop (BYO Materials)
This workshop lets beginners explore their creativity and learn the basic techniques of drawing in Virtual Cartooning & Doodling. Your team will go from stick figures to faces in this 90-minute session. Drawing and doodling can be very relaxing, and teams will bond while learning to draw, develop a personal artistic style, and start drawing their own cartoons.
Virtual Art & Meditation
Creating art and using your hands is a great way to relax and destress. Give your team the opportunity to explore a new way to unwind with Virtual Art & Meditation. The workshop begins with simple meditative breathing exercises done from a chair, and then moves on to a coloring exercise to promote peaceful enjoyment and community spirit. Participants will choose their own color palette and mandala page from the kit. Also included in the kit are a coloring book and a set of colorful gel pens. Participants will need to provide their own white paper to test marker colors.
Virtual Marbled Resin Cutting Board (Materials Included)
Learn to make a colorful and durable cutting board to keep or give as a gift in this Virtual Marbled Resin Cutting Board. Participants will be sent a kit including a wooden cutting board, epoxy resin, tape, and 12 colors of paint to create a unique and beautiful cutting board. Work together with your team to craft something beautiful!
6) Tastings
Virtual Chocolate Tasting (Materials Included)
Learn how chocolate shaped history while enjoying three different bars of the popular confection in a Virtual Chocolate Tasting. This course is led by a professional chef and chocolate expert, and participants will receive three 3-ounce bars of specialty chocolate and a package of palate-cleansing crackers before the event.
Virtual Wine and Cheese Tasting (Materials Included)
Learn about fermentation while tasting two kinds of cheese and accompanying wines in a Virtual Wine and Cheese Tasting. Find out what makes a good wine and cheese paring and ask questions of an expert instructor. You don't need to know anything about food or wine to enjoy this class! Before the class meets, members of the group will each receive a bottle of French Sauvignon Blanc and an Argentinian Malbec, plus a French goat cheese and a sharp cheddar from Murray's Cheese. Non-alcoholic options are available.
7) Wellness
Virtual Vision Board Workshop (Materials Included)
Vision boards help you clarify your goals and manifest your desires. In this Virtual Vision Board Workshop, your team will learn to create inspirational collages to focus the mind, make dreams more tangible, and serve as a reminder of a larger vision going forward. The instructor is a professional artist who will guide the group through the reflection and creation process, and participants will be sent a kit with inspirational images, a corkboard, and push pins.
Virtual Mindful Meditation for the (Home) Office
Help your team reduce stress, develop mindfulness, and increase productivity with Virtual Mindful Meditation for the (Home) Office. Learn how meditation works and how to use these techniques at the office or when working remotely. No special equipment is needed for this event that includes breathwork and light stretching.
8) Trivia
Virtual Trivia: Movies
Get your team together for a hilarious session of Virtual Trivia: Movies! This high-energy event involves four rounds of cinematic trivia: a traditional round, a music round, an image round, and a surprise round. The group will spend about half the time in mini teams in breakout rooms and the other half all together. The host will keep the energy moving and ensure that participants have fun.
Virtual Trivia: Christmas
From classic holiday pop culture to Christmas history and traditions, Virtual Trivia: Christmas quizzes your group's Yuletide knowledge. The team will split into smaller groups to compete in this four-round trivia event with a facilitator to keep the group laughing. Half of the event will be spent in mini teams and half with the entire group together.
9) Mixology
Virtual Holiday Mixology (Materials Included)
Learn to make three different fun, winter-themed cocktails in this Virtual Holiday Mixology workshop. The instructor will cover some mixology history, tools, and important skills and then teach the participants how to make a Wonderland, Let It Snowman, and an Elf Fell Off the Shelf featuring Holiday Syrup and various liquors and other ingredients. Before class, participants will receive a complete kit for making the cocktails.
Virtual Mixology: Mocktails! (Materials Included)
Learn to make tasty drinks without alcohol in Virtual Mixology: Mocktails! You don't need alcohol to make refreshing cocktails. Learn about mixology, common tools, and key skills to make three craft mocktails, including Good Afternoon, Awesome Sauce, and Huzzah! Participants will receive a kit containing three bottles of flavored soda, citrus juice, seasonal syrup, and garnishes. Other materials include a cocktail shaker, a strainer or slotted spoon, and ice.
10) Paint & Sip
NYC: Paint & Sip Party in Midtown (BYOB)
Get the team together for an in-person NYC: Paint & Sip Party in Midtown. Let your inner artist out to play and enjoy your favorite beverage in this event guided by a professional artist, and go home with a finished painting. This workshop is customizable, so you can choose the theme of the painting or the location in Midtown, Chelsea, Harlem, and Williamsburg. Art materials will be provided.
NYC: Drink & Sculpt Party (BYOB)
If painting isn't your thing, try this NYC: Drink & Sculpt Party. Bring your beverage of choice and a smock or apron, and play with some clay. Your team will create a sculpture of a human head from a model in this fun and relaxed setting. Clay is provided and you will take your sculpture home at the end of the event.