12 Unusual Team Building Activities For You to Try
Keeping your team happy and improving morale with activity days outside of work can be challenging because people always want to try something new. Reusing the same team-building activity can bore a team member (or multiple team members).
Therefore, the best step forward is to think outside of the box. So read on, and we will present some unusual team-building activity ideas that will impress any team.
What are Some of the Best Unusual Team Building Activity Ideas?
The team-building activities you choose will depend entirely on your team. Some will be more daring and prefer exciting outdoor activities, and some will prefer indoor team activities.
Because of this, our ultimate list of 12 unusual team-building activities consists of various events and activities.
Here are 12 unusual team-building activities for you to try.
1: Board Game Tournament Team-building events or A Selection of Board Games
A board game tournament can be an immersive and cheap option for unusual team-building activity.
Depending on the team size, you can have multiple games at once, with the winner (or winning team) moving on to the next tournament stage. You can also offer a grand prize to the ultimate winner. You may find that some of the board game options out there are your favoruite team-building games.
Alternatively, if you prefer to remove or minimize the competitive element, you can set up multiple different board games and establish a more leisurely atmosphere.
2: Escape Room Team-building Events with an Unusual Theme
Escape rooms can be unusual team-building activities if you choose the right one.
The most exciting part about an escape room is that it can be anything; here are some examples of unusual and effective escape room themes.
- Adventure: You could explore a tomb for buried treasure or navigate through a fairytale setting.
- Horror: These escape rooms are scarier and adult-only, making them effective for team building. They could include escaping from a gothic dungeon or finding a way to outsmart an iconic horror villain.
- Crime: These could involve breaking into a bank or solving a mystery.
Remember that escape rooms are on the more expensive side of unusual team-building activities.
3: A Food Tasting Experience Or A Paid Meal
If you have group members with different personalities and interests, finding something that unites everyone is the best course of action—for example, food.
Although an expensive option, the right bite of food can stay in a person’s memory forever, so a food-tasting experience is worth considering. Unusual team-building activity options for food include more experimental tasting menus or menus with a specific theme.
If employees prefer to order their own food, a paid meal at a more unusual restaurant (a new cuisine, for example) is a good alternative.
4: A Video Game Tournament or a Fun Game Using a Video Game
An alternative to a board game tournament, a video game tournament can offer a different experience and provide many unusual team-building activities.
Some examples of video games to use in a tournament include:
- Racing games like Mario Kart provide an experience not possible with a board game.
- Co-operative puzzle games for a team-based tournament (Overcooked, for example).
- You play any challenging game until you lose or die and pass the controller on (the winner is the one with the most playtime).
- Virtual reality games can offer a more unusual team bonding experience.
Like board game nights, a video game night is a less expensive option.
5: Circus Classes for the Entire Office
Some of the most unusual team-building activities are the ones that people wouldn’t likely do outside of a team bonding day environment.
Circus classes are an excellent example of unusual team-building activities because they involve many activities that are out of the ordinary. Some examples of unusual team-building activities in circus classes include tight-rope walking, acrobatics, unicycling and more.
Because of the experience and the variety of unusual team-building activities in circus training, it is an expensive option.
6: An Art Experience: Clay Modelling, Painting, and More
One of the problems with an office environment is that freedom of expression isn’t always available due to the repetitive and procedural nature of office tasks.
For this reason, art-based unusual team-building activities can be highly effective because they give employees the chance to express their creative freedom.
Some art-based unusual team-building activities include clay sculpting and abstract painting.
7: A Giant Obstacle Course
An obstacle course is a perfect way to bring out the competitive nature of employees while providing them with physical activity.
Keep in mind that this activity is primarily suitable for those who like outdoor activities.
8: A Water Sports Day
Easily one of the more expensive options (especially if you do more than one activity), water sports are an unusual team-building activity because they are not sports that many people will participate in regularly (if ever).
Some examples of water sports for a team bonding activity day include water skiing, jet ski riding, and more.
9: A Scavenger Hunt
A scavenger hunt is one of the least expensive unusual team-building activities that you can pour creativity into.
A scavenger hunt is a perfect team-building activity for those who prefer methodical team-building activities.
Additionally, you can make it into a large-scale team-building event by expanding it across a large location, like part of a city or a local park.
10: An Office Olympics Tournament (An Especially Unusual Team-building Idea)
One of the most innovative and unusual team-building activities is an office olympics tournament.
First, it is an intelligent team-building activity because it requires minimum (or zero) costs and repurposes the office (an environment naturally suited for work) as a place for fun.
Second, it is an unusual team-building activity because it is an unorthodox idea; its unusual nature is why it is so enjoyable. For example, employees love racing their office chairs around the office because it installs a sense of childlike joy into a generally mundane environment.
If a significant expense ends in an unforgettable experience, it is a brilliant idea for a team-building activity.
Both bungee jumping and skydiving are unusual team-building activities because they require a lot of nerve and courage (making them challenging); skydiving with a colleague can form a bond because they both share a surreal and terrifying experience.
12: A Super Car Racing Team-building Event
Car racing team-building events can provide the thrill of a skydive while incorporating the competitive element that makes it compelling for a workforce. These team-building events are unusual because most people will not get to experience driving a supercar.
Remember that a track day as the next team-building event may be expensive.
A Final Summary Of The Best Unusual Team Building Activities
Our list provides a wide assortment of unusual team-building activities, ranging from the cheap and fun team-building activities (office olympics) to the expensive and exciting ones (skydiving).
When planning team building events for a workforce, keep the cost in mind; spread out the more expensive events and fill the gaps with more cost-effective options like board game tournaments.
Additionally, try not to repeat the same team bonding event too often; you want to keep the unusual team-building activities excited and varied. However, if there are overwhelmingly popular unusual team building activities, repeat it if the workforce is happy with it.
