International Creativity Month
Put up a Creativity Suggestion Box in your business. On a regular basis, post a new problem, or a question you want creative ideas for. Award a prize to the employee(s) that come up with the most unique and useful ideas.
Martin Luther King Jr. Birth Anniversary
- Martin Luther King Jr. is best remembered for his “I have a dream” speech. Ask employees to share their dreams with you in an I Have A Dream Contest. The employee records his or her dream on a card. All cards are entered into a prize drawing. One is chosen at random and the lucky employee wins his or her dream. You may want to set out criteria, such as price limits, for this contest.
- Martin Luther King Jr. motivated a nation to take action. Therefore, it’s fitting on this day to ask employees to vote for the employee that motivates them the most. Count the votes and make this employee King For The Day, showering him or her with perks and prizes.
Sundance Film Festival
Have employees create their own film for a “ Film Festival. Form teams of eight participants. Provide teams with a video camera. Ask teams to create a 2-minute video that depicts a work-related theme. To “nudge” team’s creativity, consider providing each team with a different set of themed costumes and props including pirate, western, superhero, etc. Have a professional edit the videos and compile them into one master tape. Show the videos at an awards ceremony. Roll out a red carpet for employees to walk down. Hire screaming fans to take pictures of them and ask for their autographs, as they walk down the red carpet. Show the videos. Then, hand out awards in different categories, such as Best Film, Best Actress, Best Actor, etc. to the participants on each winning team.
Better Business Communication Day
The best way to insure that employees, or departments, communicate better with one another is to have them experience what the other employees, or departments, experience. So, host a Job Swap Day. Allow different people from different departments to swap places with one another. This is an eye-opener that can show people how best to work with one another in the future.
US National Snow Sculpting Competition
Host a snow-sculpting team-building contest for your employees. Award prizes to the sculptures that best depict a work-related theme.
Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day
Conduct a series of team-building bubble wrap games. Form teams of 8 participants. Play games such as:
Bubble Wrap Stomp
Give each team a roll of bubble wrap. On “go,” teams unwrap the bubble wrap and start to burst the bubbles. You can set criteria for this game, such as teams may only use their hands to burst the bubbles. Or, you can say “anything goes!” Call “time.” Have a panel of judges determine which team popped the most bubbles on their bubble wrap.
Bubble Wrap Wrap
Give each team a roll of bubble wrap. Have each team select one person to be wrapped and rolled. Warn teams not to wrap this person’s face with the bubble wrap. On “go,” teams wrap the bubble wrap around this person. Once the entire roll is wrapped around this person, the team rolls this person from the start line to the finish line. Award points based on who completed this task in the least amount of time.
Bubble Rap Drop
Hand each team a roll of bubble wrap, scotch tape and an egg. Give them two minutes to create a protective shell for their egg with the bubble wrap. After two minutes, take teams to the top of your building and have them drop the eggs. If you do not have access to the roof of your building, lay out a landing zone and have each team throw their egg into it from the same distance. The team(s) whose egg does not break is awarded points.