Today we’re ditching the paperwork for a paintbrush, and focusing on all things artistic.
From glass blowing to creating edible masterpieces, our activities are set up to boost teamwork while having a blast!
75% find artistic activities improve office teamwork
Come on, let's face it. Most people find their workdays pretty dull at one time or another. These activities offer a refreshing change of pace, providing a stark contrast to their usual routines.
Among working professionals, 75% of surveyed people stated that art in the workplace helped them get to know their team in a more meaningful way, and improved team communication.
While art-based activities are often used for kids and teenagers, they still hold the same value for many adult teams, so our list is curated for teams of adult professionals.
So here’s our list of unmissable art-based activities.
26 artistic activities to try
Ready to boost your teams with the spirit of team building through art? Give these activities a try!
Painting team activities
1. Collaborative mural creations
Have your teams release their inner art maestro while also working on team bonds. You’re going to need a great big wall to showcase this one (we had a great time doing something similar with an art class in San Antonio).
Create 2 large teams and supply each with one canvas. Each person will contribute their artistic flair to their team’s canvas. The beauty of this activity is the unique imprint each member makes on the larger collective canvas.
Make sure your display area is ready for the end result because the best work comes from thinking big. Get ready to turn a blank wall into a testament of teamwork!
2. Landscape painting
Who doesn’t love the Great Outdoors? Get your teams ready to paint the town… or rather, the landscape. Landscape painting is a great activity that gets creative juices flowing while taking in beautiful surroundings.
The key to success here is taking your squad somewhere memorable, off-site. (We’ve even organized a few of these ourselves, like our recent paint session in Barcelona!). Landscape painting encourages a greater appreciation of nature, as well as sharpening the artist’s attention to detail.
Bring the tranquility of a seaside sunset or a morning meadow into the office by treating your teams to a landscape painting session. Happy days!
3. Paint and sips
We’ve had the pleasure of organizing a few paint and sips, like our recent “Tokyo paint and sip”, so we know how effective they are for team building.
Paint and sips have risen in popularity over the last few years, giving a creative outlet while savoring the flavors of selected drinks. Of course, these drinks don’t have to be alcoholic, get some nice mocktails covered for those who don’t want to indulge in the booze!
As everyone unwinds and paints, lots of encouraging words and unique interpretations unfold. Get as funky as you want, with abstract painting designs or outside-the-box portraits of each other, the choice is yours!
4. Edible paint night
Have your teams scratch their creative urge while also satisfying their stomachs with a night dedicated to edible painting.
Get your edible paints set beforehand, using your local edible craft supplier. Believe us, a lot of hard work goes into edible craft materials, so save yourself and your teams some time. Fondant picture frames and gingerbread canvases work well. Teams set out on a mission to paint or craft something delicious, then consume it at the end or take it home for their friends and families.
A night of edible painting is a fantastic way for teams to bond, over a love for creativity and food! Tuck into this one for a memorable experience.
Creative challenges
Stepping away from the buckets of paint, our next activities are for those who want to scratch the creative itch. Take a peek.
5. Henna tattoo designing
Bring a creative design challenge to your workplace straight from the Middle East. This 5,000-year-old tradition is a great way for teams to unwind and create a standout tattoo design (that doesn’t last forever!).
The materials, like plant-based dye and henna paste cones, can be quite specific. In fact, Hennas are usually set with a lemon-sugar solution too, so prepare well beforehand. Stencils can provide initial inspiration for their designs.
The essential oils used in mixing give a lovely fragrant boost to proceedings, relaxing everyone as they make their creative designs. So roll up your sleeves and create memories for your teams that last forever (unlike the hennas themselves!).
6. Multi-person puzzle
We’re thinking big again, this time with a puzzle filled with giant pieces the teams design individually. This puzzling team building exercise is a kind of giant mosaic!
Each person gets one piece of a huge jigsaw puzzle, and each piece starts completely blank. Give each person nice markers or paints to design their piece, and once their expression is finished, the giant jigsaw is assembled. It’s nice to display the finished product on a big wall if you can manage it.
The activity provides a testament to the power of teamwork, so possibly adorn the final creation with a company or team marking, to be looked at in admiration for years to come!
7. T-shirt design contest
Get fashionable with the office fun and get everyone involved in a T-shirt design contest. Each team gets a set of plain shirts, then some time to design something unique for their team. Let them unleash their creative side.
The activity can be done with simpler tie-dye equipment and shirts or can evolve into elaborate graphics designed on their computers if they have the resources. Use your local crafters to print the finished designs, and let your teams rock them to their heart’s content.
Bring in some team t-shirt days at the office and BOOM, you’ve got a great new way to establish bonds in the office. Print some extras for newbies who join later, it’s a great conversation starter for onboarding processes too! Get funky!
8. Mystery box creation
Slightly increase the sense of mystery for your teams with a mysterious box creation. This team-building activity will have everyone waiting in eager anticipation for the contents of a mystery box to be displayed.
Start out by filling two black boxes with crafty materials. One canvas, glue, glass beads, and paints, don’t limit yourself to too few supplies. Make the boxes different, and design them as plain black boxes with a question mark on the front.
Introduce the competition with a timer for added tension. When both designs are complete, get them up for all to see. Find beauty in the mystery and award the team with the greatest design. Cheers to that!
9. Beading
Our next activity is all about crafting up decorative objects using beads.
You want to set 2 teams and supply them with string, a few tools, and a wide array of beads. Some really funky beads work best, nothing too plain. Beads with yin-yang, animal faces, sigils, and symbols, all that stuff. Ask teams to create a piece of wearable jewelry that represents their team, and stick a timer on proceedings.
Once it’s all done, share the creations, and if possible, make duplicates for each member. They might want to wear them on special days at work. So string together some fun and link bonds together with this one!
Art workshops
Here we’re focusing on workshops, and they work best with an instructional period at the beginning to help guide them.
10. Pottery class
Give your teams the chance to make something they can all take home and remember. A few hours of setting clay into pottery is a great motivating teambuilding activity (we had the pleasure of organizing a great pottery session in Casablanca recently!).
Bring your teams to a venue that hosts pottery classes and start off with a demonstration of it (you might need an expert here). Depending on the instructor, they might be making bowls, vases, or flowerpots.
The beauty is that everyone has their own unique piece to take home or show off in the office. So let everyone get their hands a little dirty in one of these workshops now!
11. Classical drawing class
You never know who’s hiding a secret creative side in the office. A class on classical drawing techniques can provide a memorable and relaxing time for everyone.
Slightly neater than a typical painting class, a classical drawing class focuses solely on pencilwork or charcoal.
Bring in a skilled instructor to guide them through the class, they might be working on still life, portraits, or surrealist landscapes, whatever works best with your instructor.
Wrap up the session with everyone proudly displaying their work, and see if the best work can be copied and framed as a gift. Here’s to classical masterpieces!
12. Sculpting session
Getting a little more elaborate with this one, this indoor teambuilding activity is a great way to leave a long-lasting impression and develop teamwork. Get hands-on with a session of sculpting.
Create small teams for this big task, or if you have the materials, do it individually. Use the guidance of a skilled instructor. Each team gets their materials and some guidance on design, then brings their idea to life. It might be figure sculpting, abstract designs, or whatever comes into their heads.
At the end of the session, they’ve got some unique sculptures to take home or adorn the office with.
13. Printmaking workshop
Delve into the world of art and creativity with a printmaking workshop. For this, participants are going to learn the techniques of screen printing or block printing to create their own unique pattern.
You’ll need quite a lot of equipment, so organize the session off-site and arrange a knowledgeable instructor. Teams study the process of pattern printing and can carve it into anything that fits.
This checks the box of almost all teambuilding activity types, and patterns can be stored and printed on decorations for the office. A win all round!
Digital art activities
These activities are created with the digital workspace in mind, so get those materials ready and sessions booked well in advance.
14. Digital scrapbooking
For bonding teams together, creating a digital scrapbook is a fantastic activity that gets all hands on board. They can mix together memories with future goals, or anything else they’re focused on.
Set up a few small to medium-sized teams and get the digital arena right. Online digital scrapbook platforms and collaborative design apps work best. Introduce a theme to them, like a recent project success or a team outing.
Celebrate the scrapbooks through the company’s online platform and there you have it, strong teams with shared visions!
15. Stop motion animation workshop
A stop-motion animation workshop is a powerful way to get your teams to try something new together. This kind of digital workshop needs the right software and camera equipment, so contact your supplier.
You can keep things light, with pre-planned characters and scripts for a small performance. Or ramp up the challenge and get your teams to be more hands-on with the design aspects. There are fantastic lessons and team-bonding opportunities to be gained through scriptwriting and narrative choices, so try them out.
Stop the press! This stop-motion animation workshop is like a cheat code for developing stronger teams!
16. Photo booth editing
Do you have any Photoshop masters in the office? Why not seize the moment and create a workshop for photo editing, complete with a fun and quirky photo booth?
Get teams to collaborate in editing photos taken in a physical photo booth. Something fun like a superhero alter-ego booth, where team members can don a cape or mask. You want your teams to take these photos, and then enhance them with visual flair.
Let your teams brainstorm some of their own themes, and after it’s all wrapped up, create copies of the photos to display proudly around the office. Capture teambuilding moments together and transform them into digital masterpieces.
17. 3D print mask making
A session of 3D print mask-making takes digital creativity up to the next level. Not many offices keep 3D printers in-house, so contact your local providers for this one.
Set up some small to medium-sized teams, and let them brainstorm a mask that represents the team as a whole. With a trained expert, this activity is great for really bringing thoughts to life by translating their ideas into tangible creations.
Let teams embellish as they see fit, and the final result is a collection of masks that represent the team as a whole. Bring thoughts to life with a 3D printing mask-making session.
18. Skateboard deck design
There are some great new workshops popping up in new areas of artistic design. Companies like GrooveManagement host this funky day out, where teams conceptualize and design a skateboard deck.
Blending artistry with functionality, this activity gets teams thinking of each step in a design process. Keep the teams small, for more personal deck designs, and have instructors lay out the principles of designing a deck.
Your teams will end up creating something that means a lot to them and can be kept for family members who skate. Maybe some of them do already, and you just didn’t know it! Try this one out now.
Craft activities
The next set of activities is focused on being hands-on, so try these out!
19. Candle making
Candle-making is a fantastic experience for teams to bond over. A session of candle making is actually a sensory journey that gets everyone relaxed while being crafty.
Melting wax and selecting fragrances, then watching the wax harden into custom candle shapes. There are loads of aspects of candle making that make the day unique. Teams personalize their candle with colors and scents, then add decorative elements when the wax hardens, like dried fruits and potpourri.
The session could even be based on an office theme, or team colorway for added teamwork. Light up your team’s creativity with a session of candle-making.
20. Glassblowing workshop
Get into the world of molten glass and create unique designs that can be kept at home. A session of glassblowing needs the guidance of an artisan and is a great history lesson for those interested in the craft.
Teams start by observing an instructor lay out the process. Your teams have the chance to create delicate little ornaments or bold sculptures. The colorways and shaping of the finished product let each member show off their artistic side.
This unique experience is a standout way to strengthen team bonds and give each member an experience they won't forget. Just remember to bring bubble wrap for transporting the creations back home!
21. Creative candy making
Here’s a sweet invitation, bring your teams to a creative candy-making session. As soon as your teams arrive at the session, the smell of melting chocolate in the air lets everyone know they’re in for a treat.
Teams collaborate to create custom candies and chocolates that can be personalized down to the finest detail. Edible glitter and personalized messages make this one stand out, and beyond the standard joy of making something nice to eat, teams tap into their creative side and enhance their teamwork skills.
Try out a session of creative candy-making. Those with a sweet tooth will definitely thank you for it!
22. Soap making
A fragrant and fun-filled way to get teambuilding improved is in a soap-making workshop. Handmade beauty products make for killer gifts for loved ones, so everyone will be eager to join this session.
There’s more guidance needed for soap making than you might assume. Teams get to choose scents and shapes, marking the soap with messages too. There are bound to be loads of conversation starters here, so it’s great for team bonding.
Give a soap-making workshop a whirl to get your teams boosted. They’ll come out squeaky clean and thank you for the opportunity!
Performing arts
Our final segment is aimed at getting teams involved in performing arts. Lights, camera..
23. Poetry writing night
Poetry writing nights become great activities for letting teams express themselves in new ways. Host this one off-site if you have a local scene to get involved with, or just keep it in-house if you’re after simplicity.
Members joining a poetry writing night for the first time might do better with some prompts or themes. Something simple light ‘a moment of joy’ to poeticize a time where they felt pure happiness, or get abstract and as for a description of ‘the sound of silence.’ There are no limits on the possibilities.
Try out a poetry session for something a bit different from the norm. It’ll be a night to rhyme-member!
24. Improv workshop
Push the creativity out a little further by organizing an improv workshop. Again this can be done with an experienced guide, or you can tackle organizing it yourself.
You can sort out some word-play activities, like “yes, and” where members keep extending the story in an unscripted way. Something like “scenes from a hat” can tie together random characters and scenarios for actors to play with, too.
The quick thinking and creative aspect of the workshop helps boost communication and confidence, in an informal way. So, ready to improv(e) your team’s dynamic? Try this one.
25.Dance team building
You could have dance stars hiding in the midst of the work office! Try sorting a dance team-building session for some fun, and fitness!
If you have the capacity, use a big, open, and mirrored area for your dance squads. Pick up on some of the latest trends of dancing online if you’re short of ideas. Start off with simple routines and see how members get on.
Sharing time doing physical activities together helps teams to gel in new ways, so give a dance session a shot for some performing art teambuilding fun!
26. Music jamming session
So most workplaces don’t keep a collection of instruments lying around the office. We get it. Organizing a music jamming session takes some prep, but if you have any budding musicians in the office, they’ll love the opportunity.
Choose a location that has the instruments needed. Participants might want to spend some time at first experimenting to find sounds, so let them roam free!
An experience like this sticks out of the ordinary and lets them bond in making something beautiful. Let them jam together for unforgettable memories.
Artistically express yourself on one of our company retreats!
If the aim of the game is to give teams a creative outlet for artistic expression, doing it on an offsite retreat is a great way to leave an amazing impression on your teams. Invite everyone to a team retreat. A twice-annual retreat bonds employees in new ways and gets everyone freshly energized.
We've had the pleasure of organizing over 700+ retreat experiences, including remote teams, for many different companies. Here’s what we offer:
- Stress-free transfers? We got you! ✅
- Quality-assured accommodations? Check! ✅
- Engaging team-building activities? Our speciality ✅
- Restaurant reservations? That's on us! ✅
- Expert retreat planning assistance? Of course, we have this covered! ✅
- Onsite support, tailored to your needs? Absolutely ✅
Not only this but we also have access to 160+ locations around Europe, APAC, the US, Latin America, and now Africa, meaning the sky is your limit when it comes to choosing the right location for you and your team.
Motivate them past the office walls. Organizing these artistic activities in a breathtaking environment will go down a treat! Spaces are limited, get in touch now!
