Team Building Activities
1. Escape Rooms
Escape rooms are great team building activities for those that want to bond with their coworkers while also challenging their mind along the way. They’re great for developing creative problem solving and communication skills as the team strengthens in an immersive, intense environment. Escape Rooms’ creative stories will captivate and challenge players without the players even noticing it, especially here, at Trap Door.
Trap Door Escape Room
2. Painting Class
A craft or painting night is a great way to bond as a team. An instructor will show you how to make the project and help you along the way, but it’s ultimately up to you to create your own masterpiece. It’s a fun activity where you get to take home a memento as well.
You can check in with your local art studio or college to see if they offer any such programs. Plus, many places offer paint and sips, where you can enjoy wine as you go. This certainly helps create a more relaxed environment.
3. Field Day
A field day typically features employees broken up into smaller teams. Once in the teams, they compete in a series of recreational games, such as a three legged race. Teams compete all day, and points are added up to see which team will win at the end.
This activity tends to require more involved planning than some of the other ideas on this list. Planners will also have to find the best way to structure the event, as there are multiple ways to go about it, but it is one of many great team building activities that tends to stay on the cheaper side too.
4. Trap Door Events
Trap Door Events brings mobile escape room games directly to your facility or venue of choice. These games feature a series of puzzle boxes connected by a mystery that you have to solve via working your way through the boxes. By the end, you’ll have uncovered and solved your story.
We even insert touch-points throughout to encourage professional development and team building, while increasing communication and problem solving skills. They’re great add-ons for meetings, workshops, special events, and more! However, please note we currently only run these team building activities based around the Northeast.
5. Laser Tag
Laser tag is a fun team building activity, especially for relieving some aggression and stress. In laser tag, you enter a course strapped into a special vest with a laser gun. Once you’re strapped up and equipped, your goal is to shoot opposing teammates while avoiding getting yourself shot.
Typically, teams face off against each other and see who comes out victorious at the end. It is often determined based on which team managed to land more shots on the opposing team(s). This is definitely a fun way to encourage team bonding among your employees, while also blowing off steam.
6. Dinner Theater / Murder Mystery
A fun way to enjoy a nice dinner while putting your brain to the test is an immersive dinner theater or murder mystery event. Such events mingle you, the players, with actors. Tragedy strikes when someone in the room suddenly drops dead. It’s assumed the murderer is still in the very same room, and it’s up to the players to determine who the murderer is before they strike again.
These usually involve drawing conclusions and creative problem solving skills, which are always great skills to bring back to the office. These events will force your team to work together in order to solve the tricky mystery, while they have a blast.
7. Cooking Class
A cooking class is a great, unusual way to come together as a team while enjoying tasty foods. Many restaurants and schools will offer cooking classes. In these, a professional chef assists the team in creating dishes, but it’s ultimately up to the team to cook them up based on their instruction.
While it may not seem like it would have great professional development benefits, it does encourage your team to learn new skills and challenge them in ways they may not usually challenge themselves. It helps them explore outside what they might know, which is great for any office. Plus, at the end they get to enjoy the food they worked together to cook in a tasty, satisfying feast.
8. Sports Game
Sports fans and non sports fans alike are sure to have a blast when you take a break from work to go see a local sporting event! While there is certainly less professional development skills being challenged, it is a great way to encourage your team to relax and simply enjoy each other’s company.
This is great for team building activities, so long as everyone is rooting for the same team! But the ability to kick back, enjoy a beer, and relax with your coworkers is a great way to develop interpersonal relationships among the team.
9. Board Game Tournament
A board game tournament is another low cost team building activity (all you really need is a board game to get started). Games where players compete one on one work best for this idea, such as Battleship or Connect Four- it doesn’t have to be complicated! Make tournament brackets and encourage the whole office to join in this healthy competition. Turn it into an office-wide wide, and everyone will pick sides and root for their champion.
10. Volunteer Together
Why not come together as a team to give back to your community? Donating your time to a local charity or non-profit is a great way to take a break from the regular routine of the office. Those in need will be extremely grateful for your contributions.
It would be even better to visit the same charity on a consistent schedule, so you can become familiar with the people you’re helping. This is a great way to encourage your team to look outside themselves while helping those who need it. Plus, your teammates will definitely feel good about giving back to their community.
11. Happy Hour
Keep things simple and take a trip to a local bar for Happy Hour after a tough day at the office. Relax and unwind with some tasty beverages, play some pool, or just enjoy each other’s company. This is another great way to increase interpersonal relationships and get to know each other better outside of the office grind.
Trap Door Escape Company
Trap Door Escape Room has 4 locations: 3180 Route 611 in Bartonsville, PA in the Poconos; 60 White St. in Red Bank, NJ; 34A Speedwell Ave. in Morristown, NJ: and 77 Wind Creek Blvd in Bethlehem, PA. The Red Bank location was the first of the 4 locations, opening in the fall of 2015. Morristown followed in the summer of 2017, and Bartonsville opened during the holiday season of 2018. Wind Creek is currently undergoing construction and will be opening in September 2022.
History
The idea came to Tone Purzycki back in 2011 after he wrote a screenplay that developed into a live-streaming game. The game revolved around an actor trapped in a situation and the audience had to solve puzzles to figure out where he was trapped. The “Find Me Event” had more than 1,000 people playing over the course of several hours. After the success of several other streaming events, the idea of an escape room was born.
Location
Each location has different rooms from which to choose. Our Morristown location is home to Day of the Dead, Witch Hunt, and The Greatest Freakshow. In Bartonsville, you’ll find Cure Z, F5 Tornado Escape, Fear the Bogeyman, Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, We’re All Mad Here, and Prisoner Z. In Red Bank we currently have Everest – our first 2 story escape room. Ripper of London is also available at this location. Our pirate themed games will soon be open at Wind Creek.
Trap Door Escape Room also offers team building, streaming events, and birthday parties. For more information on any of our games, prices, and locations, explore our website or call 570-234-3366