35 Fall Team Building Ideas for Your Corporate Group

Since October and November have been shown to be the most productive months of the year for employees, you may want to give some thought to fall team building ideas as a reward for their hard work this season. 

Updated on September 6, 2023

It’s that time of year again! We’re getting ready to wave goodbye to another summer. Autumn is about to begin, bringing with it cooler weather and shorter days.

But here’s the upside: this is a welcome change for many people. Research from YouGov found 35- to 54-year-olds say that fall is their favorite season, and the second favorite (right behind summer!) for 18- to 34-year-olds. And for businesses, this spells good news, too. According to a study by Redbooth, October is the most productive month of the year for employees, with November close behind in second place.

So, if you’re looking for a way to reward your employees for their hard work as this new season gets underway, we’ve compiled a list of virtual and in-person autumn-themed team building activities we think your employees will fall for.

12 Virtual Fall-Themed Team Building Activities

If your team works remotely or can’t get together in person, don’t worry. There are tons of fall-themed virtual team building activities you can do together.

Here are a few we think you’ll love. 

Virtual Halloween Howler

Get ready to visit some of the scariest places imaginable, including a creepy castle, a graveyard at midnight, a haunted house, and… a gameshow set. With Virtual Halloween Howler, you and your colleagues will need to put on your bravest faces as you compete through four rounds of terrifying trivia challenges.

And in case you’re interested in even more spooky ideas, we’ve got a list of Halloween team building activities you might like. 

Virtual Clue Murder Mystery

 

With Halloween on the horizon, there’s no better time to immerse yourself and your team in a mysterious crime drama. With Clue Murder Mystery, your team will need to solve the murder of a man named Neil Davidson by figuring out who had the means, motive, and opportunity to commit the crime. The perfect virtual game for folks who love problem-solving team building activities.

Virtual Pumpkin Carving

Just because you can’t be together in person doesn’t mean you can’t still carve pumpkins together! Consider supplying each team member with a few bucks to buy a pumpkin and some carving necessities. Then, jump on a Zoom meeting and carve pumpkins together. When everyone’s done, everyone can share their creations, and you can even turn it into a competition. 

Virtual Scream Pursuit

We hope your team isn’t afraid of a challenge! With this eerie Halloween-themed team building activity, they’ll test their nerves and their wits as they work through a series of mental, physical, skill, and mystery challenges, earning points for each completed correctly—all while having some fun, sharing some laughs, and celebrating the spookiest season of the year.

Virtual European Adventure

It might be getting chilly in your city, but there are some beautiful locales in Europe that stay warm through the Autumn months!

So, if you’ve got a team full of colleagues who love traveling and learning about new places and want to virtually escape to somewhere beautiful, this is the perfect budget-friendly team building activity for your group. 

Virtual European Adventure is all about connecting with your colleagues, testing your wits together, socializing, and collaborating through a high-energy round of European-themed trivia.  

In this activity, your group will break out into teams. Then, you’ll take part in a warm-up social mixer followed by three rounds of trivia, a Jeopardy-style lightning round using cellphone buzzers, and a European travel conversation to finish it all off. For each trivia challenge answered correctly, your team will earn points. The team with the most points at the end of the activity will be crowned the Virtual European Adventure Champions! 

Host a Tiny Bonfire Event

Well, maybe a bonfire is the wrong word. But you can send your team some candles as well as some fun fall-themed snacks and get together for a fun social hour. You can chat, share stories, or chat through some hilarious icebreaker questions to help people get to know each other. Keep it informal, keep it light, and have fun! If you’re looking for some inspiration, check out our comprehensive list of 300 icebreaker questions you can use.

Virtual Escape Room: Jewel Heist 

 

There’s been a robbery! Someone has masterminded a heist to steal a priceless collection of precious jewels, and it’s up to you and your team to recover them before time runs out.

Together, you’ll need to uncover hidden clues and solve a series of brain-boggling challenges that require collaboration, creative problem-solving, and outside-the-box thinking. But be quick! The clock is ticking before the stolen score is gone forever.

Virtual Oktoberfest Trivia

 

Does your team love getting together for virtual trivia games? With Virtual Oktoberfest Trivia, you and your team will be virtually transported to Munich, Germany, to attend the world-famous Oktoberfest: the world’s biggest celebration of beer. You’ll work closely with your teammates to compete through four exciting team challenges as you revolve through themed bierzeltes (also known as giant beer tents!) with topics ranging from travel to music, trivia, and more.

Virtual Jeoparty Social: Scary Edition

If your remote team is eager to socialize, have some fun as a group, and channel their competitive spirit while celebrating the spookiest season of the year, we’ve got just the thing for you!

With Virtual Jeoparty Social: Scary Edition, your team will get to step into their very own virtual Jeopardy-style game show—equipped with a buzzer button, a professional actor as your host, and an immersive Halloween-themed game show platform!

Best of all, this game has been infused with an ultra-social (and spooky) twist.

In this activity, your group will break out into teams and compete through multiple rounds of virtual Halloween-themed trivia questions inspired by Jeopardy, winning (or losing!) points for each. And, for some added all-inclusive interaction, players will take part in a unique social mixer challenge between each round.

So, get ready to test your trivia knowledge, hit that buzzer button as fast as you can, help your team win as many points as possible before time runs out, and share some laughs (and scares) between rounds —and then wager a little or a lot in a round of Final Jeoparty to top it all off.

Virtual Treasure Hunt 

Looking for an easy virtual activity that everyone can do? Then you’ll love this. Create a list of fall-themed items that your remote colleagues will find at home. Then, give them two minutes to find a pre-determined number of them and bring them back to their computer.

Your list could include things like:

• Cinnamon
• Pumpkins
• Scarves
• Fall jackets 
• Plaid clothing 
• An apple
• Warm socks
• Candles

The person with the least number of items found after two minutes is up is eliminated! Go through as many rounds as it takes to get down to a winner. 

Virtual Beach Staycation

After more than a year of lockdowns, we’re all in desperate need of a vacation. Luckily, Captain Furling has room for you and your colleagues on his virtually chartered yacht. Come aboard and channel your “inner Cancun” for a tropical online team building adventure.

Captain Furling’s chartered yacht welcomes online guests aboard his luxury vessel and quickly takes them out of their homes to a gorgeous beach in Cancun.

With ocean soundscapes and delightful vacation destination footage, your travel companions will compete with their knowledge ofc travel destinations, vacation-themed movies, summer pop hits and even a cabana-wear contest. Your yacht captain gives guests a playfully immersive experience for a virtual team vacation from your workday that your colleagues truly deserve.

Virtual Happy Hour Trivia 

 

Fall weather calls for cocktails and spirits that warm your soul! And if you’re planning an autumn-themed virtual happy hour event for your workgroup, you might want to consider adding a touch of trivia fun to it with Virtual Happy Hour Trivia. But this is no ordinary happy hour trivia game. In this activity, you and your team will take a trip to Hamish McDuff’s virtual pub. This hilarious Scottish pub owner is the legendary host of a trivia game with more than 20 category options to choose from, including sports, food and drink, and even celebrity real estate. This virtual pub trivia game is guaranteed to produce plenty of laughs and lift team “spirits.” It might even include a few special surprises.

17 In-Person Fall Team Building Activities 

 

If you’re looking for fun in-person team building activities that you and your colleagues can enjoy in-person, you might want to try one (or a bunch!) of these.

Wild Goose Chase

 

Autumn is one of the most beautiful times of the year, with leaves changing color and those distinct fall aromas filling the air. So, before winter hits, take one last opportunity to get out into the great outdoors with a scavenger hunt team building activity like a Wild Goose Chase. With this app-based, outdoor team building activity, your team will head out into the city to explore, bond, and tackle fun photo and video challenges. 

Carve Pumpkins 

Each year, a total of 1.5 billion pounds worth of pumpkins are produced in the United States alone, with over 800 million of them ripe for picking in one single month: October.

This is no surprise when you consider the fact that 45% of Americans are expected to carve pumpkins for Halloween. This goes to show just how popular of a pastime it is – and why it makes for such a fun team building activity for you and your colleagues.

For an added element of fun, get your team together, grab some hot drinks, and head to the pumpkin patch to pick your own pumpkins to carve (if you’re looking for a great pumpkin patch near you, this article from Reader’s Digest). You can even turn pumpkin carving into a fun office competition!

Charity Bike Buildathon 

 

According to research from the United Health Group, 78% of American adults said that volunteering lowers their stress levels. So, try out a Charity Bike Buildathon philanthropic team building activity. Together, your group will build and decorate kids’ bikes before creating an advertising campaign for their bicycles and presenting them to the group. Finally, all bikes will be donated to a local children’s charity of your choice.

Make Scarecrows 

 

Get crafty with your colleagues and build scarecrows together! This can be done easily and inexpensively, even in your own office. All you’ll need is a hammer, some nails, a pair of scissors, old clothes, boots, and twine. For step-by-step instructions on how to do it, check out this article from DIY Network.

Random Acts of Kindness

Feel like getting out and spreading some kindness? We recommend it! Doing good in the world is good for you. In fact, it actually builds team morale. Random Acts of Kindness fuses the scavenger hunt concept with a philanthropic twist. This fall team building activity gets teams racing against one another to try and complete as many good deeds as possible before time runs out. 

Decorate the office 

Who doesn’t love putting up Halloween decorations? Get your team together and decorate your office as a group. Or, you could let each department decorate their respective area of the office and turn it into a competition for whose decorating is the best.

Corporate Escape Rooms

If you’re in search of an indoor team building activity for a chilly autumn day, an escape room is a great option! And if you’re concerned about transportation, logistics, finding an escape room that can accommodate your entire group, or having to split your group up into different escape rooms, don’t worry. Outback Team Building & Training offers two different Corporate Escape Rooms–Jewel Heist and The Mummy’s Curse–which we can bring right to your workplace.

We can transform any part of your office into your very own escape room, so you don’t even need to leave the building. With our Corporate Escape Rooms, your team will need to work together to decipher clues, solve riddles, and tackle challenges in order to find their way out before time expires.

Celebrate Oktoberfest

 

Traditionally, Oktoberfest is a 16- to 18-day German festival that runs from mid-September through to the first Sunday in October.

What started as a wedding celebration more than 200 years ago, when Bavaria’s Crown Prince Ludwig married Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen, has evolved into a modern-day international festival focused on delicious food and great beer.

A seasonal classic, it’s a great way to get your team out of the office for a fun day together. To find an Oktoberfest celebration near you, try a quick search on a platform like Eventbrite.

Beach Staycation

Ever wish your office was located on a tropical beach during the fall months? With Beach Staycation, you can transform your office into a balmy destination where you’ll engage in a series of social and trivia-style team building activities.

So, invite your team to hop aboard Captain Furling’s chartered yacht and transport them from your office directly to a gorgeous beach destination in Cancun.

Beach Staycation is loaded with delightful vacation destination footage, ocean soundscapes, and, best of all, highly engaging social activities and trivia-style challenges.

If your team is in need of a vacation, some shared laughs, and a bit of social fun this activity is just what they need!

CI: The Crime Investigators

With the spookiest holiday of the year happening in the fall, you and your team can put your detective hats on to solve a deadly crime with one of our two mystery team building activities. In CI: The Crime Investigators, your team will need to gather evidence, analyze clues, and crack the case before time runs out.

Host a Thanksgiving Potluck

The fall brings with it one of the most delicious holidays of the year: Thanksgiving! So, what better way to celebrate the season than with a Thanksgiving-themed office potluck?

From pumpkin pie to green beans, sweet potatoes, biscuits, apple cider, and turkey and cranberry sauce, there’s no shortage of amazing options available.

To make sure you get a great variety of food, simply send around a potluck sign-up sheet to your office asking everyone to indicate what they intend to bring. There are tons of great templates available for this – like these ones from TemplateLab.

Clue Murder Mystery

With this spooky team building activity, you and your team will need to channel your inner detectives in order to examine case files, solve clues, and use your instincts, intuition, and collaboration to catch a cold-blooded killer. If you really want to get in the Halloween spirit, you and your team can even get Halloween costumes and dress up as detectives!

Run Through a Corn Maze

 

If you’re feeling energetic, head out to a corn maze with your team! This can be a great activity for team building because it will require your group to communicate, collaborate, and put your heads together as you try to find your way out. And if you’re in search of corn mazes near you, you can check out this directory of Corn Mazes America that will show you where to find the best ones across the United States.

Game Show Extravaganza

When it’s chilly outside and your team doesn’t feel like venturing into the cold, bring the party to your own office by hosting a game show night. With Game Show Extravaganza, you’ll have your team feeling like they’re on their very own trivia show as they compete to answer questions and complete challenges covering everything from pop culture to politics, geography, sports, movies, music, history, and much more!

Throw a Halloween Costume Party

Cut work early on a Friday afternoon and host a Halloween costume party at the office. Bring some fun and festive music (we recommend The Monster Mash!), some snacks, and encourage everyone to dress up with a costume contest. For an extra dose of fun, you might even want to consider making your Halloween party pet-friendly – including costumes! Just check with your staff to ensure there are no allergy concerns or discomfort with animals first.

Spook Yourselves with a Haunted House

 

If you and your team are feeling brave, there are few activities more fun than visiting a spooky haunted house! Your group can share a few screams, a lot of laughs, and a great time by testing their nerves together. If you’re looking for the spookiest haunted houses out there, check out this list from Thrillist of the est ones in all 50 states.

Go Apple Picking

What’s more beautiful in brisk fall weather than a quaint apple orchard? Take your team out apple picking so that they can leave with some delicious and healthy treats. You can even turn this into a team competition by seeing who can pick the most apples in a preset timeframe.

Or, if you really want to have a good laugh, take your apples back to the office and have an apple-bobbing contest! If you’re not sure where to find a great apple orchard, you can start with this article from U.S. News showcasing the top 25 places to go apple picking across America.

6 Virtual Team Building Activities for Office Holiday Parties

While the holidays don’t technically take place during the fall, there’s a good chance that your office holiday party will. So, if you’re looking for fun and engaging virtual team building activities to incorporate into your workplace holiday shindigs, we’ve got you covered.

Here are four options you’ll love.

Virtual Holiday Time Machine

Embark on an adventure with your colleagues as you step into the Outback Time Machine and take a trip back through holiday pop culture history.

This fun, fast-paced holiday-themed virtual team building activity is packed with nostalgia and features challenges focused on familiar holiday favorites, from trivia about movies, songs, toys, and TV shows to rounds of charades and more.

Your virtual game show host will get your group warmed up with a couple of “table-hopper rounds” (also known as breakout room mixers) and split you into teams. Within minutes, your home office will be transformed into a winter wonderland game show stage with your own live dedicated host and buzzers.

Virtual Winter Jeoparty Social

What’s better than spending a winter day hunkered down in a warm alpine chalet with a hot drink? Doing it while socializing with your remote team, having fun as a group, and channeling your competitive spirit!

With Virtual Winter Jeoparty Social, your team will get out of the snow and step into your own cozy ski cabin to take part in a virtual Jeopardy-style game show infused with an ultra-social twist.

In this activity, your group will break out into teams and compete through multiple rounds of winter-themed Jeopardy-inspired virtual trivia questions, winning (or losing!) points for each. Between each round, you’ll take part in a unique social mixer challenge and wager a little (or a lot!) in a round of Final Jeoparty.

Virtual Holiday Hijinks

If you and your team love a high-energy group activity, then Holiday Hijinks is perfect for you. 

Celebrate the holidays with this festive holiday-themed team building activity that’s all about working collaboratively to tackle a variety of holiday-themed physical, cerebral, and skills-based challenges. 

In this activity, your group will split into teams. Each team will race against the clock and try to outpace the competition as they earn points for completing challenges, such as:  

• Cookie Conundrum – Luke made 42 holiday cookies. He brought half of them to his office. He ate one third of the cookies that were left. Then he gave 8 cookies to his neighbor. He left the rest of the cookies out for Santa. How many cookies did Santa get?  
  
  
• Elf Yourself – Each team member needs to create the most unique gift you can using only the items available to you. Snap a photo of everyone showcasing their gifts.  
  
  
• Junk Yard Jingle – Record a 5-second video of a teammate creating the beat to a holiday song using objects found around your house or office. Be sure to practice getting your notes right as the instrumental version has to be in tune!  

You’ll need to be mindful, though. Each challenge is worth a different number of points based on its level of difficulty, so you’ll need to keep a close eye on the leaderboard and tackle challenges strategically if your team wants to be crowned Holiday Hijinks Champions! 

Virtual Yuletide Showdown

Looking for a way to ring in the holiday season with your team while exercising communication and collaboration skills, having a lot of laughs, and creating bonds with your colleagues? 

Then Yuletide Showdown is the perfect activity for you.  

In this fast-paced and high-energy virtual team building activity, you and your colleagues will race the clock, competing to unlock six different challenge categories: Sounds of Christmas, Holiday Trivia, Holiday Characters, Holiday Pictionary, Festive Scavenger Hunt, and Holiday-Style Who-Dun-It.  

Then, you’ll need to strategically complete challenges, keeping a close eye on the real-time leaderboard and staying one step ahead of the competition.  

Elf’s Virtual Merry Mingler

As the holidays get underway, sometimes all you and your colleagues want to do is celebrate the season and spend quality time together. And with Elf’s Virtual Merry Mingler, that’s exactly what you’ll do. 

Set in a venue in Santa’s North Pole village, this virtual holiday team building activity is made up of a series of social mixer activities that are all about sharing a laugh, creating some positive festive energy, and letting teammates enjoy each other’s company—regardless of the geographical distance between them.

Frost’s Virtual Holiday Trivia

The holiday season is all about coming together and celebrating! So, in Frost’s Virtual Holiday Trivia, you and your team will be invited to join the Frosts in the lounge of their brand-new ice hotel. 

While you’re there, you’ll compete through three rounds of holiday and winter-themed trivia questions, earning points for each one answered correctly. But the fun doesn’t stop there! You’ll also become better acquainted with your colleagues as you take part in a round of Frost’s Icebreaker Questions. 

Whether you’re able to gather in person or you work remotely, there are a ton of fun fall team building activities available to you as the fall gets underway.

Do you have any favorite fall team building activities? If so, let us know what they are in the comments section below!