You found our list of fun Valentine’s day team building activities.
Valentine’s Day team building activities are group games and experiences teams can do together on or around February 14th. For example, Valentine card exchanges, cooking classes, and volunteering. The purpose of these activities is to get the office into the holiday spirit and boost camaraderie in the process.
These celebration ideas are similar to virtual Valentine’s day ideas for teams and are a type of holiday team building exercise. These events can function as an employee morale builder and a way to boost office culture.
This post includes:
- Valentine’s Day games for teams
- office Valentine’s Day ideas
- Valentine’s Day team activities
- ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day at work
- Valentine’s team building ideas for adults
Here we go!
List of Valentine’s day team building activities
Here is a list of ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day in the office with teams.
1. Valentine Exchange
Exchanging Valentine’s cards is one of the most obvious Office Valentine’s Day ideas. This activity can give coworkers nostalgia for school days and swapping cards with classmates. To facilitate the exchange, set up a mini mailbox or envelope on each employee’s desk, or make a central mailbox and designate a mailman to deliver the cards. Kind notes between colleagues can boost the sense of camaraderie in the office.
For extra team time, you can set up card making sessions or stations so that team members can hand-make valentines. Otherwise, you can provide cards or a stipend to buy cards to incentivize staff to participate.
2. Valentine’s Day Bingo
Valentine’s Day Bingo is a game that encourages officemates to mingle and chat. To fill out the cards, players must talk to coworkers to find teammates who match the descriptions in the boxes. To win, players must get five consecutive squares in a row, column, or diagonal, and must not have any repeat names within that line.
Players who get Bingo can turn their cards in for a prize.
Here is a template. You can randomize the cards, grab a screenshot, and print out different versions.
For more cards, check out this icebreaker Bingo generator.
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3. Chocolate Tasting
Chocolate tasting is one of the most fun Valentine’s Day team activities. The easiest way to hold these events is to find a provider who leads corporate tastings. These companies will provide sample packs of chocolates as well as a host to guide participants through the tastings. However, you can also organize a DIY tasting by getting truffle samplers from a local chocolatier and trying the different treats as a group.
4. Cookie or Cupcake Decorating
Valentine’s Day is all about desserts, and decorating sweet treats together is sure to get the office into the holiday spirit. To set up this activity, get plain cupcakes or heart shaped cookies and set up a station with plenty of pink, red, and white frosting, sprinkles, and candy. Then, invite team members to stop in and customize their own cookie and cupcake to enjoy or to give to a special someone.
You could even invite a pro-baker to lead a class and give teammates next-level decoration tips.
Pro tip: Create a shared photo album where participants can share their creations with each other.
5. Crafting
Valentine’s Day is a great time to attend a craft class as a team, since participants can use projects as homemade gifts. You may want to do a more upscale art night, such as glass-etching, photo-box making, or stained-glass painting. However, group experiences like sip-and-paints are good times too. To hold a craft night, set a budget per person, pick a project, and ready supplies and instructions. You can ask an artist to lead the class, follow an online tutorial, or freestyle the projects. Be sure to take pictures of your team with their finished masterpieces.
For more creative ideas, check out this list of online art classes.
6. Cooking Classes
Valentine’s Day often involves whipping up a meal for loved ones– partners, family members, friends, or yourself! Cooking classes are a way for employees to sharpen culinary skills and spend time with coworkers. Chances are, the office kitchen may not be large enough to accommodate all your chefs, so your best bet is to book a class at an outside venue or host the session virtually. Whatever the venue, this activity gives teammates a shared experience and a chance to learn and grow. Plus, participants get to eat the finished product!
Here is a list of online cooking classes for ideas.
7. Valentine’s Icebreakers
One of the easiest ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day at work is to introduce Valentine’s icebreaker questions into meetings. Simply pick a prompt, then give teammates five to ten minutes to talk it out. This activity is a good fit for the start of meetings while you await attendees to arrive. You can also send these questions in a team email or write the prompt on a board or a Slack thread.
Here are some Valentine’s Day icebreakers:
- What is the strangest date you have ever been on?
- Which fictional character would be your soulmate?
- Describe your perfect date.
- If you had cupid’s powers for one day, who would you make fall in love?
- Do you believe in love at first sight? Soulmates?
- What is your love language/how do you show people you care about them?
- Who was your first crush?
- What is your favorite cheesy pick-up line?
- Which celebrity would make the best Valentine?
Check out more icebreaker questions.
8. Rom Com Charades
Rom Com Charades is a team guessing game that is right in line with the spirit of the holiday. In this exercise, players follow the normal rules of charades, however, the prompts are titles, scenes, or lines from famous romantic comedy movies.
You can use a romcom generator to come up with prompts for the game.
We have a general charades prompt generator too.
9. Trivia
Trivia is one of the top Valentine’s Day games for teams. This challenge encourages players to work together and pool knowledge to win points. To play trivia, split participants into teams of 4 to 8 people, ask each to come up with a holiday-appropriate name, and present a series of questions for teams to answer. You can make the questions company specific, for example, “which coworker got proposed to on the top of the Eiffel tower?” or more general to the holiday.
Here are a few starter questions:
Here are more trivia questions for teams, and a list of quiz game apps.
10. Happy Hour
Happy hours are one of the easiest Valentine’s Day team activities for adults. Simply plan a location and a time at the end of the day for teammates to gather and share a drink and a chat. You can hold the happy hour in-office, at a local watering hole, or even on Zoom. Extra points for picking a place that serves up pink or red holiday themed cocktails. You could even hold a mixology class and teach attendees how to whip up special drinks for a special someone. Including food and themed games and icebreakers is another tip for making happy hours a hit.
Check out this guide to doing happy hours virtually.
11. The Ultimate Romantic Playlist
For this activity, teammates work together to create a mix of their favorite love songs. Simply ask for suggestions for favorite romantic songs, and then compile those recommendations into a playlist on Spotify. You can send the playlist out to the staff, and also play the songs in the office on Valentine’s Day.
Bonus: For maximum team building potential, turn the playlist into a game by challenging employees to guess which colleague suggested which song.
For more musical inspiration, check out this list of songs about teamwork.
12. Valentine’s This or That
This or That is a quick and easy icebreaker game that can be adapted for any holiday. To play the game, read off a list of choices and ask employees to pick their preference. Players can announce their choice by holding up a sign, moving to a specific side of the room, writing their name under the choice, or putting money or objects in a jar to vote.
The game can help uncover common ground between coworkers. You can also play the game on social media.
Here are some examples of Valentine’s prompts:
- Balloons or flowers?
- Handmade gift or store bought gift?
- Going out or staying in?
- Card or handwritten letter?
- Practical gift or fun gift?
- Surprise date or planned date?
- Dinner or dessert?
- Public or private displays of affection?
- Chocolates or cupcakes?
- Champagne or mixed drinks?
- Red or pink?
- Party or date?
Check out this master list of This or That questions.
13. Valentine’s Day Would You Rather
Would You Rather forces players to make tough choices. Participants take turns presenting uncomfortable or difficult scenarios and other players must decide which of two responses is more tolerable. The game can give insight into teammates’ psychology and can spark funny conversations and explanations.
Here are some starter prompts:
- Would you rather go on a group date or a blind date?
- Would you rather get stood up or have to endure an awful date on Valentines Day?
- Would you rather be the villain in a rom com or the protagonist in a romantic tragedy?
- Would you rather never be able to eat chocolate again or only be able to eat chocolate?
- Would you rather handwrite 300 Valentine’s cards or sing a Valentine’s telegram?
- Would you rather get dumped on Valentine’s Day or have to turn down a public marriage proposal?
Check out more Would You Rather questions.
14. Day of Self-Care
Valentine’s Day is about love, and it is a prime time to remind employees to love themselves. A day of self-care involves all employees in celebration, not just the ones who are in relationships. You can plan a series of activities that promote mindfulness and self-nurturing. For example, meditation, massages, stress-management lessons, healthy snacks, and packs of pampering products like lotions and chapstick. Having teammates do these activities together normalizes self-care and gives busy professionals permission to look after their needs.
Here are more employee wellness ideas.
15. Hidden Hearts
Hidden Hearts is a type of scavenger hunt that takes inspiration from the Hidden Mickeys around Disneyland. Simply hang a series of hearts around the office, tell players how many total hearts there are, and then award a prize to teams who find all of the hearts. Be sure to include a mix of obvious and subtle hearts. You probably also want to make the hearts distinct, for instance, by including the company logo or making the hearts a unique color, so that players can distinguish the game hearts from normal Valentine’s decorations.
If no team completes the hunt entirely, then you can reward the teams who discover the most hiding spots.
Learn more about scavenger hunt clues.
16. Volunteering
Volunteering shows love to the community. There are a variety of holiday-themed service projects you and your team can undertake. For example, making valentines cards or decorations for seniors in retirement homes, staffing a Valentine’s dance for a community in need, or raising funds for a heart healthy charity. If short on time and manpower, then your staff can take up a donation for a philanthropy organization instead.
Pro tip: If going the contributing route, then employers should give financial support, either by fronting a donation or matching employee donations.
Check out these virtual volunteer opportunities and this list of fundraising ideas.
17. Bulletin Board
Putting up a Valentine’s-themed bulletin board is one way to get staff in the spirit of the holidays. The best office bulletin boards are interactive and encourage employees to interact with the board and each other.
Here are a few Valentine’s bulletin board ideas:
- Write a Valentine thanking or appreciating a coworker
- Hang a picture of your significant other (does not have to be a romantic partner!)
- Vday crossword or word search
- Respond to a question like “What are your Valentine’s Day plans?” “What is your favorite rom com?” or “What would be the worst gift to get on Valentine’s Day?”
Check out more office bulletin board ideas.
18. Love It or Hate It?
Love It or Hate It? is one of the more unique Valentine’s Day games for teams. This game is similar to This or That in that it gives insights into teammates’ tastes. However, instead of choosing between one of two options, players are presented with a divisive subject and must share whether they love it or hate it, and if they are in the middle, then they must choose one or the other.
Here are some examples:
- Cilantro
- Reality TV
- Social media
- Waking up early
- Exercise
- Parties
- Movie trailers
- Snow
The game is most entertaining when players who feel most strongly on each side of the spectrum make a case to support their opinion.
19. Puppy Love
For the animal-lovers in the office (likely, the entire office), there is perhaps no better way to spend Valentine’s Day than cuddling puppies. Partnering with an animal agency for Valentine’s Day can provide a significant morale boost for your staff. Some animal organizations bring dogs into public places for “doggy therapy” dates. You could also sign up the team to volunteer at a local shelter to walk, play with, or care for dogs. If your crew is more cat-lovers, then you can play cupid and connect your team with kitties instead.
For more fun with animals, check out this list of office pets.
20. Team Meal
Dining out is the go-to method of celebrating Valentine’s. You can supplement those intimate dinners with team lunches during the week. A team meal is a way to gather the group together and build a sense of community and belonging, and the occasion gives staff a chance to chat casually and get to know each other better. Whether you plan a lunchtime feast, a dessert break, or order heart-shaped bagels or pizza, meals are a great way to show love for your staff.
Pro tip: Valentine’s Day is one of the busiest days of the year in the restaurant world, even for lunch. Be sure to call ahead to the restaurant to make a reservation or confirm that they can accommodate a large group. Or, get catering instead.
Here is a guide to doing team lunches virtually.
21. Valentine’s Never Have I Ever
Never Have I Ever is one of the most popular icebreaker games. Valentine’s-themed questions can make the game more festive, and are a great way to help teams have fun and get to know each other better in the month of February.
To play the game, participants hold up ten fingers, and lower one finger every time a teammate makes a statement that applies.
Here are some starter prompt suggestions:
….had two dates for Valentine’s Day.
….had a blind date on Valentine’s.
….pretended to like a gift I thought was ugly.
….sent myself a Valentine.
….dumped someone around Valentine’s Day.
….dated a friend’s ex.
….finished someone else’s Valentine’s candy.
….worked in a restaurant on Valentine’s Day.
Here are more work friendly Never Have I Ever questions.
22. Murder Mystery
For teammates who are not into Valentine’s vibes, murder mysteries are an ideal activity. These crime-cracking, problem-solving games are about as far as you can get from lovey-dovey feelings, and are sure to be a hit with anti-Valentine’s folks. At the same time, the games encourage teamwork and offer a chance for coworkers to have fun together. To play a murder mystery, simply get a script, assign roles, and read through the prompts. Or, find a facilitator to host the game. At the end of the activity, players will wager guesses as to what character is behind the crime.
Pro tip: Costumes and props make the game more fun!
Here is a list of murder mysteries to play online.
23. Wine Tasting
Wine tasting is one of the best Valentine’s team building ideas for adults. During this activity, groups get together to try a variety of wines. The team can take a field trip to a winery, or book a sommelier to come in-house. Or, you can DIY your own tasting by buying a few bottles of different local wines. Some samplings include food pairings, or special themes or activities. You can even host tastings virtually so that each participant can enjoy the beverages from their own homes without worrying about driving home after.
Pro tip: If you do choose to attend wine tastings at wineries, then you may also want to hire transportation for extra safety.
Here is a list of online wine tasting experiences.
24. Party
Parties combine a variety of the activities on this list into one fun event. You can gather the staff into the break room or an outside venue to enjoy music, conversation with coworkers, sweet treats, and fun games. These gatherings give teammates a break from work and a chance to enjoy the festivities in full swing.
For tips on throwing office parties, check out this list of holiday office party ideas.
Final Thoughts
Valentine’s Day falls in the middle of the colder months for folks in chillier climates, and celebrating the occasion can be a way to ward off the mid-winter blues. Valentine’s is about showing love, and can be about showing love for work friends, colleagues, and employees just as much as celebrating romantic love. Not to mention, the holiday can be lonely, and team building activities strengthen a sense of belonging and togetherness. Any holiday is an opportunity for teams to celebrate together and bond. Plus, Valentine’s Day is a good excuse to bring treats into the office and make the workday that much sweeter.
Next, check out this list of virtual Chinese New Year ideas and this list of virtual date night ideas.