15 Unique Spirit Week Ideas for Work in 2022

Unless your team works remotely full-time, we’re guessing everyone spends most of their weekdays in the office. And let’s be honest: between long commutes and feeling cramped at a desk for several hours at a time, being in the office can often feel like a drag. The good news is that there are tons of ways to make the workplace an engaging and rejuvenating environment!

One way is to plan and host a corporate Spirit Week. If you haven’t heard of Spirit Week, no problem. This article will walk you through the concept and share 15 Spirit Week ideas for work designed to create special opportunities for your employees to have fun and bond even while working through their tasks.

Keep reading to explore new ways of bringing a new surge of energy and company pride back into the office!

What the Heck is a Spirit Week? ?

Spirit Weeks are week-long periods that schools, companies and other organizations often use to boost general morale or build awareness around a specific cause through various games, activities, and events. Thoughtfully selected workplace Spirit Week ideas can work wonders for renewing employee engagement, especially if your team is transitioning back into the office after long work-from-home periods.

5 Quick Tips to Keep in Mind When Planning Your Office Spirit Week Themes for Work

Before we dive into some ideas, here are a few things to consider when planning your themed work days for Spirit Week:

Know your team

This is very important so you can plan a Spirit Week that will appeal to the whole team.

Plan ahead

Start planning your company Spirit Week ahead of time so your employees can have sufficient time to plan and organize themselves around it. Note also that some activities may involve services from external service providers, so you’ll need to give them ample notice to prepare everything.

Delegate

Identify someone to properly oversee the planning and execution to increase the chances of the week’s success and enjoyment.

Capture the best corporate Spirit Week moments

Don’t forget to get someone on your team to take photos of the best Spirit Week moments! You can share them on your company’s online platforms as part of your marketing strategy.

Encourage broad employee involvement during planning and implementation

Find ways to involve employees at all levels, so they feel more connected during the process.

There are so many team activities and events to choose from, but we’re sharing just a few of our favorites here. Each one of these Spirit Week ideas for work has the potential to enhance employee motivation, strengthen team cohesion, and enhance overall workplace culture. Let’s go!

15 Spirit Week Theme Ideas for Work

1. Costume Contest ?

Best for: creativity, competition, entertainment

Make your Spirit Week at work about epic costumes. For example, team members could dress up in costumes for the whole day or don their duds at a designated “show time.” Alternatively, depending on everyone’s preference, you can have team members dress up at home and upload photos to an online photo gallery.

To make things more exciting, turn the whole thing into a contest where employees can vote for their favorite costumes, and the winners get prizes! Here are some theme ideas:

Superheroes
Cartoon characters
Sports
Movie moments
Dollar store couture
Puns
Twins
Holidays
Eras
Celebrities
Historical figures
Villains
Garbage recycling

2. International Foods Day ?

Best for: multi-cultural exploration, bonding

You can’t go wrong when theming your company Spirit Week ideas around amazing food. For example, a Mexican lunch theme is tough to beat, especially in the summer! Plan a group lunch or two and treat your team to exciting meals to explore and celebrate different cultures. Team members are welcome to cook and bring dishes, but consider ordering in to your office to create a hassle-free experience where team members can focus on eating (and bonding).

3. Holiday Day ?

Best for: bonding, partying

Turn your office environment into one giant holiday celebration for a week! This Spirit Week idea works great because it can be as diverse as your team’s holiday tastes. Each employee can choose their favorite holiday and then do something associated with it, like displaying colours, wearing costumes, or bringing snacks and other holiday-related items. The greater the variety the merrier!

If you want to take it a step further, organize a group lunch where employees can share something personal about their chosen holidays.

4. Tea Party Day ?

Best for: entertainment, team-bonding, relaxing

A Tea Party Spirit Week would work any time since you can choose to serve ice teas during the warmer times of the year or hot teas in the cooler seasons. Assemble some delicious tea-time snacks and have a fancy tea party with your team, either once or every day during Spirit Week. Consider providing sandwiches, miniature cupcakes, macarons, and petit cutlery for everyone to enjoy.

If this idea resonates with you, check out these office snacks for delivery for some tidbits to serve during the event.

5. Talent Show Day ?

Best for: entertainment, teamwork, collaboration

One memorable Spirit Week theme could be a series of talent shows where employees can show off their hidden skills with skits, stand-up comedy, music, storytelling, juggling, origami – you name it! Employees can perform individually or collaboratively, depending on the number of people who want to participate. If you have remote employees, encourage them to perform via video calls if they wish to get in on the action!

6. Company Picnic Day ?

Best for: bonding, relaxation, entertainment

Who doesn’t love a summer picnic? They’re a fun, simple way to get outside, bond, and enjoy the weather. Plus, picnics work perfectly regardless of team size. There are also many ways to go about it, from organizing a potluck lunch to hosting a fully catered event. And here’s a cool idea (no pun intended): treat your team to handmade ice cream and frozen drinks made-to-order right before their eyes during the event!

7. Breakfast Together Day ?

Best for: relationship-building, team-bonding

Breakfast is, as they say, the most important meal of the day. So, why not enjoy it together every day of Spirit Week? There are a few ways to do this. You could ask employees to bring a delicious breakfast for themselves to the office, and everyone can simply sit down and eat together. Or, your team can start the day by meeting for breakfast at a café or restaurant. You can also order breakfast for everyone and have it delivered to the office to enjoy onsite.

If that last alternative sounds like a winner, check out some fantastic, done-for-you corporate breakfast catering services on the Thriver marketplace!

8. Pet Day ???

Best for: stress relief, entertainment, skill-building

Research shows that pets are a fantastic mental health aid! With that in mind, consider a Pet Day for one of your company’s Spirit Week ideas. Pet owners can bring their furry friends to work and share a bit about them. Or, if that doesn’t work (perhaps due to allergies), they can film their pets from home and share short videos with the team.

Paint Your Pet is another fun theme day to explore for work. This hands-on activity involves team members sending photos of their pets to facilitators who will turn them into sketches on canvas. These facilitators will then mail the drawings to your team with paints and brushes. Finally, an instructor will host a step-by-step Paint Your Pet session via zoom. Neat, huh?

9. Crafts Day ?

Best for: creativity, collaboration, skill-building

Speaking of bringing out your team’s artsy side, a craft day is another exciting work Spirit Week idea to explore this summer. For example, your team can make handmade notebooks, cardboard gift boxes, hand-painted mugs, painted eggs, or macro may. The possibilities are literally endless! And if your team is interested in learning a craft from an expert, consider signing them up for a class. For example, this class teaches how to make custom greeting cards and gift boxes, so your team will be ready to wow their friends and family on special occasions!

10. Tacky Fashion Day ?

Best for: entertainment, creativity

Alright, this unique spirit week idea is 100% guaranteed to deliver tonnes of laughter and memories. To pull this off, ask each employee to find the worst fashion trend from any era or genre (picture Henry VIII or The Mad Hatter)! Everyone should then come to work dressed up and enjoy a great day parading around in their funny clothes and sharing the reason for their fashion choice. Again, another opportunity to kick things up a notch by turning the event into a competition with prizes!

11. Health and Wellness Day ?

Best for: energy restoration, stress relief

A health and wellness Spirit Day is another great idea for work since wellness is one of the goals for Spirit Week. Consider organizing activities such as guided meditation, walking, or group workouts. Yoga is one of the best team exercises because it focuses on healing the spine. The benefits of yoga include decreased muscle and joint tightness, increased mobility, and better posture. These are all important since most of us spend an enormous part of our day sitting for work!

12. Tie-Dye Day ?

Best for: creativity, collaboration

If you want to brighten your office environment with spectacular color, this workplace spirit week idea will work like a charm! All everyone has to do is wear tie-dyed clothing for all or part of the week. Organize an afternoon ahead of time where employees can make their tie-dyed apparel. They’ll just need some t-shirts, scrunchies, scarves, shorts, socks, or other clothing items, and some dyes.

If you prefer to take the guesswork out of your team’s tie-dye activity, check out this class, available online or in person!

13. Outdoor Day ?

Best for: energy boosting, team-bonding

Outdoor Day is another perfect summer Spirit Week idea for work that involves good food, fresh air and fun activities. For example, head out to your neighborhood park and play games, hike a trail or pick up trash from a public space. You can also involve your remote team by having a Zoom meeting outside! It doesn’t take much to create bonding moments, especially when the weather is beautiful.

14. High School Stereotype Day ?

Best for: entertainment, team-bonding

It’s pretty safe to say that most of us are glad our high school days are behind us, but that doesn’t mean we can’t take a trip down memory lane every once in a while! To incorporate this idea into Spirit Week, ask your team members to dress up like a stereotypical character from their high school years (football captain, cheerleader, principal, nerd, class clown, etc.).

To make things more interesting, throw in some “who was most likely to” questions to help your team members decide which of their former classmates to dress up as. Some ideas could include:

Who was the most likely to adopt a pet or rescue one?
Who was the most likely to help a stranger?
Who was the most likely to bring home-baked holiday cookies for the class?
Who was the most likely to make everyone laugh?
Who was the most likely to give away their lunch to a stranger?
Who was the most likely to help you with school work?
Who was the most likely to compliment you?
Who was the most likely to play “bad cop”?
Who was the most likely to eat pizza for breakfast?
Who was the most likely to go on a blind date?

15. World Travels ??

Best for: engagement, skill-building

Now here’s one company Spirit Week idea that will ignite your team’s imagination. All you need to do is plan your team’s activities and games around the subject of travel. Then organize some snacks, gather in one place and “travel” together during a lunch break. Here are some “travel” ideas to get you started:

Play trivia about international places, people, and events.
Learn simple phrases of a foreign language together.
Create a slideshow of employee travel photos and watch it together.
Ask each employee to create and share a “bucket list” of the top five destinations they most wish to visit.
Ask your team to create a world map of all the countries they have travelled to or lived in.
Go on a virtual tour of a nature park, zoo, underwater world, museum or other interesting places.

Get Ready for Some Seriously Good Office Vibes

It’s hard to overstate the potential benefits of engaging your team through fun workplace Spirit Week themes! Carefully selected and planned ideas will deliver loads of fun and create opportunities for your team to bond, decompress, and feel appreciated. These activities will also broaden their minds through exposure to new and exciting experiences.