Tag: summer

The sunshine and warmer days are here. Taking part in summer team building activities is a great way to soak up the rays while maximizing your days together. Fresh air and sunlight are good for the body, and stretching the brain increases productivity and innovative thinking. Whether you choose to adventure outside, take part in some friendly competition, or beat the heat and the clock at the same time, summer team building activities are sure to make your team functions better.

Outdoor Adventure Activities

Nothing builds bonds and camaraderie quite like going outside. Outdoor team building activities are great for the summer! Whether it’s exploring your local city and its culture or getting down to the beach for some fun in the sun, everyone loves moving their bodies and breathing the fresh air.

Explore the City & Its Culture

A great summer team building activity! Explore all that Chicago has to offer with the Windy City Experience! 

In this unique excursion, teams enjoy the fresh air as they explore the Windy City like a local! Participants get moving with a personalized tour using mobile devices equipped with our exclusive adventure app and Google Maps to navigate through the city. At designated hotspots along the way, teams will dive into Chicago’s rich history — tackling trivia questions and engaging in entertaining challenges in a spirited and collaborative competition!

Ride the El, take a water taxi, and sample Chicago’s great eats.The Windy City Experience is a great summer outdoor team building activity that everyone will love.

Beach Games

What’s a better summer team building activity than a beach day? Throw in some fun (yet friendly) competition, and you have the Beach Battle Olympiad!

It’s all about fun, team work, and a little physical activity. This spirited competition has teams working together to compete in a series of contests to determine who is “King (or Queen) of the Beach” and who just has sand in their shorts! 

Creative Activities

Maybe your team prefers to let their imagination and innovation soar. Creative team building activities are great ways to build teamwork and have fun, while also exploring different tastes or reminiscing about being a kid.

Make Your Own Food Festivals

Lollapalooza, The Windy City Smokeout, a random Tuesday night on Navy Pier — summer is the season of festivals and eating outside. Why not bring everyone together and have your own food festival?

Design, craft, and market your very own mobile eatery with Food Truck Frenzy! Teams compete in fun challenges to earn ingredients and supplies to make the food truck of their dreams, and then present their concept and dishes to a panel of judges.

Or spice things up a little with the Sassy Salsa Showdown! A great summer team building activity that combines fresh ingredients with team work, ingenuity, and a hint of lime.

Or shake up your next happy hour by learning how to make the next cocktail of the summer. We’ll provide the Master Mixologist, the bar kits, and the vibes, you bring your eager team.

All of these are great summer team building activities that explore different cultures, and help your colleagues foster better relationships with each other.

Play Like Kids

Summer team building activities are great at bringing out our inner child, so why not lean into that with Kids @ Heart. Bringing the fun and creativity of the playground into the meeting room, Kids @ Heart has teams competing in classic games and activities, earning pieces of care packages that will be donated to a local organization benefiting children in need. Fly paper airplanes, create Play-Doh masterpieces, and beat the heat with this creative summer team building activity.

Competitive and Fun Games

Ramp up the fun with some competitive summer team building activities!

Corporate Olympiad

The torches are lit, the flags are waving, and representatives from around the office are primed and ready to compete in games to take home medals. Corporate Olympiad has teams taking part in a series of Olympic-themed challenges, including making their own flags, maneuvering through the Olympic Rings, and wrestling with some unconventional puzzles to earn medals. This competitive summer team building activity is sure to leave your team feeling on top of the world.

Escape Rooms

Teams use their collective skills to unpack evidence and solve clues to escape. Presented at team tables or on mobile devices, we dare you to band together and break free from our Escape Room concepts!

Conclusion

Whether your team enjoys the sunshine or needs to beat the heat indoors, getting together for some fun summer team building activities is guaranteed to bring your co-workers closer. Teams that have fun together, function better, becoming more efficient through stronger bonds and better communication.

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It turns out that our parents might have been on to something. Over the past few years there has been a grassroots movement gaining momentum in which doctors have begun prescribing their patients time outside. As that sample set has grown we’ve begun to notice more and more benefits for a growing list of common ailments — both mentally and physically. Benefits range from reduced heart disease and depression symptoms to increased creativity and better focus. 

The benefits of the great outdoors extend beyond the personal and into the interpersonal dynamics of teams. Team members find themselves more engaged in the workplace after interacting outside. That’s why we here at Corporate Event Interactive love getting outside, and it’s why we’ve designed a number of programs to get you and your team outside as well!

A Breath of Fresh Air Goes a Long Way

Inside of the office is overloaded with stimuli. There’s the obvious ones such as the blue light from computer screens and the ringing of phones, but there’s also the subtle flicker of fluorescent lights and the imperceptible hum of electricity — all of which forces the body to release the stress hormone cortisol. Heightened levels of cortisol have been linked to heart disease, weight gain, and a suppressed immune system. Step outside, and the body starts to flush all of that away. Plus, according to the USDA, a mature tree will provide enough daily oxygen for four people. That goes a long way to mitigating the effects of asthma, as well as promoting a higher brain function.

Now why would a company built around bringing you exceptional events and making your meetings unforgettable bother with all of these reports about health benefits and better breathing? It’s simple, we care about you and your team. We understand how these benefits go beyond the singular and can revamp the workplace into a more connected environment with increased productivity.

How to Get Everyone Outside?

We’ve curated experiences and programs to get your team outside, while also cultivating relationships and promoting your goals and objectives. Each and every one is entirely customizable and can accommodate groups of all sizes. 

iQuest Chicago

Explore the history of our beloved city while completing exciting challenges and answering trivia in and around famous Chicago landmarks. Our app-based scavenger hunt takes your team on an interactive tour of the Windy City unlike any other.

Corporate Olympiad

The torch is lit and the flags are going up! These aren’t your traditional Olympic Games though. Compete in olympic-themed challenges like maneuvering through the rings, sweeping soccer balls through a course, and run a marathon with a javelin – er, pool noodle – between the team.  All the while earning points to take home the gold medal.

iQuiz Summer Social 

Soak up the sunshine while completing whimsical challenges during this refreshing summer-themed experience. Teams work their ways through our customizable app-based game board, while also competing in randomized pop-up challenges from our professional emcee. When time is up and the points are tabulated, we crown the winners of summer.

Conclusion

Don’t wait until the weather changes to schedule your spring and summer events. Check out any of the above and see what else we have to offer here. I have to admit that it was really hard to write all of this while sitting inside and staring out the window. I’m gonna go for a run now. Schedule your outdoor event now! 

Chicago’s Team Building Company

At CEI, we are proud to celebrate over 30 years as Chicago’s Team Building company. From our founding as birthday party and corporate picnic creators in the 80’s to our current innovative team events, CEI has grown into a respected force in the hospitality industry. Our roots and connection to Chicago remain strong as we collaborate with outstanding organizations and support local charities. We are thankful for all the amazing relationships we’ve established over the years and we appreciate your continued support! 
~ Linda

Chicago Gets Back to Business!

We are so excited that our hometown, Chicago, is finally on its way to fully and safely reopening! With increased capacities at restaurants, convention centers, event venues, theaters and summer festivals – visitors can enjoy all that Chicago has to offer and Chicagoans can get back to business!

We look forward to helping you to create a dynamic interactive experience (virtual, hybrid or in-person) for your team this summer!! 

~ Linda