14 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. 

It’s that time of year again! September 23^rd has come and gone, meaning we’ve officially waved goodbye to another summer. Autumn has begun, bringing with it crisp weather, colorful foliage, 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 14 autumn-themed team building activities we think your employees will fall for.

Check them out:

1. Get Your Team Together and 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!
2. Get Out and Volunteer – According to research from the United Health Group, 78% of American adults said that volunteering lowers their stress levels. And on top of that, companies that engage in corporate social responsibility initiatives experience 50% less turnover than those that don’t (for more, check out our free online guide). And as the weather starts to cool, it’s a great opportunity to get out and give back to those in need. For example, you could check out our 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. If you’re looking for other great ways to give back, check out our article: 15 Creative Volunteer Ideas to Help Your Team Make a Difference. At Outback Team Building and Training, we also offer a ton of other great philanthropic team building activities to fit virtually any need.
3. Get Together to 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.
4. Get Your Office Decked Out for Halloween - 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.
5. Check Out a Local Oktoberfest Celebration – 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. Host a Game Show Night – 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 our Minute to Win It team building activity, you’ll have your group feeling like they’re competing on prime-time television as they compete in a series of fun, exciting, and high-energy 60-second challenges based on the hit TV game show. You can also check out our Game Show Extravaganza team building activity which will 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!
10. 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 best ones in all 50 states.
11. Head Out for a Scavenger Hunt – 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. At Outback, we offer a ton of different scavenger options. For people who want a fun and fast-paced activity filled with riddles and physical challenges, a Wild Goose Chase would be a perfect match. If your group is full of risk-takers and fear-defying adventure seekers, you might want to check out our Urban Fear Factor scavenger hunt which is all about getting people out of their comfort zone. And if your group likes to get out and spread some kindness, we offer our Random Acts of Kindness scavenger hunt which is all about going out and doing good deeds for people in the community.
12. Solve a Mystery - 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 Invesigators, your team will need to gather evidence, analyze clues, and crack the case before time runs out. And in 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. If you really want to get in the Halloween spirit, you and your team can even get Halloween costumes and dress up as detectives!
13. Try Out an Escape Room – 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 and 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.
14. 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.

Learn More About Fall Team Building Activities for Your Corporate Group

For more information about how you can plan an awesome team building activity for your workgroup this autumn, just reach out to our Employee Engagement Consultants.