Irish for a (Work) Day
Looking for a burst of fun to get you through the last leg of winter and start spring off right? St. Patrick’s Day offers as good a reason as any to take a beat, check in with your team, and have some morale-boosting fun.
Whether you’re working in-person or remotely, these festive office games can entertain colleagues and provide some much-needed amusement. From creative challenges to interactive competitions, here are 7 ideas for fun St. Patrick’s Day office games.
1. Festive Trivia
Gather your Irish and not-so-Irish colleagues, in-person or virtually, for Pinch Me, It’s a St. Patrick’s Day Trivia Game. Tackle five rounds of fun, light-hearted challenges, such as:
• Oddball St. Patrick’s traditions
• Songs about luck, Irish and otherwise
• Irish pop-culture mashups
• Creative photo challenges
And if you’re not even the tiniest bit Irish, don’t sweat it. With context clues hidden in many of our carefully constructed questions, this game is as much about good teamwork as about St. Paddy’s knowledge. So anyone can play and win!
Of course, you can also stick with some DIY trivia in the office. After all, there are plenty of surprising facts about St. Patrick’s Day to stump your colleagues with.
2. Locate the Leprechauns
Send your colleagues on a merry chase for St. Patrick’s Day. Hide small leprechaun cutouts, gold chocolate coins, or shamrock stickers around the office and provide clues leading to their locations. Employees can work individually or in teams to find as many as possible within a set time. The person or team who collects the most wins a prize—or just bragging rights over snacks or a happy hour afterward. This brings together a bit of teamwork, a bit of problem-solving, and a bit of friendly competition.
And what’s more, if you do a really good job hiding some leprechauns, your colleagues might not find them all. Which is perfect, because you can keep the fun going even after the day is over, as people around the office casually keep an eye out for that last hidden green troublemaker. Heck, that little game of hide-and-seek could go on for months, adding a dash of ongoing fun in the office.
3. Team Building Scavenger Hunts
If you’re just using the holiday as an excuse for some fun team building, then throw on a green outfit and experience a scavenger hunt together! Few activities combine a good time with quick thinking, creative problem solving, and fast-paced communication the way team building scavenger hunts do. One of the great benefits is that everyone on your team can contribute equally, because you don’t need any particular athletic skills, artistic talents, or prior knowledge. You all just put your heads together and have a fun day.
Our most popular types of team building scavenger hunts and games include:
- Murder Mystery Games: Solve different sorts of murders in many different settings, such as botanical gardens, neighborhoods in cities around the country, or just about anywhere else!
- Food Tours: Snack your way to victory while answering tricky questions on our food-centric Munch Hunts in New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, and more.
4. St. Paddy’s Pictionary
Here’s a simple-to-translate classic. In-person groups can of course use a large drawing pad, while virtual groups can use Zoom functions such as Whiteboard and Screen Share. One person on each team can draw something related to St. Patrick’s Day while the rest of the team guesses.
You can mix easy, medium, and hard words and phrases depending on your audience. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Leprechauns
- Bagpipes
- Luck of the Irish
- Kiss Me, I’m Irish
- Over the rainbow
- Pot of gold at the end of the rainbow
- Finding a four-leaf clover
- St. Patrick banishing the snakes
5. Irish Jig Dance-Off
Challenge employees to an Irish jig dance-off where they must mimic traditional Irish dance moves (or something vaguely resembling traditional Irish dance moves, anyway). Play some upbeat Irish music and have participants compete for the best dance performance. A panel of judges or a group vote determines the winner based on enthusiasm, creativity, and effort. Encourage participation by allowing employees to dance in pairs or small groups. More than the energy this’ll bring to the office, a dance-off all but guarantees some hilarious moments.
6. Adventure Anywhere
Many of our games, including the Adventure Anywhere Scavenger Hunt, can be enjoyed no matter where your colleagues are. Players spread across different cities, states, even countries can play the same game at the same time, Zooming or Facetiming with the Host and other players. Then everyone “gathers” at the end to celebrate the winning team.
Even better? Your game can be customized to include thematic St. Patrick’s Day creative challenges. You and your team might have to take a picture with a stranger wearing green, collaborate on an artwork of a leprechaun, show off dance moves outside an Irish bar or restaurant, and more.
7. Lucky Limerick Contest
Encourage employees to create their own funny or creative limericks related to the workplace or St. Patrick’s Day. Give them a specific theme, such as office life, teamwork, or luck, and allow them a few minutes to compose their rhymes. Participants can read their limericks aloud, and the team votes on the funniest or most clever entry. Offer a prize for the best one, and consider displaying the top entries in a common area.
Of course, remind your team what a limerick is! It’s a humorous little poem with five lines that tells a silly story and follows an AABBA pattern. Some “rules” for limericks:
- The first, second, and fifth lines rhyme with each other and have about three beats.
- The third and fourth lines rhyme with each other and have about two beats.
- The first line introduces the subject, such as a person, place, or thing
- The middle sets up the silly story
- The ending usually has a surprise or twist
Here’s an office-flavored example to get you started:
Zoom Shenanigans
A meeting was set for the team,
But Pat’s Wi-Fi was slow as a dream.
He froze with a stare,
Like a fool in mid-air,
Now he’s a meme on the screen!
Ready to start planning your St. Patrick’s Day game?
Contact us to learn more about Watson Adventures group activities, from local and virtual scavenger hunts to murder mystery games and trivia. Our team-building experts have worked with hundreds of organizations and large groups over the years to help them plan engaging and memorable company outings.