The Office Olympics 2024 – Outdoor Team Building Activities Inspired by the Olympics

If you’re excited about this year’s Olympics, hosting an Office Olympics team building day is an excellent opportunity to celebrate the world’s biggest sporting event and show your support to Team GB.

Additionally, a team building sports day can energise your employees and bring some enthusiasm in the workplace. If you’ve seen the “Office Olympics” episode from The Office, remember how the Dunder Mifflin team ingeniously used mundane office supplies like paperclips and staplers to transform a monotonous day at the office into an exhilarating game? Often, teams that find themselves in the same environment day after day, crave to do something different that brings some joy into their workdays. Long-term, team building events such as a sports day not only promote physical wellbeing and stress relief but also increase communication, problem-solving skills, motivation and loyalty. And with the spring and summer months unfolding, what better way to energise your team than to organise a team building activity outdoors?

Now part of the Pentathlon, running is a cornerstone of the Olympic Games since inception, embodying the spirit of competition and endurance.

In your Olympics-inspired team building games, you can incorporate running into a fun and inclusive activity such as a Running Charades Scavenger Hunt. In this activity, people have to hilariously act out clues about a location for their team to guess, then the team has to run to that location to receive the next clue. This activity combines physical activity with mental agility and team collaboration, perfect for a memorable team building challenge.

Jumping, also part of the Pentathlon in the Olympic Games, showcases power, precision and teamwork.

For your outdoor team building activity, incorporate jumping into a fun game such as the Jumping Balloon Stomp. For this activity, tie balloons to ankles and have teams compete to pop as many balloons as possible without using their hands. This activity tests physical agility and coordination but is sure to spark waves of laughter as the chaos unfolds.

Throwing disciplines like javelin, discus and hammer throwing add a touch of artistry along precision and strength in the Olympic Games.

To replicate some of the throwing spirit into a fun (and safe) sports team building activity, organise a Beanbag-Style Shot Put where you replace the heavy metal ball with a soft beanbag shot put. Incorporate rounds like underarm throws, backwards throws or even partner throws where two people combine their strength for a mighty hurl.

Wrestling, a pillar of the ancient Games is a showcase of strength, strategy and sportsmanship.

Channel the Olympic spirit of wrestling with a hilarious Sumo Smackdown that’ll leave everyone, from competitors to sideline cheerleaders, in stitches of laughter. For the wrestlers’ uniforms, grab oversized inflatable sumo suits to give a bouncy effect to the fighting but also to ensure safety. For the arena, mark a circular ring on the floor and add some soft padding for extra safety. Include different fighting styles such as pushing your opponent outside the ring or fighting an opponent until you get tagged by a teammate.

Football, despite its global popularity, surprisingly wasn’t included in the first modern Olympics. It only debuted in the Olympics in 1900 but has been a mainstay Olympic game ever since (with a brief hiatus in 1932).

For a football-inspired team building activity but with a fun twist, the Human Table Football guarantees action, laughter and team bonding. Imagine a giant inflatable football table where the plastic players are replaced by people strapped to the bars and hilariously maneuvering the ball to score goals against the opponents. This activity is also part of our It’s a Knockout outdoor team building event.

In the beginning, people started playing badminton as a mere garden party game. Badminton made it to the Olympic Games in 1992 and it’s a showcase of agility, precision and teamwork.

For your Olympics-themed team building event, reimagine Badminton into a giant inflatable game with oversized inflatable racquets and birdies. With hilarious dives and strategic volleys, this activity will invoke the spirit of the badminton legacy but with a healthy dose of silliness.

Rounders might not be an Olympic game but it’s a beloved British pastime that shares some similarities with baseball, the American icon that first joined the Olympics in 1992.

Add a twist to the classic rounders for your outdoor team building activity to make it more fun: replace the diamond with a circular version and “bases” scattered around for a more dynamic experience; opt for oversized inflatable bats and balls and relax the rules of the games such as allowing multiple balls in play, encouraging goofy baserunning and awarding points for epic catches and hilarious mishaps.

Originally conceived as a gentler alternative to basketball, volleyball quickly evolved into a fast-paced competition leading to its debut at the Olympics in 1964. An inspiring display of athleticism and teamwork, volleyball remains a permanent fixture in the Olympic programme today.

Bring the volleyball’s spirit into your team building sports day with some fun twist on the classic game: replace the standard net and court with supersized inflatables, introduce small challenges for players to perform before hitting such as squats, jumping jacks or even singing a team song or go creative with themed decorations and costumes.

While not officially an Olympic sport, Tug of War embodies the Olympic spirit of teamwork and determination. This activity is not just about strength and pulling, but about team communication and strategic positioning.

For your sports team building activity, add a twist to the classic Tug of War by setting up cones in a zig-zag pattern between the two teams, forming a slalom course. Teams grip the rope as usual, but instead of pulling directly, they must move side-to-side in unison, navigating the cones without knocking them over.

Archery is an ancient skill that requires focus and precision. It debuted in the Olympics in 1900, then it was absent for 52 years and returned permanently in 1972.

Archery is an accessible sport for all backgrounds and fitness levels and with the right safety measures in place, you can integrate it in your Olympic-themed team building games. For a fun twist, set up multiple targets with varying distances and point values. Then divide teams and blindfold the first member of each team. The teammate has to guide them verbally to aim for the mystery target. GOTO Events also offers a unique archery team building event with traditional long bows and a separate duck herding activity.

Equestrian sports have a rich Olympic history since 1900 and are ever-present in the Games since 1912. They represent harmony, grace and athleticism.

For your team day out, transform it into a hilarious space hopper competition with inflatable bouncy horses, obstacle courses and silly costumes. This game will guarantee plenty of belly laughs!

Despite its long lineage, Golf only briefly appeared in the 1900 and 1904 Olympics but made a triumphant return in 2016. Golf is not just about individual skill but about strategic thinking, mental fortitude and respect for the course.

In your team building event, mix fun and creativity and challenge teams to create their own mini-golf course using items they have to win. At GOTO Events, we help you execute this engaging team building activity where creativity and competition combine to make a difference in a charity golf team building event.

Table tennis is a simple sport that started as Ping Pong. But after decades of passionate play worldwide, it made the Olympics in 1988 and is now a thrilling competition requiring lighting reflexes, razor-sharp focus and quick-thinking.

In a fun Office Olympics activity, challenge your team to a game of Table Tennis Cup Challenge where they have to sink ping pong balls into cups strategically scattered across a table. Each cup holds different points and teams have to go head-to-head against each other.

At GOTO Events, we have a diverse portfolio of outdoor team building activities full of laughter and entertainment. From Olympic-inspired activities, huge inflatables, wacky relay races and crazy costumes, there’s something for everyone..

Get in touch today for ideas and costs.