Are you looking for some company picnic ideas to plan your upcoming work fun day? We are sharing some ideas to help you plan for the best work picnic yet! We have company picnic games for adults and kids as well as ideas for planning for the company picnic food.
Every summer, we attend my husband’s work picnic – which is a combination of awards ceremony and an afternoon of food and fun. This corporate picnic is both indoors and outdoors which is great for the ever unpredictable Arkansas weather and the heat of summer. His company does a great job of planning and hosting the event!
Planning is Key for Work Picnic Activities and Food
Planning for a company picnic is essential for a successful and enjoyable event. A company picnic is a great way to show appreciation to employees and their hard work. Providing a free lunch for employees is a great perk, but charging a small fee for family members can help offset the costs. It’s important to have a headcount of how many to expect so that you can properly plan for food and activities.
Having a well-planned picnic can boost morale, increase employee engagement, and create a sense of community within the company. In addition, a successful company picnic can also help retain top talent, making it a worthwhile investment for any business.
Understand Your Work Picnic Budget
Does your company have a budget to cover rental fees and food costs? If not, the number of tickets that you sell for the event will help pay for things so you will want to try to attract as many guests as possible. The number of tickets sold will often determine which route you take for food and activities.
A great way to collect money RSVP is to use a Google Form to gauge how many guests are attending. You can also collect ticket money via a work-designated Venmo or CashApp account. Otherwise, you might say that only cash will be collected.
Send Announcements Early with the Date of the Company Picnic
About 5-6 weeks ahead of time, send out the first announcements with the date so that people can put the date on their calendars. List a deadline so staff members know how long they have to decide if they can attend. You will want to allow plenty of time for people to RSVP.
The RSVPs are very important as you will need plenty of time to coordinate food and the office picnic games.
Planning Food for an Office Picnic
When it comes to work picnic food options, there are several popular choices that can cater to different tastes and preferences. A potluck style picnic is a great way to encourage employees to bring their favorite dishes and share them with their colleagues.
A sandwich bar picnic is another popular option that allows employees to customize their own sandwiches with a variety of meats, cheeses, and toppings. A BBQ style picnic is perfect for meat lovers and can include burgers, hot dogs, and grilled chicken.
For a more exotic twist, a tropical luau can transport employees to a paradise-like setting with Hawaiian-inspired dishes and drinks.
Some companies, like large banks, may even own a huge grill and have a few employees volunteer to grill for the rest of the employees, making the BBQ or “cookout” option even more appealing.
And still, some companies might consider bringing in some food trucks for their corporate picnic.
My husband’s corporate picnic has gone with a different picnic food option each year. One year, we had fried fish provided by a local catering company. Another year, we had burgers and hot dogs, grilled by some of the employees on site. This year, the company went with Jason’s Deli. The sandwich shop provided boxed sandwiches or salads. On the RSVP form, weeks ahead of the event, the employees selected what type of sandwich or salad he/she wanted along with making selections for family members.
Serving Food at a Corporate Picnic
Obviously, if you are going with a cookout style or potluck style, you will want to have food arranged so that each guest can take a plate and come around to collect the foods he wishes to put on his plate. The food stations need to be well thought out for purposes of flow.
This year, at our picnic with sandwich boxes, everyone was handed a printout of their order form when we checked in. The people in charge of the food had the boxes of sandwiches and salads arranged by type: one table for turkey sandwiches (the largest number of boxes), one table for ham sandwiches (also a large number), a table for vegetarian salads, and a table for salads. (The boxes had been marked by type by the workers at the sandwich shop for easy identification.)
Once food was being served, we got in line. Once we arrived at the front of the line, we handed over our printout to the volunteers working the food line. The volunteers noted which type of box we had signed up for and went over to the appropriate table and brought us our box. It was a very efficient and simple system.
Our picnic sandwich box this year included a sandwich, a bag of chips, condiments, a pickle, and a large chocolate chip cookie.
Drink Stations
Depending on the type of company you work for, the time of day, and the type of event your company is hosting, you may or may not have alcohol. Our office picnic does not involve alcohol. The picnic drink station is very simple: a huge galvanized tub filled with ice and a variety of sodas and a second huge tub filled with ice and waters.
Dessert Stations
If you are having a separate dessert area, you might consider an ice cream station, or a walking desserts station. Sometimes, companies like to have a dessert potluck in which the employees sign up to bring a desserts.
Kid Games to Play at Company Picnic Events
If your event is a kid-friendly affair, you will no doubt want to offer some kid games and activities to keep the kids busy! Our event is held at a facility – Sherwood Forest in Arkansas – with indoor and outdoor space. The indoor space is where everyone eats because it is air conditioned and has fans. (In Arkansas 90 degree heat, this is important!) Outside, there is a small playground, a field for all kinds of activities, and a basketball court.
The volunteers in charge of the kid zone made sure there were plenty of things to keep kids busy. There were bouncing balls, basketballs, hula hoops, and a bubble machine.
More Kid Activities for Company Picnic Events
There was also a face-painting station, led by a few artistic volunteer employees. The face-painting station was not open the full time. It may have been open for one hour or one and a half hours so the volunteers did not have to give up their whole time to sit at the table. Signs had been made showing the types of face painting offers so kids could choose one ahead of time while they stood in line. This helped speed up the process.
Consider an Ice Cream Truck or Snow Cone Truck for an Office Picnic
If you’ve read our ice cream truck party post, you know we are fans of trucks with cold treats! This year, there was a snow cone truck at the company picnic. The truck charged $3 a snow cone which was paid for by the individual buying the snow cone. The snow cone truck at the picnic was a big hit with the kids and the adults!
More Games for Company Picnic Ideas
Baggo is always fun for adults if you are needing more company picnic ideas. You can either set up Baggo sets in a certain area of the picnic and allow people to leisurely play, or you can go through the process of setting up a Baggo tournament. For a Baggo tournament, people can pick a teammate ahead of time. Make it fun by having each team choose a fun name!
Playing Bingo at company picnic events is an activity that people of most ages can participate in and have a chance at winning – as much of a chance as anyone else. This year, SB and LO participated in the company Bingo game for the first time. They had never really played Bingo before. I wound up winning round two! Poor LO said she could have won too if the “man wasn’t just calling out a bunch of random numbers all the time.”
Bingo is great if you are looking for inside picnic ideas. I am not sure how well Bingo would work outdoors – though I guess it could work fine as long as everyone has a good spot to sit and can hear the Bingo caller without any issues.
Well, that’s it! I hope you found some takeaways to add to your own company picnic ideas!
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Great ideas for company picnics! The mix of outdoor activities and team-building games can foster camaraderie and make the event memorable for everyone. Thank you for sharing.