Office Activities Valentines Day

Working might not seem like all fun and games, but sometimes you have to be silly and make work fun. Valentine's Day is a time to do just that. There are many activities you can incorporate into the work world. If your office is particularly close-knit, that opens the door to even more activities.

Start with the basics. Valentine's Day is all about the chocolate. Buy a big glass jar with a lid and make clear this chocolate is not for eating (a big sign on the front might help make this clear). Have everyone guess how many items are in the jar. You can fill it with just about anything, but Hershey's Kisses seem to make the most sense. You can fill with a mix of Kisses (hugs, regular, etc) or with just the classic chocolate kiss. In any event, have people guess how many kisses are in the jar. Their guesses should be written on a slip of paper and put into a box near the jar. The winner gets the jar of kisses on Valentine's Day. If your office is a bit more generous, a small dinner gift certificate could accompany the jar.

Another fun idea is V-day bingo. Create Bingo cards with various Valentine's Day pictures on them. There might a heart, a cupid, a couple kissing, and so on. These are clip art pieces that can easily be printed off the computer. Each day, someone will call out a square. It might be "HEART!" or "KISSING!" and everyone marks their bingo card. Start the game perhaps 3 weeks or so before Valentine's Day so someone has a chance to win before Valentine's Day. This is something that will take literally 30 seconds a day but will be fun and is sure to create some silly tension. The winner gets a prize. Perhaps free lunch in the company lunchroom, or a kiss from the boss, or something else silly.

If you have a few cooks in your office, you can suggest a "heart a day". Each day, someone must bring in something shaped like a heart, a food item, that is.  One day it could be cookies, and another pancakes. A truly original thinker might figure out how to bring a heart-shaped lasagna or something else. Perhaps little finger sandwiches cut into heart shapes. To make this extra entertaining and challenging, you could require that the foods actually be good for your heart (therefore, cookies might be out, but heart-shaped chocolates? In.).

Often officemates become more like family. Why not use the holiday of love to share your memories of your own loves? Have everyone write a quick story of how they met their wife or husband and put it in a jar. They shouldn't include names and shouldn't identify their spouse either. One day at lunch, when everyone is sitting together (this could be at a Valentine's Day lunch with your homemade goodies), read the stories and have everyone try to guess which one belongs to which office friend. Some of the stories might make you think it actually happened to someone else. Some of the stories are surprising and sometimes even funny,

Since email is often the communication of choice in offices, have some fun with a Valentine's Day email quiz. You can ask historical questions about the holiday or questions about co-workers. Some questions might look like this:

1. Who married their spouse in Yosemite National Park?
2. What does the word Valentine mean?
3. Which of the following animals mate for life? (You'll want to provide multiple choice answers for this one, of course.)