Passive and Active Engagement at Company Picnics
In your company picnic, games can play a crucial role. Any event tends to be centered around an activity, after all. Company picnic games can be an amazing way to promote bonding amongst your team, not only by bringing them together and promoting teamwork, but by getting them together for a relaxing day of fun. All in all, picnic activities are an important part of any staff outing. Here at A Company Picnic, we believe in promoting teamwork while having fun. We have a boatload of picnic games under our belt for events such as these. Today, we’d like to talk about planning activities for both passive and active engagement at company picnics.
What is Passive vs. Active Engagement in Picnic Activities?
When you think of company picnic activities, you may think of things such as a three-legged race or an obstacle course. These two are examples of active engagement. Active engagement in picnic activities refers to games in which players take a more active, physical role, things like field games. These games are classic for any day out, and usually play a key role in staff picnics. Active games are a standard for a reason, as cooperative physical activities can promote social bonding in groups. But not all games require physicality, nor is it a requirement for company picnic activities! Check out some of our active engagement activities here.
Active Engagement is:
- Field games
- Sports games
- Any physical activity at your staff outing
Passive engagement is another form of picnic activity. If you’re thinking of bingo, board games, trivia games, or other relaxed, laidback staff picnic games, you’re thinking of passive engagement activities. Passive activities come in handy at any event, as they allow guests to rest while still being engaged and present in the moment. These company picnic games are amazing for both keeping guests entertained while they’re resting up from physical activities and allowing attendees with physical limitations to have some picnic fun. Here’s a few of our passive activities.
Passive Engagement is:
- Activities like billiards, blackjack, craps
- Board games
- Activities like bingo and trivia
Benefits of Passive vs. Active Picnic Activities:
Passive and active picnic activities are both very important to an employee picnic. While we went over it a bit above, we’d like to elaborate a little further.
Active engagement is great at promoting bonding amongst a team. Team games are great for any workplace event, promoting bonds between coworkers and providing a sense of community. It’s also been proven that breaking a sweat has countless benefits for one’s emotional wellbeing, and exercise features in many corporate wellness programs for this reason.
Active engagement is a great way to amp up your team, as well. Something about coming together and playing a field game just makes any event even better. This is one reason why we feel that active engagement is an important aspect of company picnic activities. We find there’s just something exciting about playing physical games with your team.
Active engagement can:
- Decrease stress through physical exertion
- Foster team bonding through team building activities
- Promote physical activity
- Amp up your team during the picnic
Why You Should Consider Both Engagement Styles
- Passive engagement allows for guests to stay engaged while resting
- Passive engagement also allows guests with physical limitations to remain engaged
- Active engagement amps up your guests and adds a sense of excitement
- Active engagement, being physical activity, has countless mental and physical benefits for your guests
Passive engagement, we find, is just as important to a company outing. As mentioned above, guests with physical limitations shouldn’t feel left out of the picnic fun. While being less physical, these games certainly aren’t any less exciting, nor do they mean there isn’t ample opportunity to foster a sense of community by providing a relaxed game people can chat over. While we’ll go into more examples later in this article, games like a cup stacking challenge or the Interactive Social Lounge Games we use are an amazing way to bond and an exciting activity themselves.
While active engagement style games are classic company picnic activities, attendees do need a little something to do while resting between rounds as well. Our interactive game setups are an amazing way to keep guests amped up and having fun even while they’re taking a break between field games. Many are one-on-one, while some are designed for one player to play, while coworkers or family can watch and engage with them. Games such as these promote team bonding every bit as much as a field game and are important and crucial to us when we’re planning a picnic for employees. These games can be set up inside a tented lounge area for guests to come to and relax, chatting and playing at a game table or setup.
Passive engagement can:
- Provide picnic engagement for attendees with physical limitations
- Foster bonding amongst teammates through a laidback, conversational game
- Provide picnic activities during periods of rest between field games
- Keep employees excited and engaged with the picnic even during periods of downtime
Examples of Passive Engagement:
Passive engagement plays a key role in any event. Here’s a few examples of passive engagement staff picnic activities:
- Outdoor Billiards
- Bingo
- Company Trivia
- Board Games
- Interactive Social Lounge Games
- Giant Cup Stack
- Game Tables
Examples of Active Engagement:
While active engagement features field games and other timeless classics, we’d like to highlight both those and some of our unconventional favorites. Here’s some of our favorite active engagement company picnic games:
- Obstacle Courses
- Relay Races
- Flag Football
- Corn Hole
- Tug-of-War
- Horseshoes
- Bungee Run Race
Utilizing Both Types of Engagement at Company Picnics:
When planning your next staff outing, we’d like to recommend bringing in both active and passive company picnic activities for your team to enjoy. Both have their vital roles in engagement at company picnics, and both deserve a chance to shine. Setting up game tables or setting aside time for a company trivia or bingo game in between rounds of field games is one of our favorite ways to plan company picnic activities. If you’d like, take a peek at our picnic entertainment for some inspiration or check out our case studies to see what others have done. We hope this article has given you some ideas on planning your next company picnic. We know your staff will have a blast.
Customizable Company Picnics with Passive and Active Activities
Whether you’re looking for active field games or passive game lounges, we’ve got it all. Our amazing event planners are always at the ready to help you out. If you’re looking for more personalized ideas for your staff picnic, simply fill out the form below and our expert event coordinators will get you started on the company picnic of your dreams.
