Here at Team Building Seattle we are making a list of the best corporate team building activities, corporate event ideas, company outing, and team outings in Seattle WA. The good news is that you’ve got some top options to choose from when it comes to corporate event ideas in Seattle. The bad news is that so many good options”can make it somewhat tricky to weed through them and know how to choose the right event for your business.
Are you ready for the best news? We’ve already done the hard work of finding the best team activities for you!
We love team building, and we think it’s important that you choose team building events that will have the biggest bang for your buck. That preference means the first step to choosing an event is figuring out what you’re hoping to gain from your next team outing. Are you looking to have fun and relax? Are you aiming to mix fun with producing tangible results like better communication, innovation, or creative problem solving? Or perhaps your company is in need of a serious shakeup and requires more than just an afternoon in an escape room. No matter what your goals are for your upcoming corporate team building activities, we’ve found the top companies in Seattle, Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, and Renton that will help you achieve them.
Read on for our recommendations for the best team building events, corporate event ideas, team outings, company off-sites, and team bonding ideas in Seattle! Happy planning! ❤️
Table of Contents
- The Best Team Building Activities in Seattle
- Unusual Team Building Activities in Seattle
- Fun Team Building Events in Seattle
- Team Building Scavenger Hunts in Seattle
- Seattle Team Building Activities With Food
- Free Team Building Activities in Seattle
- Team Building Seattle: Frequently Asked Questions
The Best Team Building Activities in Seattle
We’ve scoured the internet for the best team building activities in Seattle, Washington. We looked at everything that makes up a team building event to settle on our gold standard, from analyzing how much fun the event is to how creative it is to how much team building impact it will deliver to its pricing. With that criteria, we’ve found three companies that meet the bar, and one is only offered for three months of the year. The champions are: The Great Guac Off, a team building activity that features a guacamole making competition; Gingerbread Wars, which will revitalize your company holiday party this year; and TeamBuilding.com, an option for remote team building activities in Seattle and around the world. Our ultimate team building champion, however, is The Great Guac Off, which scored top marks in fun, innovation, team building impact, and reasonable pricing.
1. The Great Guac Off – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ [Most Popular]
The Great Guac Off or “TGGO” is one part Top Chef, one part Amazing Race, and all parts a fun, creative, and unique team building event. TGGO is, on the surface, a surprisingly fun guacamole making competition and corporate event. This competition will pit your team members against each other in a race to claim guacamole dominance at the office. TGGO facilitators will sprinkle in challenges to your team’s event that help promote maximum team bonding. These challenges include trivia questions, house building, and more. If you have specific team activities or a goal in mind, then be sure to let the company know in advance. TGGO can work your desired achievements into your corporate event. This team outing is great for a lighthearted afternoon of fun, but can tackle more serious team building aspects as well. With TGGO, you can host your event at your office, or at a rental location around the city. You can even include catering and BYOB margaritas to kick things up a notch. We love TGGO’s fun, unique team building activities.
2. Gingerbread Games – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ [Holiday Activities]
It’s time to turn your company holiday party into an all-out battle for gingerbread dominance. Gingerbread Games facilitates a cool company team building event for the holidays. Your team will participate in fun challenges like holiday trivia and Snowman Hustle, and then it’s time for the main corporate event: The Gingerbread of Greatness. The facilitator will split your group into smaller teams to compete to make your organization’s best gingerbread house. Prizes will be given, gingerbread houses will be eaten, and a merry time will be had by all. Snacks, catering, and BYOB are all available, and you can choose to host the event at the location of your choice or at a location you can rent. Gingerbread Games only accepts reservations from October through January, so be sure to book your team event early.
Unusual Team Building Activities in Seattle
After a while, team building activities may all seem to blur together, so it might be tough to find a company that offers events that stand out from the crowd. In this section, we’ve pulled together the most unusual team building activities and corporate event ideas in Seattle to help energize your coworkers.
3. Lawless Forge
Forging is in the spotlight recently with TV shows dedicated to the craft gaining in popularity. Team building can be effective when you take your group to learn a new skill together; Lawless Forge will accomplish that learning objective. You can choose from options of objects to create like a horseshoe knife, a bottle opener, chopsticks and a wasabi bowl, a cheeseboard and knife, garden art, or potentially a custom idea of your own. Everyone in your group makes the same item and each session lasts for about three hours. Lawless Forge can accommodate up to 40 guests at each company event.
4. The Bellevue Challenge Course
The Bellevue Challenge Course probably comes closest to matching what you think of traditional team building retreats. This event will be a team outing that includes ropes courses, obstacles, maybe a trust fall or two, and your people pushing to achieve more as a team. With high and low course options and the ability for people to participate without taking on the course’s physical challenges, the Bellevue Challenge Course is a cool choice for a team event. These team activities may help your coworkers grow physically and mentally, sharpening and developing skills that they can bring back to the office.
5. Team Building Hero
Team Building Hero offers an extensive menu of team building activities in Seattle. These corporate event ideas include scavenger hunts of the best locations in Seattle, museum tours, storytelling workshops, unique games, food competitions, and company holiday parties. Team Building Hero offers a wide variety of team events that are all different enough to keep your coworkers engaged during each one. Bonus: If you book multiple team building events with Team Building Hero then you get a dedicated client advisor who will learn more about your team’s individual needs and preferred pricing. Those features make Team Building Hero’s already awesome team building activities even more attractive.
6. Rage Industry
Sometimes you have a rough quarter or a bad client experience. Do you get the sense your team is in need of blowing off a little steam? If so, then Rage Industry may offer the right company team building activities for you. Rage Industry focuses on releasing rage and aggression, making it a good spot for letting loose and team bonding. Employees can smash office equipment provided by Rage Industry or, if you have a particularly obnoxious printer or copy machine you’re about to replace then you can bring that too. Rage Industry provides all the tools of assault your employees will need, ranging from baseball bats to golf clubs to crowbars.
7. Ballard Kayak
If you are looking for a twist on traditional team building retreats, then Ballard Kayak might be what you are searching for. Ballard Kayak is one of our favorite team activites and corporate event ideas, as it combines adventure, teamwork, and fun into an afternoon on the water. Giving your team a change of scenery and pace may help them return to the office relaxed, refreshed, and ready to get to work. Your team building event will be fun with an emphasis on collaboration, problem solving, and communication. Ballard Kayak offers kayak tours, paddle board tours, beach games, and also has the option to add catering to your event.
8. Seattle Glassblowing Studio
Flex your creative skills and show off your artistic side with an afternoon at Seattle Glassblowing Studio. This studio is a neat place for fun group activities for adults to do together. If you host your event with Seattle Glassblowing Studio, then you can expect each member of your group to go home with one or two pieces of custom handmade art. This team event can accommodate groups ranging in size between five to 30 people. The studio is open daily from 9am-10pm, requires an advance reservation, and recommends a four-hour session. Prices start at $150 per person.
9. Host a meet up
A meetup is a great way to say thank you to those who matter to your business. Whether you want to keep your event small and just thank your team, take it a bit bigger with all of your employees, or think even larger and include your entire community, a meetup is a great option for team building for large groups. The best part about a meetup is that it is a way of doing team building events that are completely customizable to your business’ needs. You can host your meetup in a conference room on-site, turn your parking lot into a festival, or find a local park and rent the space out. You can get as fancy or go as casual as you like; we recommend hosting a gathering for your employees, their families, and your vendors and clients. With that collection of people, individuals can forge new connections they wouldn’t have made without your help. This type of event is an awesome way to say thank you and promote team bonding at your organization.
10. Seattle Works
Incorporate giving into your company team building activities with Seattle Works, where your group can bond while performing volunteer service in the local community. Seattle Works is ideal for team building for large groups, including companies with numbers into the thousands, to provide a rewarding day of coming together as a team. Pricing starts at $2500, with every dollar spent supporting local businesses and nonprofits. Seattle Works will coordinate the full team building event for you, including food and transportation, so all you have to do is roll up your sleeves and help out the community.
11. Seattle Sailing Club
This idea is fairly outside the box on our list of Seattle team building activities, but it’s certainly worth consideration for your next team event. Your group will arrive at Seattle Sailing Club ready to hit the water. Professional instructors split your team into smaller groups who will then learn the basics of how to sail. Once each team is ready, instructors stoke the flames of friendly competition and teams battle in short sailing races across Puget Sound. A corporate event with Seattle Sailing Club is fun, competitive, and a good way to spend time away from the office exploring the city and soaking in the outdoors. Plus, we bet you’ll get some cool photos of your team building event to hang around the office when you get back.
12. WhirlyBall
If traditional sports aren’t what you’re looking for when it comes to company team building activities, then perhaps WhirlyBall will be a bit more your team’s speed. You can think of WhirlyBall as if bumper cars, lacrosse, and baseball all came together into one mashed up sport. Your team will drive bumper cars while carrying a lacrosse-stick-inspired “bat” and attempt to score goals on the other team. WhirlyBall runs competitive team building events, but the twist is most people haven’t played before. You can make a day of fun team building and set up a reservation for food afterwards at a nearby restaurant.
13. Take a Duck Boat Tour
We’ve all seen the duck boats cruising the streets and water, so why not commandeer one for your next team outing. A Duck Boat tour is unexpected as far as company team building activities in Seattle go and will help your team members loosen up and enjoy the time together. When you book the company’s corporate work party package, your duck will pick you up at the location of your choice and treat you to a tour of Seattle and the surrounding area. The hosts will make sure your group is challenged during the team building event. You can upgrade the experience with food and cocktails. Pricing starts at $1122 for up to 33 guests.
Fun Team Building Events Seattle
Team building events sometimes have a reputation as being a boring waste of time. With the options below, your coworkers won’t have anything to complain about when the next team outing rolls around. These team building activities are guaranteed to be fun, creative, and unique.
14. Argosy Cruise
Your team can relax and take in the sights with an Argosy Cruise of Lake Union and Lake Washington for your next team outing. With this unexpected twist on traditional corporate events, a lake cruise will surprise and entertain your team, allowing them to hit the reset button before getting back to the regularly scheduled workday. These three-hour team building cruises can include food, a full bar, and an engaging emcee who will keep your team members interacting with each other and bonding throughout the experience. The emcee can custom design a trivia game that helps fuel the friendly team building activities flames and get your team members talking and laughing, all while taking in the beautiful crisp air and Seattle sights.
15. Jet City Improv
Improv is an underrated choice for fun corporate events that also double as effective team building. Improv for team building is more than just making your colleagues laugh; it’s about sharpening the skills that can be valuable to your business once you’re back at the office. Jet City Improv’s teachers will lead your group in specially designed games and team activities designed to promote better communication, increased innovation, quick thinking, friendly competition, and problem solving skills. Improv is fun, interactive, and slightly unconventional as far as company team building activities go. Still, we think improv is worth a look, especially if you have lofty goals for your next team outing.
16. Dave & Buster’s
Head on over to Auburn for the next item on our list of fun corporate event ideas, Dave & Buster’s! You can turn back the clock and allow your team members to feel like they’re young again as they race through the arcade games at this popular spot. With games, pool, and bowling available, Dave & Buster’s has fun team activities for everyone on your crew. Take the team event one step further and enjoy Dave & Buster’s full-service menu and bar options. You can speak with one of the company’s team building event planners to ensure you’ve put together a corporate outing worth talking about the next day.
17. Feet First Events
Feet First Events is a national company dedicated to putting together corporate team building activities. Feet First facilitates a variety of different team events, including indoor activities like making art out of Post-It notes, game shows, an escape room, a Lego build, and American Idol. We haven’t been able to confirm whether any of those brands are officially licensed though. Feet First also hosts outdoor events with ideas like the Amazing Race, Survivor, and tag. You could choose to take part in a charity team building event through Feet First. If you want to get extra crazy with your day out of the office, then you can hire Feet First to help put together a team music video or movie that will provide team bonding, memories, and laughs for years to come.
18. Hit the lanes
Bowling can be a good choice when you’re looking for fun group activities for employees. In Seattle and Bellevue, there are a plethora of bowling alleys, so you shouldn’t have too much trouble finding a location that’s convenient for your team building event. Bowling is a fun and competitive team activity your group can enjoy together. The duration of the event is flexible, and you can bowl for a few hours on a workday or you can choose to let your employees head home from the lanes a bit early. We recommend finding a spot for your event with fun bar food and maybe a few drinks and you’ll have an easily planned, budget friendly team building event that most people will enjoy.
19. Puzzle Break
Puzzle Break is one of the premier escape rooms for company team building activities in Seattle. Escape rooms are popular venues for team building events for several reasons. First, your team will be up against a common enemy (either another team or the clock itself) and seocond the group will be forced to work together to solve the puzzle in front of them. Without everyone coming together and uniting for a common cause, your team won’t be able to achieve its goal. Escape rooms simulatie many lessons that can be valuable back at the office, making this event a good choice for your next team outing. More info here.
Team Building Scavenger Hunts in Seattle
Team building scavenger hunts are a fun way to explore a new area in Seattle or even your own office building. These team building activities are good for collaboration, competition, and challenges. Below are our top three choices for businesses offering the best company scavenger hunts.
20. Strayboots
Strayboots offers a variety of scavenger hunt focused team building activities in Seattle, Washington and the surrounding area. Strayboots’ scavenger hunts involve visiting Pike Place, Capitol Hill, or the Seattle Center. You can pick the area most convenient to your office and send your coworkers out for an afternoon of team bonding with a competitive twist. Your group will see Seattle in a new light as they battle it out for scavenger hunt dominance and make memories together that go well beyond the last conference room meeting.
Team Building Activities with Food in Seattle
Food is a fast way to most people’s hearts. Including a meal with your next corporate event is a way to win over your coworkers. From a guacamole making competition to learning how to cook an entire new dish together, there are several creative ways to incorporate full bellies in your next team outing.
21. The Great Guac Off™
The Great Guac Off is the world’s best guacamole making competition, and runs fun corporate events for clients like YouTube, LinkedIn and Amazon. You booking includes everything needed for successful team building events, including an entertaining host, all the guacamole ingredients and dippers, prizes and more. In addition to the guacamole making part, the event also includes team activities like pub-style trivia and millennial house building. This event is smart, fun, competitive, and your team will love it.
22. Ice Cream Party
If you are planning fun summer team building activities for your employees then consider running an ice cream party. You can get some large buckets of vanilla ice cream and a batch of toppings like chocolate and candies. Each of your team members can make their own unique creation, and if you like you can run the party as a competition to see who makes the best one! We recommend judging each creation on criteria like taste, design and ability to withstand melting.
23. Hot Stove Society
It’s team building for your stomach at Hot Stove Society, who kick off corporate events with cocktails and appetizers as their professional chef participates in a cooking demonstration for an entree. Then, it’s time for your team to engage in some heated team building activities and divide into groups who will create a dish that will be judged by the chef. Once the team event is over and the winning dish is crowned, your staff will sit down to enjoy the food they made together. As far as corporate team building activities go, Hot Stove Society checks a number of the boxes, including one of our favorite: experiencing fun team activities with time to come together as a group at the end.
Free Team Building Activities in Seattle
At Team Building Seattle, we believe that expensive doesn’t always equal effective. To us, effective team building activities are anything that bring your coworkers closer together, engaging with one another, and having a good time. We’ve included free team building ideas below so your team can reap the rewards of team bonding on any budget.
24. Board Game Afternoon
Looking for company outing ideas that won’t break the bank or require your team to travel away from the building? Ask your team members to bring their favorite board games from home and have a good old fashioned board game night. If you have a small budget available, then pick up some fun snacks and drinks for your team event. You can split your team into groups to take on various board game challenges. A board game afternoon is a fun, low-cost way to break the monotony of a day in the office, have a good time, enjoy team bonding, and let your team members relax away from the stress of their desks.
25. Be a tourist in your own backyard
Part of the benefit of doing team building events in Seattle is that the city is a hot bed of cool things to do. Why not take your day out of the office and spend it like a tourist exploring Seattle for the very first time? You can put together your own team building activities or scavenger hunt of some of Seattle’s best landmarks. A scavenger hunt will allow your team to get away from their desks and enjoy some fresh Pacific Northwest air.
26. Screen a movie
Who doesn’t love kicking back and catching a movie on the big screen? With local theater options throughout the Seattle area, you’ll no doubt have luck finding a cool theater near your office that can accommodate your group. Poll your team on the classic flick they’d most like to watch again and rent out a nearby theater to screen the film as a group. You can even have your corporate events catered or stick to the movie theater basics with popcorn, candy, and soda. A movie screening is a relaxing, fun way for your group to take a break from their desks and kick back together. You can turn this event into a free team building activity by hosting the screening in your conference room.
27. Trash Challenge
You have have seen the trash challenge on sites like Facebook and Reddit. Essentially, an individual or group of people will go to a public place and pick up track. You take before and after photos of the space to show the difference. Most people choose to clean up places like parks, hiking trails and beaches, but you can help literally anywhere. This event is basically free, requiring only garbage bags and gloves, and is a great way to support your local community. Most people don’t like picking up trash, but they will feel good after the event.
28. Hide and Seek
Children are typically terrible at hide and seek because they always hide in the same spots and make too much noise. Adults have the disadvantage of being larger than children, but are still better hiders. You can play a super advanced game of hide and seek by going to Discovery Park or Magnolia Park and starting a game. We recommend adding elements of tag, and probably a small picnic to allow folks to recharge throughout the event. Hide and seek is great for team building events because it is a game that everyone knows.
Final Thoughts on Team Building in Seattle
Now that you’ve made it through our full list of the best team activities Seattle, we hope you have a better idea of what your options are for your next corporate event! Team building can have far-reaching benefits for your company, ranging from increased communication to better collaboration to boosted problem solving skills to increased innovation. Despite all of these benefits, one of our favorite things about team building companies is that their employees are more likely to actually enjoy spending time with each other. That enjoyment and engagement brings so many natural benefits you just can’t force.
If you’re still not sure which team building events are best for your business, then we’d be more than happy to help. Send us an email via our contact page and let us know what you’re looking for.
Team Building Seattle: Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best team building activity in Seattle?
Seattle’s best team building activity is The Great Guac Off, a new and creative guacamole making competition that promotes creative thinking, problem solving, communication, and collaboration. Plus, you get to eat chips and guac!
Is team building once each year enough?
If you’re team building regularly, then you’re already ahead of your competitors who haven’t bought into team building yet. However, we at Team Building Seattle believe that more is, well, more when it comes to company team building. Once per quarter is the ideal timeframe we’d recommend!
How much should I expect team building to cost?
Team building activities vary in price, ranging from DIY and free team building events all the way up to hundreds of dollars per person. Many fall in the middle, around $80-90 per guest.