Remember your first job and first day at work? The whirlwind of excitement and nerves as you navigated the unfamiliar terrain of the corporate world. For Interns, it’s a similar journey—a blend of eagerness and apprehension, being the newcomers in a sea of seasoned professionals. This is where team building activities for interns play a vital role in ingraining them into your work culture. These experiences transcend the mundane and make way for a vibrant and interactive internship program that allows them to form connections.

From role reversals to mocktail happy hours, we have curated a list of the best team building activities for interns to provide them with the engaging experience that they deserve. 

Let’s dive in!

For more interactive team building activities across various departments and roles within the organizations, check out our articles on team building activities for executives, team building activities for government employees, team building activities for the HR department, team building activities for designers, and team building activities for directors.

1. How Can Team-Building Activities For Interns Help Them At the Workplace

1.1 Breaks Down the Communication Barrier

Team-building activities are engaging and interactive exercises that make interns feel more comfortable reaching out and sharing their thoughts. This encourages open communication and bridging the gap between interns and professional employees.

1.2 Fosters Trust & Collaboration

These activities cultivate trust and cooperation among interns and colleagues. By working together in a non-work-related context, the team learns to rely on each other’s strengths.

1.3 Minimizes the Hierarchical Gap

Team-building sessions often blur the lines between seniority levels. They provide a platform where interns and colleagues can engage as equals, sharing experiences and knowledge.

1.4 Improves Employee Engagement

When interns feel integrated into the team, their overall engagement and satisfaction increase. Team-building activities offer a way for them to feel valued.

2. 12 Best Team Building Activities For Interns

2.1 Trivia Competitions

Trivia serves as an excellent virtual ice breaker for interns as it encourages them to interact with their colleagues, collaborate, and share their knowledge in a fun and low-pressure environment. 

Through fun and interactive trivia games, interns and colleagues can get to know each other on a personal level, moving beyond their work roles. This dynamic experience helps break down barriers and hierarchies, creating a more relaxed and open atmosphere for all team members to engage and connect in a meaningful way.

2.2 Scavenger Hunts

A scavenger hunt is an engaging and interactive way that goes beyond the typical office introductions providing a dynamic environment for interns to explore their new workplace, and work together in teams.

During a scavenger hunt, teams collaborate to hunt down a list of items and set out on a mission. They track down specific things or take on a series of challenges, all within a tight deadline. Clues and riddles are their trusty guides as they tackle each challenge head-on.

This fun-filled team experience allows them to forge those vital initial connections. As interns work together, solve puzzles, and complete challenges, the barriers between them crumble. It’s a win-win!

2.3 Escape Rooms

Escape rooms provide interns with immersive, puzzle-packed scenarios where they need to put on their thinking caps, make quick decisions, and adapt to evolving situations—much like navigating real workplace challenges. Escape rooms like the Grimm Escape or Alice in Wonderland provide a fun-filled experience.

Within the escape room, effective communication becomes paramount. Interns must share insights, coordinate their moves, and pool their collective problem-solving abilities. These honed communication skills will extend beyond the room.

This fun-filled activity often has strict time limits that instill the importance of managing time efficiently, a transferable skill essential for meeting project deadlines and tackling workplace responsibilities. They also develop stress management skills and learn to stay calm and focused under pressure making it a valuable addition to their internship experience.

2.4 Role Reversal

Onboarding can be a challenging process as interns find it difficult to grasp the bigger picture in the organizational landscape. That’s where role reversal activities come into play. These activities give interns the chance to switch roles temporarily with their superiors or other colleagues and offer behind-the-scenes glimpses. 

These activities not only broaden an intern’s exposure to various facets of the company but also serve as an effective tool for building their confidence in communicating with a diverse range of people in the workplace.

2.5 Creative Workshops

Creative workshops are a great way for interns to work on collaborative projects together so they learn and hone their interpersonal skills.  Using a hands-on approach to DIY projects like painting, pottery, terrariums, gives them the opportunity to express their creativity and instills a sense of confidence and adaptability that’s needed to succeed in a professional environment,  

These experiences can significantly enhance an intern’s ability to tackle real-world challenges that often require diverse perspectives and joint efforts.

2.6 Lunch/Dinner Outing

Interns are usually busy learning on the job and have a smaller opportunity to interact with their coworkers and subordinates on a regular basis. Organizing a team lunch or dinner outing is an excellent idea as sharing meals in a more casual environment can help break the ice and foster a sense of togetherness.  

By dining out together, interns can have a fun time, and a chance to know their colleagues on a more personal level, which ultimately leads to better collaboration and communication within the team.

2.7 Icebreaker Games

The initial awkwardness of making conversations with team members and colleagues can be challenging for interns. This in turn can lead to difficulties in building rapport within the team and a struggle to understand the broader dynamics of the organization.

Intern icebreaker activities like Two Truths and a Lie, Bingo, and Jigsaw, create a fun and relaxed environment where interns can get social, share hearty laughs, and get to know each other on a personal level, This leads to improved communication, a sense of belonging, and a smoother transition into their roles, ultimately benefiting both the interns and the organization.

2.8 Music Bingo

Interns are surrounded by new faces and a hierarchical structure that can be intimidating. This transition can pose challenges to interns, making it difficult to build connections with colleagues and superiors. Music Bingo comes as a fun and interactive team building activity for interns to break the ice. Music Bingo, as the name suggests, is a game similar to traditional bingo but instead of numbers, song titles or music-related themes are used on the bingo cards. The team marks the songs as they hear them during the game. 

This lively activity encourages interns to communicate, laugh, and share their music preferences, promoting a friendly and open work environment. It not only alleviates initial nerves but also sets the stage for stronger interpersonal relationships and effective collaboration.

2.9 Volunteer Work

Many companies now engage in a large range of social responsibility initiatives and interns can benefit from such engagements. Organizing volunteer work when it comes to planning team building activities for interns so they can collaboratively work toward a common goal. By engaging in group volunteer activities, interns can not only give back to the community but also foster empathy and help to build bonds with colleagues outside of the typical office environment. 

Participating in activities such as food donation drives, curating care packages, assisting the elderly, and engaging in eco-friendly initiatives, instill a sense of social responsibility within them. These experiences allow interns to connect with the broader community and realize the importance of giving back.

2.10 Mocktail Happy Hours

Mocktail happy hours are a perfect team building activity for interns. These relaxed, alcohol-free social gatherings help interns connect with their colleagues in a more informal and comfortable setting.

3. FAQs

3.1 What are the icebreaker activities for interns?

For icebreaker activities, a game like Two Truths and a Lie is a classic choice where each intern reveals two true facts and one falsehood about themselves, creating a fun guessing game. Scavenger hunts, whether in person or virtually, encourage teamwork and collaboration while they race to solve challenges. Hosting a trivia quiz about the company or general knowledge provides a light-hearted yet informative bonding experience.

3.2 What are fun intern engagement ideas?

Engaging intern events ideas like Lunch and Learn sessions offer a relaxed setting for interns to enjoy a meal while absorbing insights from company experts. Social events like game nights, happy hours, or team-building activities facilitate intern bonding, enhancing engagement and a sense of camaraderie.