Why should you plan diversity games and activities for the team?
Now that diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives are at the top of everyone's minds when looking for a new employer, you must be doing more than hiring diverse employees.
If your company's mission is to be truly inclusive and equitable, you should be implementing employee engagement through DEI games and activities all year round, because:
- When people truly feel they belong to a workplace that explores diverse team building, aside from the bare-minimum holiday schedule, they feel more empowered to bring their true selves and diverse talents to the office, leading to happier, authentic, diverse teams and greater employee retention!
- Regularly celebrating different identities and global cultures makes it much easier to understand our colleagues, and be empathetic and supportive allies, inside of the office and out.
You may think that diversity and inclusion activities are only suitable for in-person offices. That's far from the truth! In fact remote teams need access to virtual events that promote inclusion, now more than ever.
Plus, these games are great for celebrating diverse holidays and Heritage Month celebrations.
Download our Diversity Calendar to plan your schedule of events today!
Encourage diverse team members to bond with these 10 DEI games and activities 🙌
1. LGBTQIA+ Drag Queen Trivia 💅
Gather around for a rousing game of trivia, hosted by a very fabulous Drag Queen! The questions in each round will celebrate the diversity of the LGBTQIA+ community, creating more widespread awareness and appreciation of their contributions and the Pride movement.
Break up into small groups to give team members access to team bonding with colleagues from different departments. This helps foster inclusion across teams!
The more we can gain cultural knowledge surrounding marginalized groups, the better we can support employees within those identity groups,
How to get started 👉 Celebrate workplace diversity and inspire inclusive teams with LGBTQIA+ Drag Queen Trivia!
2. Inclusive Scattergories 🧠
Inclusive Scattergories is a creative and inclusive version of the classic word game, aimed at encouraging participants to think broadly about diversity. Here’s how to play:
- Categories: Create a list of categories related to diversity, such as "Cultural Foods," "Holidays Around the World," or "Languages Spoken."
- Teams: Divide participants into small teams.
- Gameplay: Each team must come up with words that fit each category and start with a specific letter, within a set time limit. For example, if the letter is "B" and the category is "Cultural Foods," a valid answer could be "Baklava."
- Scoring: Teams share their answers and earn points for unique words that no other team has listed. The team with the most points wins.
3. Women's History Month Jeoparty 👭
Hopefully, your company's diverse leadership features women at the table!
Celebrate the achievements of women everywhere by gathering to play a fun and informative game of Women's History Jeoparty. You don't have to only play in the month of March, either.
The categories on this Jeoparty board cover the works of historical icons and activists, historical events regarding women's rights, women's works in music, TV, film, and more!
Nearly half of the American workforce is comprised of women, but it hasn't always been that way. Work towards gender equality in your office by celebrating the achievements of women all year round!
How to get started 👉 Challenge team members to buzz in first in Women's History Month Jeoparty!
4. The Privilege Walk 🚶
The Privilege Walk is a powerful and eye-opening activity designed to spread diversity awareness and help participants understand the various privileges they may or may not have. Here’s how to conduct this learning activity with teams:
- Preparation: Choose a safe and open space where participants can move freely. Ensure everyone understands that this activity requires honesty and respect.
- Instructions: Explain that you will read a series of statements. If a statement applies to a participant, they will take a step forward; if not, they remain in place.
- Statements: Read statements such as "Take a step forward if you were able to attend college" or "Take a step forward if you feel safe walking alone at night."
- Debrief: After completing the statements, ask participants to observe their positions relative to one another. Facilitate a discussion on their feelings, observations, and insights gained from the activity.
This activity highlights the diversity of experiences within the team and fosters empathy and understanding among participants in a safe space.
5. Hispanic & Latin American Mini Games 🕹
Our Mini Games are challenging, fast-paced brain teasers and quizzes perfect to challenge your team members in the middle of the workday.
Plus, there's an educational element to these puzzles as well. The categories cover all sorts of Hispanic & Latin American cultural touchstones such as cultural foods, famous celebrities, regional geography, and more!
Every team member will walk away with something learned about Hispanic & Latin American people and culture. Points earned will go towards donating meals to communities in need. Encourage employees to share a new fact they'll take away at the end of the game!
How to get started 👉 Promote diversity and inclusion activities with Hispanic & Latin American Mini Games!
6. Empathy Water Cooler 🤝
Remote team building that centers around communicating effectively is vital to happy teams, especially since so much of our communication is through written emails, Slack messages, or virtual calls.
When working with people from different backgrounds, with different perspectives and ways of working, stressful situations will inevitably arise now and then, and empathy is necessary for understanding. This activity focuses on learning healthy strategies to understand each other's non-verbal warning signs, as well as strategies to understand each other and get to know their team better.
Diversity and inclusion efforts include making sure your employees feel like they have the tools they need to communicate safely with one another, especially when we aren't working face to face.
How to get started 👉 Encourage team members to connect at the Empathy Water Cooler!
7. Icebreakers 🧊
Icebreakers are easy and free diversity and inclusion activities that you can fit into any virtual meeting or larger team building gathering!
Try celebrating diversity by gathering your team for an interactive and fun virtual lunch, where you can go around and answer icebreaker questions that allow everyone to let their personal identities and cultures shine.
Icebreakers are a great way to spark meaningful dialogue amongst team members of all different cultures! Plus, it's a great way to help a remote team learn more about the different viewpoints of their colleagues, definitely more than you can in a Slack chat!
How to get started 👉 Try our list of DEI Icebreaker Questions in your next meeting!
8. Diversity Bingo ✏️
Diversity Bingo is an engaging activity that encourages participants to learn more about their colleagues' diverse backgrounds and experiences. Here’s how to conduct this activity:
- Create Digital Bingo Cards: Develop bingo cards with different diversity-related traits or experiences, such as "Speaks more than one language," "Has traveled to another continent," or "Celebrates a non-majority cultural holiday."
- Completion: You could conduct this activity like traditional bingo where you call the squares from a predetermined list, or you could have this be an independent activity employees do individually throughout the month. The first person to complete a row, column, or diagonal can send in their completed Bingo card to HR to redeem a shout-out and maybe even a small prize.
9. Boom Box: Cookout Edition 🎵
Boom Box: Cookout Edition is a game designed to celebrate diversity through music!
A lively host will walk your team through up to five rounds of questions on album art, lyrics, melodies, and more, all by famous Black artists.
This experience is perfect for music-loving teams to connect over old favorites and new hits while enjoying some friendly competition with their colleagues.
How to get started 👉 Crank up the Boom Box: Cookout Edition!
10. AAPI History & Culture Trivia 💭
Put the spotlight on AAPI History & Culture!
This interactive trivia game challenges teams to answer questions related to AAPI history, significant cultural contributions, and notable figures, promoting awareness and appreciation of AAPI communities.
This trivia game is a fantastic way to celebrate AAPI Heritage Month or any diversity-focused event. It encourages learning and discussions, making it an excellent tool for fostering a more inclusive workplace culture.
How to get started 👉 Play a round of AAPI History & Culture Trivia with your team!
Build inclusive culture through games with Confetti 🥳
Whether or not your team is working together under one roof, it's important that you're always giving employees equal opportunities to come together to celebrate differences and learn inclusive behavior.
Looking for more creative online diversity games for the diversity calendar? There's plenty where that came from. Check out our guide to Diversity and Inclusion Activities!
Visit our DEI Games collection to book your experience in just a few minutes today!
