Christmas Team Building Activities for Work

Why do Christmas team building activities leave people out?

Because they are often chosen for how good they look in photos rather than who can actually join in.

The Department for Work and Pensions’ Family Resources Survey for 2024/25 interviewed 16,288 UK households between April 2024 and March 2025. It found that 23% of working-age adults are disabled, up from 17% ten years earlier, using the Equality Act definition of disability.

Among disabled working-age adults, 40% report a mobility impairment, 33% report issues with stamina, breathing or fatigue and 46% report mental health impairments. People can report more than one impairment, so the figures overlap. The full disability tables are published alongside the survey.

Disability is not the only reason someone might sit an activity out. Pregnancy, a recent injury or simply not wanting to be filmed falling off an inflatable in front of finance can have the same effect.

That creates a better test than simply asking whether an activity sounds fun, something we also discuss in why so many team building formats fall flat. Ask how many of your team can take part at once and what everyone else does while they wait.

What should you ask before you book anything?

Five questions matter.

First, can everyone physically take part? Accessibility is about more than whether the building has a lift. Can someone participate seated, with limited stamina or with reduced grip? More importantly, has the provider accommodated that before, or will they be improvising on the night?

Next, how many people can participate at once? Venue capacity and participating capacity are different. A room might hold 120 people, but four lanes could mean only eight are playing while everyone else waits.

Can someone step out for ten minutes and rejoin easily? Fixed teams, sealed rooms and single start times can make things awkward for anyone arriving late, taking a call or needing a break.

Does the activity mix people who do not already work together? That is often the reason for the team building budget in the first place. If everyone chooses their own groups, they usually recreate the office seating plan.

Finally, what does the price actually include? The headline figure is often only the activity, so ask what it costs once food and drinks are added.

What is ice-free curling?

It is curling without the ice.

The stones run along a smooth synthetic surface laid over a solid floor, indoors and at normal room temperature. The objective stays the same: slide your stones closer to the target than the other team.

For beginners, most of the differences make it easier. There is no ice to slip on, no special footwear and no technique to master before joining in. The stone is pushed low and slow rather than thrown. There is more on how a session runs if you want the detail.

How does a game actually work?

Two teams take turns sliding stones towards a target at the far end of the sheet.

One round of throws is an end. The team with the stone closest to the centre scores, earning a point for every stone closer than their opponent’s best.

The final stone is known as the hammer and provides a genuine advantage, which is why teams spend the whole end manoeuvring to keep it. Scoring works the same way as the version played on ice.

Why does it work for a team with mixed abilities?

Go back to the same five questions.

On accessibility, the game is non-contact and low-impact. The surface is level, the venue is at normal room temperature and there is no ice or Olympic-style sweeping to master. Stones are pushed along the synthetic lane without needing a lunge or slide.

Seated participation can be arranged, but tell us when booking so it can be set up properly rather than improvised on the day. Step-free access to the sheets, bar and toilets is a separate question.

For capacity, one sheet takes six to ten players during a sixty-minute session or two to four for thirty minutes. A group of forty will rotate rather than all playing simultaneously, and there is no point pretending otherwise. Those off the sheet can eat, drink and cheer on the teams rather than queue.

Ends are short, so someone can sit one out, take a call or grab a drink and rejoin without disrupting the game.

Rotation also mixes the room naturally. Someone from finance who has never met anyone in design lands a good shot and suddenly everyone has something to talk about. That can happen twenty minutes into the night rather than waiting until everyone has finally relaxed.

On price, The House and Curls of Wisdom both include food and a drink within the per-head figure rather than adding them later. The street food and drinks list with vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and other requirements can be accommodated with advance notice, as explained in how we handle group bookings.

If you already have a date in mind, you can check what is still open for The House.

Who do we work with?

We are an Official Partner of the Team GB Foundation and work with Olympic curlers including Eve Muirhead and Jen Rouse. We also ran the first UK Floor Curling Championships.

Those credentials do not make your event by themselves, but they do mean the people running it have done this plenty of times.

Where can you play, and what does each package include?

There are two London venues.

Vinegar Yard is a short walk from London Bridge station, while Chelsea sits inside the Winter Illuminations.

Packages start from groups of six and scale through to custom builds and exclusive venue hire.

The House includes a reserved area for three hours, one drink, a small plate from a street food trader and an hour of curling.

Curls of Wisdom runs for four hours and includes three drinks, a main meal and an hour on the sheet. You can see what Curls of Wisdom includes alongside available dates. Both packages are run throughout the yearly seasons.

The obvious limitation is geography. Both venues are in London, so a team split between Leeds and Bristol is already buying train tickets before the event starts.

If that is your team, tell us your numbers and we will build a package that comes to you.

Which alternatives are worth a look?

Three alternatives come up regularly, each with its own drawback. If you are planning the whole event rather than just the activity, what each work party format costs per head covers more options.

An escape room

Escape rooms are available in most cities and usually take six to eight people per room.

For a team of thirty, that means splitting into four or five groups that never actually play together. Expect roughly £30 to £40 per person for the activity alone.

That capacity limit is the main issue. You booked one activity but effectively created five separate ones, potentially separating the departments you wanted to mix.

A cookery class

Most cities have options for around twelve to twenty people at once, usually costing £95 to £150 per person and including the food you prepare.

The challenge is accessibility and capacity. Two hours standing at a workbench will not suit everyone, while larger groups may need separate sittings.

A charity build

Activities such as building bikes, care packages or sleep pods can run across the UK and scale to larger groups, with cost depending on materials.

The cause is also where the difficulty lies. Someone who cannot comfortably lift, kneel or stand may have to explain why they are sitting out, which can make an activity designed to bring people together feel excluding.

What are the reliable choices?

Two formats remain dependable and deserve to be treated that way.

A quiz with an external host

A quiz can run almost anywhere you have a room, with everyone taking part simultaneously.

An external host might cost around £300 to £600, which works out at roughly £6 to £15 per head for forty or fifty people, with food and drinks separate.

The room matters. Under office strip lighting, it can quickly feel like another meeting. Fixed teams can also make late arrivals awkward.

A facilitated session

A facilitated session can take place in the office or a hired room, everyone can participate and there is little or no physical demand.

The drawback is perception. People can usually tell when a December team activity is essentially training with Christmas decorations.

Outside the festive season, start with team building options in London for the rest of the year.

What if there is no budget at all?

There is plenty you can do if everyone works in the same building, and less if they do not.

A desk challenge or decorating competition costs almost nothing and can work well for a small team that already sees each other every day.

The limitation is that it still feels like the office. People tend to leave earlier than they would from a venue, while remote colleagues can end up joining through a laptop rather than feeling part of the event.

There is a middle ground if the building, rather than budget, is the constraint. Bringing curling sheets to your own space puts the activity into an office, school hall, warehouse or conference space anywhere in the UK.

When should you book, and what should you pay?

Aim for October for a December date, or August if your group is above fifty.

Prices range from nothing for an office-based afternoon to roughly £6 to £15 per head for a hosted quiz at scale, £30 to £40 for an escape room and £95 to £150 for a cookery class.

Always check whether a quoted “from” price covers the full event or only the activity.

December Fridays and Saturdays in London go first. Deposits are usually non-refundable once the date is secured, but the headcount change policy can matter even more. Numbers almost always move in December.

Our second limitation is seasonality. The venues operate roughly from November to February. If your only suitable date falls in late October or mid-March, the mobile kit is the available option.

This season’s dates and packages are published online, and you can also see which December dates are still open.

Choosing between them

Come back to the five questions.

Can everyone participate? How many people can play at once? Can someone step out and rejoin? Does it mix colleagues who do not normally talk? What does the price actually include?

Ice-free curling answers four of those well and the fifth honestly. With forty people, you rotate rather than everyone playing simultaneously.

Its main limitations are geography if your team is nowhere near London and availability outside the winter season.

Send us a date and a headcount and we will tell you whether it works.

Frequently asked questions

What can a team member who uses a wheelchair take part in at a Christmas work event?

More than many standard lists suggest. Seated formats such as quizzes, meals and activities on level surfaces can work well, while obstacle courses, treasure hunts and inflatable activities are more restrictive.

Ask about accessibility of the activity itself, not just the building.

How much do Christmas team building activities cost per person?

Anything from nothing to around £150. A hosted quiz may cost £6 to £15 per head at scale, an escape room around £30 to £40 and a cookery activity £95 to £150. Check whether quotes include food and drinks or just the activity.

How many people can take part in a Christmas team building activity at once?

Usually fewer than the venue’s total capacity.

Escape rooms commonly take six to eight people per room, cookery classes around twelve to twenty and lane-based activities depend on the number of lanes available. Quizzes and seated meals are among the easiest formats for involving everyone simultaneously.

When should you book a Christmas team building activity?

For smaller groups, October can be enough for a December date. For groups above fifty, start looking in August. December Fridays in major cities tend to disappear first.

Are Christmas team building activities actually worth doing?

Not always. If a team already sees each other every day and works well together, a good meal may achieve the same thing with less effort.

The strongest case is for hybrid teams, recently merged departments or colleagues who rarely get the chance to interact.

Do you need any experience to curl?

None. There is no ice to slip on or sweeping technique to learn, and most people get the hang of it within their first few throws.

Can you bring ice-free curling to our office?

Yes. We hire sheets, stones and instructors across the UK, including offices, school halls, conference spaces and warehouses. You provide the space and we bring the curling setup.