Employee Appreciation Day Activities: 15 Ways to Celebrate Your Remote Team

Employee Appreciation Day is celebrated annually on the first Friday of March. This day is the perfect occasion to boost morale, enhance employee engagement, and reinforce a positive remote workplace culture.

But what to do on the big day? And what if the team has never met one another in person? Today, we’re sharing 35 Employee Appreciation Day activities specifically for remote teams. Learn dozens of ways to show your gratitude, share good times together, and make your remote team feel valued.

35 Remote Employee Appreciation Day activities

Sending everyone a gift card and highlighting the holiday during a morning meeting is nice. But if you really want employees to feel the love and take pride in their company culture, virtual activities help create a stronger emotional connection.

1. Virtual Office Olympics

Plan game tournaments or challenges presented in this list to flex different skills and bring out the competitive spirit in a lighthearted way.

2. Typing Speed Challenge

Who can type the fastest and most accurately in a fun typing test? Create levels and see who ascends.

3. Online Pictionary

Use tools like Skribbl.io to put artistic skills to the test.

4. Fastest Email Response

Set up a simulated scenario where employees must craft the perfect response to a humorous or tricky email.

5. Emoji Storytelling

Challenge participants to create short stories using only emojis.

6. Home Office Obstacle Course

Encourage employees to design their own creative obstacle courses at home and share their results in a fun virtual meetup.

7. Trivia

Who knows the most random facts? Try many of Water Cooler Trivia’s themed trivia games.

8. Pet Parade

Create categories such as Best Dressed or Most Unusual and award small prizes to winners.

9. Pet Talent Show

Allow employees to showcase their pets' tricks or unique talents.

10. Look-Alike Contest

Challenge employees to dress up like their pets and have a friendly competition.

11. Pet Story Sharing

Invite employees to share funny or heartwarming stories about their pets and how they brighten their work-from-home days.

12. Social Media Feature

Create a dedicated space on your company's social media or internal communication platform. Highlight various teams or departments alongside their achievements.

13. Remote Talent Show

Let employees show off their hidden talents in a virtual talent show. Whether it’s singing, magic tricks, or stand-up comedy, this lighthearted event will create laughs and memorable moments.

14. Surprise Snack Delivery

Send employees surprise snack boxes featuring their favorite treats. You can include international snacks and healthy options.

15. Virtual Escape Room Challenge

Gather your team for an online escape room experience where they can work together to solve puzzles and escape before time runs out.

16. Surprise Thank-You Messages

Secretly assign employees to send surprise thank-you notes to each other.

17. Personalized Digital Caricatures

Hire a digital artist to create fun caricatures of each employee and send them as a surprise gift. It’s a unique and humorous keepsake they’ll cherish.

18. Mystery Box Challenge

Send employees a mystery box filled with fun and random items, then challenge them to create something creative with the contents. Have them showcase their creations during a virtual meetup and vote for the most innovative or hilarious creation.

19. Office Bingo

Create a card full of everyday occurrences specific to your team and have them check them off as the day goes by.

20. Shoutout Session

Host a virtual meeting where employees can publicly acknowledge each other's contributions.

21. Compliment Chain

Start a thread where employees tag a colleague and share something positive about them.

22. Gratitude Wall

Dedicate a portion of a virtual employee wall where team members can post notes of appreciation.

23. Relatable Meme Contest

Hold a competition where employees create work-related memes or share their favorite GIFs that represent their daily work life.

24. Best Work-from-Home Struggles Meme

Showcasing relatable moments like juggling meetings, kids, and pets.

25. Funniest Virtual Meeting Moment

Highlighting technical glitches, funny backgrounds, or accidental interruptions.

26. Most Creative Teamwork Meme

Encouraging employees to highlight positive collaboration humorously.

27. GIF Reaction Challenge

Asking employees to respond to specific work scenarios with the most fitting GIF.

28. Throwback Office Memories

Sharing nostalgic moments that employees might miss from the office days.

29. Virtual Happy Hour with a Twist

Host a virtual happy hour with themed cocktails, mocktails, or even DIY drink-making tutorials. Encourage employees to dress up in theme and share their creations.

30. Team Building Games

Small groups can build rapport and learn more about one another’s strengths with challenging team-building activities.

31. Remote Comedy Roast

Invite a stand-up comedian to roast the team in a fun and lighthearted way. Keep it positive and humorous to ensure everyone has a good time.

32. Random Acts of Kindness Challenge

Encourage employees to perform random acts of kindness throughout the day. Suggest ideas like sending compliments or donating to charity.

33. DIY Craft Hour

Send employees craft kits and host a virtual DIY craft hour where they can create something fun and personalized.

34. Virtual Dance Party

Get everyone moving with a virtual dance party featuring a live DJ or curated playlist. Employees can vote on their favorite tracks and dance from their home office.

35. Celebrate with HeyTaco

Fast-paced blitzes of appreciation, or a laid-back festival of gratitude? Learn how global teams use HeyTaco to celebrate Employee Appreciation Day.

Remote Employee Appreciation Day activities FAQ

How to celebrate Employee Appreciation Day remotely?

Employee Appreciation Day is an important time to personalize recognition and thank everyone for their contributions. From there, team-building activities can help strengthen connections among virtual coworkers while offering chances for fun and laughter.

Can you do remote appreciation day activities across different time zones?

Yes! Virtual appreciation walls, recorded video submissions, and all-day gratitude with HeyTaco are suitable for asynchronous teams.

Should managers participate in virtual Appreciation Day activities?

Absolutely. Genuine words of appreciation are a great start. Further participation in events like Pet Parades or organizing events like Email Response challenges shows interest without taking up too much spotlight.

What about activities for large remote teams?

For games and tournaments, large groups can be broken down into smaller teams. Most asynchronous-friendly activities and challenges are also suitable for larger groups.

Do remote employees really want to play virtual games?

Making team activities snappy, easy to understand, and optional will help foster participation. You can also give employees choices in advance and let them build their own tournament, Olympics, or event lineup.