Did you know that more than half of business interns say the quality of their onboarding experience influences whether they’d accept a full-time job offer? That means your internship program is more than a short-term gig; it’s a first impression as an employer. And, as we all know, first impressions tend to stick.
Internships have come a long way from the days of filing papers and fetching coffee for boardroom meetings. Today’s interns seek mentorship, meaning, and a sense of belonging. Your company’s onboarding and internship team building activities should reflect that. When done well, they don’t just check boxes; they set the tone for engagement, loyalty, and long-term success.
The most successful internship programs begin before the first handshake or login. A thoughtfully prepared internship orientation gives interns the tools and confidence to thrive from day one. It’s more than paperwork and PowerPoint; it’s building connections, workplace culture, and clarity.
- Include an internship guide that answers FAQs, outlines daily routines, and explains company quirks in a friendly, readable format.
- Host a “meet the team” mixer (virtual or in-person) to build early connections and put faces to names before work begins. Internship team building activities are an essential part of onboarding.
- Provide a first-week schedule with key meetings, training sessions, and social touchpoints to help interns hit the ground running.
- Offering a small welcome gift or swag bag, even a branded notebook and coffee mug, makes interns feel valued.
- Assign an onboarding buddy or mentor to guide interns through their first few weeks and answer questions they may be hesitant to ask.
Don’t forget to walk interns through your business’s communication tools, whether Slack, Asana, or the classic email inbox. Help them speak the company’s language.
What are the Goals of Internship Orientation?
A successful internship orientation does more than introduce company policies; it lays the groundwork for a confident, connected, and productive internship experience. Whether your program lasts eight weeks or an entire semester, orientation goals should be strategic and intentional.
Goal 1: Provide Context
Before interns dive into tasks, they must understand the organization’s mission, values, and structure. Giving them context during intern onboarding helps them see how their role contributes to the bigger picture, building early investment in their work.
Goal 2: Build Communication
Establish how interns should communicate, give feedback, and escalate questions throughout the program. This clarity supports everything from daily productivity and a smoother workflow to practical internship team building activities.
Goal 3: Foster Connection
Incorporate simple intern games or informal introductions to build relationships early. Strong peer connections boost engagement and lay the groundwork for future internship activities and collaboration.
Goal 4: Create Structure and Confidence
Offer a well-paced first week with clear internship event ideas, meetings, and a check-in schedule. Personal touches, like pairing interns with mentors, help welcome interns and reduce first-day anxiety.
Goal 5: Make it Memorable
Plan a few standout moments during orientation that reflect your company’s values and vibes. Creative ideas for interns, even small ones, can turn onboarding into a lasting, positive experience.
Internship Team Building Activities to Encourage Interest and Fun
A quick challenge or shared laugh can help turn strangers into a team. Interns need room to be themselves; low-stakes team building is the perfect pressure release.
1. Team Scavenger Hunt
In this GPS-guided, high-tech scavenger hunt, interns use a mobile app to navigate city hotspots, completing tasks like snapping pictures of landmarks, filming videos, solving riddles, and tackling surprise challenges. With live scoreboards, bonus rounds, real-time updates, and trivia, it’s a fast-paced, tech-driven adventure that builds teamwork and problem-solving under pressure.
2. Game of Drones
In this high-flying challenge, small teams navigate real drones through obstacle courses using strategy and collaborative play. With rotating roles and problem-solving tasks, Games of Drones encourages adaptability, leadership, and hands-on learning in a fun setting.
3. The Infinite Loop
This immersive VR experience drops interns into a fast-paced mission where quick thinking and teamwork are essential to win. One group wears VR headsets and navigates a virtual world, while their teammates guide them using only verbal cues. This highlights the importance of clear feedback and communication. Excellent for internship onboarding, it allows participants to hone leadership skills through shared challenges.
4. The Big Picture
This collaborative art experience challenges interns to work in small teams to paint individual canvases that, when combined, form one large, unified mural. It’s a visually powerful way to reinforce the importance of alignment, communication, and shared attention. These are all key takeaways from any successful internship orientation. With guidance from facilitators, no art skills are necessary—just teamwork, focus, and willingness to contribute.
5. Do Good Bus
This meaningful team outing combines community service with elements of surprise, making it one of the most impactful internship event ideas for creating real-world connections. Interns hop aboard a bus with no idea where they’re headed, arriving at a mystery volunteer location where they’ll work side-by-side on hands-on projects that support local causes. The shared experience cultivates genuine team bonding beyond desks, whether painting, planting, or packaging essentials.
6. Corporate Survivor
This competitive team experience drops interns and employees into Survivor-style challenges. It blends physical games with puzzles and strategic twists. Divided into tribes, teams face off in obstacle courses, brain teasers, and coordination tasks, each designed to highlight strengths and promote group problem-solving. As alliances form and sabotage becomes the norm, the stakes rise, making it an engaging, memorable idea for interns to build confidence and workplace camaraderie.
Intern Game Ideas to Break the Ice and Build Connection
Whether remote, hybrid, or in-person, a clever game can lighten the mood. It can spark the kind of rapport that leads to genuine collaboration.
The Charity Bike Build
This uplifting charity event brings workplace crews together for a meaningful cause: building bikes for children in need. As teams assemble bicycles with purpose and care, they develop bonds through cooperation and shared community impact. It’s a powerful way to turn internship team building activities into something more.
TeamCuisine: Team Cooking Experience
This hands-on cooking experience transforms teamwork into a delicious challenge as interns and employees collaborate to prepare a gourmet meal, without recipes or formal instructions. From chopping to plating, every step promotes communication, creative prowess, and shared accomplishment. It’s a memorable way to connect departments outside the office, offering a flavorful and fun take on internship event ideas that leave a lasting impression.
Drumming Up a Team
This interactive drumming experience uniquely energizes and engages interns and employees through rhythm, teamwork, and shared creativity. With each person playing a percussion instrument, the group collaborates to create unified, connective beats that sound like music. It’s one of the most memorable internship activities you can offer. Ideal for promoting connection, inclusion, and confidence as you welcome interns into your company culture.
Internship Event Ideas that Go Beyond the Office
If you want interns to remember your program, get creative. Outings, volunteer days, and cross-departmental meet-ups transform routine internships into positive experiences.
Team-opoly: City Scavenger Hunt
One of the most creative internship team building activities, this city-based scavenger hunt turns urban streets into an interactive board game. Think Monopoly with strategies, surprises, and oversized props. As teams race between challenges using a mobile app, they negotiate, collect resources, and complete tasks to spark laughter and collaborative thinking. Ideal for energizing your workplace crew, encouraging teamwork, and making internship activities unforgettable from the beginning.
Virtual In It to Win It
This fast-paced virtual In It to Win It experience is one of the most engaging internship team building activities for remote groups. Interns use household items to complete 60-second challenges, working together in breakout rooms to strategize, communicate, and compete. It’s a fun, low-pressure way to break the ice, build trust, and energize your internship program. Perfect for early connections during internship orientation or as part of a broader onboarding strategy.
Ultimate Tailgate Challenge
This team building activity blends friendly competition, classic outdoor games, and big team spirit—perfect for welcoming interns and energizing groups. Teams rotate through games like Corn Hole, Ladder Ball, and Washer Toss, laughing, bonding, and strategizing as they go. With upbeat music, lighthearted awards, and photo-worthy moments, the Ultimate Tailgate Challenge is a playful icebreaker to spark collaboration and build lasting workplace connections across departments.
Dining in the Dark
This team building event invites interns and teammates to share a meal while blindfolded, relying on trust, communication, and laughter to navigate a culinary experience. With sight removed, taste and smell take center stage, sparking conversations, piquing curiosity, and forming connections. It’s an icebreaker to encourage teamwork while building bonds through shared sensory surprise and vulnerability. Ideal for kicking off an internship program with meaning, momentum, and delicious food.
How to Elevate Internship Onboarding and Orientation
Want to go beyond the basics? Elevation doesn’t require big budgets, just intentional design.
Start by personalizing the intern experience. If running a larger program, break interns into smaller pods or project teams based on departments or interests. Assign mentors who can be enthusiastic guides, and let interns set goals for growth over time.
Next, develop a branded but relaxed internship guide. Think of it as the survival kit every intern needs. Include a map of the office, Slack channel etiquette, and lunch recommendations. This kind of document humanizes workplace culture, helping interns feel connected.
Ask for feedback often to ensure interns are being well-cared for. Use anonymous surveys or short check-ins to determine what’s working and needs tweaking. And never overlook milestones. Celebrate project completions or halfway points with intern shout-outs, a gracious email, or an internal blog spotlight.
Whether planning your first intern cohort or refreshing a long-standing program, remember that great internship team building activities are essential. Contact us today to make it personal, make it fun, and make it matter.
