Interested in Virtual Team Building Events?
9 mins 
1. What are Virtual Wellness Activities?
Virtual wellness activities include programs, initiatives, and ideas for remote employees to stay mentally, emotionally, and physically healthy. These activities promote a positive work environment, promoting overall health and work-life balance.
2. 10 Best Virtual Wellness Ideas to Keep Your Team Motivated
2.1. Mindfulness and Mental Health Workshops
2.1.1. Chair Yoga Class by Hooray Teams
Hooray Teams is an amazing hosted platform that covers a wide range of engaging team-building activities to improve bonding among your team members. Their immersive Chair Yoga experience is a simple 60-minute session that helps improve body posture and energy flow.
A skilled instructor will lead you through gentle stretches, mindful breathing exercises, and calming meditation techniques—all from the comfort of your home space while you're seated in a chair. Whether you're just starting or dealing with limited mobility, this all-inclusive practice aims to enhance flexibility, build strength, and ease stress.
2.1.2. Guided Meditation Sessions
Mental strength must be given equal importance as much as our physical strength, and online meditation sessions are the way to do so as a part of virtual wellness activities. Hooray Teams can help you kick-start the journey with weekly or fortnightly Online Meditation Classes under the guidance of professional instructors.
Seven months ago, we added meditation sessions to our list of virtual wellness activities. We all experienced increased feelings of calmness, heightened focus during work hours, and a sense of collective camaraderie as we shared this wellness journey. So, we recommend you and your team should give it a shot.
Check out the article on virtual meditation classes and virtual yoga classes for enhancing mindfulness, reducing stress, and promoting overall well-being in the digital age.
2.2. Fitness and Exercise Challenges
2.2.1. Online Group Workouts
While a desk job is already sedentary, working from home adds insult to injury as movement is reduced even further. You can conduct online group workouts for your staff’s remote wellness with a fitness instructor to lead these sessions. Set a workout Wednesday or fitness Friday schedule in your Google Calendar, send invites to the employees, and work out together.
Following our company town hall meeting, we decided to offer weekly workout classes for whoever was interested. And nearly 90% of the staff signed up, indicating how much everyone had been waiting for something like this to happen. Group workouts work wonders as virtual wellness games and activities because everyone is in it together, creating a communal experience!
2.2.2. Digital Step Challenge
Working from home saves you those long commutes but may result in reduced physical activity. It is essential to be mindful of how often you walk by implementing a Digital Steps Challenge. Most smartphones or fitness wristbands have built-in step-trackers or pedometers to track daily steps.
Decide a daily goal you want your employees to achieve - say 7000 steps. Those who achieve or even exceed the daily minimum target earn their spot on the leaderboard and every fortnight or a week, the first two employees with the highest steps can be awarded an Amazon gift card or healthy meal subscription for one month. This will keep your teams healthy and motivate them to increase their steps!
2.3. Online Games and Activities to Relieve Stress
2.3.1. Murder Mystery Events
An exciting whodunit party is a surefire way to get everyone involved in a team bonding experience. These events combine logical and critical thinking with fun to create a playful atmosphere for you and your team members.
Our team had so much fun participating in the Hooray Teams Virtual Murder Mystery - Murder at the Manor game, which spanned 60 minutes. We were given some clue materials that contained a last will, newsletter, title deed, and more before the event. The role of suspects was played by professional actors, adding an extra layer of fun to the investigation journey.
2.3.2. Virtual Escape Room
Virtual team escape rooms are one of the best virtual wellness activities out there and serve as an excellent stress buster. The immersive and challenging nature of these experiences provides a refreshing break from the monotony of daily tasks. Remote employees are divided into teams to escape a room against a ticking clock via any supported video conferencing platform. They need to solve riddles and puzzles and unearth hidden clues to escape successfully.
We’ve made it a practice to play a virtual team escape room game once a month, resulting in a positive team-building experience and a fun time with each other!
2.4. Skill Enhancing Workshops
2.4.1. Arts and Crafts Workshops
We cannot underestimate the transformative power of creative workshops when it comes to virtual wellness activities. Engaging your remote team in various arts and crafts sessions creates a fun and relaxed atmosphere where everyone can thrive. Hooray Teams hosted team building platform has a great range of creative sessions run by experts. You can take your pick from Paint Party, Terrarium Building, Origami Class, Pottery Making, and more.
Participating in these creative pursuits allows you and your team members to unwind, tap into your artistic expression, and experience a sense of accomplishment, all of which are integral to fostering a holistic feeling of wellness within the workplace.
2.4.2. Healthy Cooking Classes
Gourmets and epicureans will love a healthy cooking club beyond anything. Starting a healthy cooking club can be one of the best virtual employee wellness ideas for remote employees to eat nutritious and balanced meals while working from home to stay fit. You can motivate them to exchange healthy recipes they can cook and also upload snaps of dishes they cook for community engagement.
You can also schedule real-time virtual cooking sessions where employees can watch each other cooking and have fun! We started this activity with Hooray Teams, and to our surprise, there were many hidden ‘chefs’ in our team! A couple of us who hardly step into the kitchen have now mastered Pasta Making for a perfect Sunday brunch. We strongly suggest giving it a spot on your list of virtual wellness activities.
2.5. Virtual Social Events
2.5.1. Virtual Happy Hours
Virtual happy hours are a must on your virtual wellness program ideas list! It provides a much-needed break from the daily grind of remote work and creates a space where colleagues can relax, be themselves, and engage in casual conversations, contributing significantly to mental well-being.
The ideas for virtual happy hours can be mutually decided based on your team’s preferences. For those who enjoy relaxing with fine spirits, try Hooray Team’s engaging hosted Virtual Cocktail Making class. Some other options could be marathon Netflix streaming, paint and sip, or fun-themed Virtual Trivia Game sessions.
We make it a point to bond with our remote resources and arrange virtual happy hours regularly, where everyone shares what they’ve been up to or just jokes around casually, and we always leave the meeting feeling better.
2.5.2. Play Coffee Roulette
Coffee is a universally loved beverage and you can use this love to strengthen your employees’ friendships. You can sign up with Coffee Roulette, choose the frequency of coffee meetings, add all employees’ email addresses, and set the start date there. The employees will receive an email invite to accept and enter their available days. Based on the same, it will pair up employees and send invites with details of their next “coffee partners”.
We enjoyed it because it helped us to get reacquainted with members of the team we weren’t regularly in touch with. What’s more, it introduced us to various employees from different departments whom we barely knew. Over the past year, we have gotten to know them well, thanks to coffee roulette parties!
Explore our articles on employee wellness boxes, and corporate wellness companies to boost productivity in remote teams.
3. FAQs
3.1. How do you host a virtual wellness program?
- Select a suitable video conferencing platform like Zoom or Google Meet that suits your team size and has the needed functionalities.
- Schedule the virtual wellness sessions in advance after checking the availability of all employees.
- Choose virtual wellness activities for remote employees to boost team building.
- Hire a professional instructor if needed.
- Set calendar reminders for recurring virtual wellness activities. Send participants an invite with the meeting link for less frequent ones.
- Include optional rewards such as Amazon gift cards, meal vouchers, and online subscriptions to encourage participation.
3.2. How can you improve wellness while working from home?
- Eat a healthy and nutritious diet. Cut down on junk and unhealthy food items.
- Keep yourself hydrated throughout the day.
- Dedicate some time to workouts, yoga, meditation, or even just 15 minutes of daily walking.
- Set up your home office for more comfort, proper posture, and a conducive work environment.
- Maintain a healthy work-life balance.
- Establish strong connections with your remote colleagues.
- Set up a daily routine and stick to it.
3.3. What are the best wellness activities for employees?
Some of the best wellness activities for employees are - walking meetings, mid-day fitness, fitness challenges, employee surveys, mental health workshops, meditation breaks, and flu shots.
3.4. What are some examples of free virtual wellness activities for teams?
Some popular free options for virtual wellness activities include virtual home workout challenges, icebreaker games, and free webinars or workshops. Also, mindfulness and meditation sessions conducted via video conferencing platforms offer a calming and rejuvenating experience.
