Chicago weather can be unpredictable, which is why you may want to consider moving your team events indoors. At Wintrust Sports Complex, we have everything you need to pull off the perfect indoor company picnic, and in this article, we’ll cover the steps you can take to make it happen.
Choose the Right Company Picnic Venue
When beginning your company picnic planning, the first step is to choose a venue. You’ll want to pick a location that has the same energy as an outdoor picnic but without the inconveniences like weather, bugs, far-away parking, and limited bathroom access. Additionally, look for venues that have plenty of space and options for entertainment to help fill the time and make your company picnic even more enjoyable.
Looking for an indoor picnic venue in Chicago? At Wintrust Sports Complex in Bedford Park, we have 116,000 square feet of indoor space that’s perfect for groups of all sizes. We offer custom group packages and also offer a wide range of activities to help fill your outing, including basketball courts, esports lounges, turf fields, laser tag, and arcade games.
Company Picnic Ideas and Themes
When hosting a company picnic, you don’t necessarily have to have a theme. However, choosing a theme can make the event more memorable and help bring the feeling of the outdoors inside. Here are a few of our favorite indoor company picnic ideas to get you started.
Summer Camp
So many of us attended summer camp as kids, and we think it’s the perfect nostalgic indoor picnic theme. Consider decorating your picnic with wooden signs, bandanas, and fake campfires to set the tone. You can also divide your participants into teams or “cabins” and give them color-coded badges to help show who’s who. When brainstorming company picnic planning ideas that fit a summer camp theme, we suggest choosing classic camp activities like tug-of-war, sack races, and arts and crafts. Additionally, when you’re thinking about food to fit the theme, you might go for a mix of summer camp options like hot dogs, burgers, corn on the cob, and trail mix, possibly with a s’mores station for dessert!
Carnival Day
To plan a carnival day company picnic theme, we suggest including bright colors and finding a way to work in a few festival games. You can decorate the space with red-and-white stripes, balloons, and string lights, and rent (or DIY!) game booths like ring toss, bean bag throw, duck pond, or balloon darts. As for food, some classic carnival day options include a popcorn machine, cotton candy, soft pretzels, and snow cones.
Sports Day
Planning a sports day themed company picnic is a great way to add a little friendly competition into your outing. Start by choosing an indoor venue like Wintrust Sports Complex that offers courts and turf fields. Divide employees into teams with fun names and matching colors, and create a schedule of mini games that includes things like basketball shootouts, relay races, dodgeball, and cornhole. For food, you can include company picnic catering with classic sports day options like hot dogs, fries, pizza, and burgers.
Indoor Company Picnic Activities
One of the biggest advantages of hosting your event at an indoor venue is that it’s easy to build in company picnic activities. For example, when company picnic planning, you can schedule basketball or volleyball tournaments, esports games, laser tag, arcade games, or team-building challenges like scavenger hunts or relay races. Additionally, for those with large groups who have a range of interests and personalities, you can schedule multiple types of company picnic activities to appeal to different comfort levels.
Bring Your Own Food or Use Company Picnic Catering
As we all know, the central part of any picnic is the food! Since you’ll be indoors, we suggest skipping anything that needs to be grilled. Instead, choose foods that travel well and can be served at room temperature or with minimal heating, like finger sandwiches, wraps, cold pasta, grain salads, fruit skewers, cheese or charcuterie boards, mini quiches, and savory muffins. You can keep things organized by setting up a buffet table with stations for mains, sides, and desserts. Another idea is to use bento-style boxes for individual servings, which are great for both hygiene and portion control.
Even indoors, food safety matters, so use slow cookers to keep hot foods warm, and store cold items over ice trays or in coolers. Also, try to limit dairy-heavy dishes that spoil easily unless you have an easy option for refrigeration.
Looking for company picnic ideas that make food planning easy? You can always choose company picnic catering. At Wintrust Sports Complex, we have catering partners who do a great job serving delicious meals for both big and small groups. Choose from picnic-style classics like burgers, brats, and mac and cheese, healthy options like wraps, salad bars, and grilled veggie platters, or Chicago staples like Italian beef sandwiches, deep-dish pizzas, or hot dogs. To learn more about our catering options, don’t hesitate to contact us today.
Why Choose Wintrust Sports Complex for Indoor Picnics
You’re likely thinking about an indoor picnic because you want a way to get out of the office, but you’d still like both comfort and convenience. When you choose a full-service venue like Wintrust Sports Complex, you don’t need to rent tents, worry about portable bathrooms, or deal with unpredictable Chicago weather. Our facility is fully air conditioned, which is a big plus on hot or humid days. We also offer on-site parking, so you won’t have to take shuttles or deal with the hassle of off-site lots. Our facility is ADA accessible, so every member of your team feels welcome, and we offer private event rooms, which are great if you’re planning your picnic in conjunction with speeches or awards.
Learn More About Hosting Your Company Picnic at Wintrust Sports Complex
At Wintrust Sports Complex, we offer customizable event packages, catering options, and plenty of activity spaces. If you’re looking to plan a company picnic, we’d love to help you bring your event to life. To learn more, contact our team today!