10 Celebrate Children’s Day Activities to Engage Hybrid & Remote Teams

Who says Children's Day is only for children? Check out 10 engagement ideas to celebrate it with your remote team. Happy Children's Day!

Grace Nguyen

Senior People Operations, FlexOS

Leveraging five years in HR and a keen eye for innovation, I help people-centric leaders choose HR tech that boosts employee experience and aligns with organizational goals.

July 11, 2023

min read

What is Children’s Day?

Children’s Day is a public holiday, or at least a special day, in many countries. On a serious note, the original purpose of Children’s Day is to celebrate children’s rights, welfare and well-being, and talents.

On a less serious note, Children’s Day is the day to have fun with the kids in your life, whether it is your offspring, siblings, or cousins. On Children’s Day, the working parents in your team may want to take their kids to a more special place and treat them to the snacks or desserts they have longed to have.

When is Children’s Day?

Interestingly enough, there is no one common Children’s Day all over the world. Almost every country has its own variation of Children’s Day:

In the U.S., people celebrate Children’s Day on the second Sunday of June, and they call it National Children’s Day. Therefore, in 2023, Children’s Day falls on June 11, 2023, in America.
In the U.K., Children’s Day is celebrated on May 14, called National Children’s Day UK.
In Singapore, the first Friday in October has been picked to become Children’s Day. Although it is not a public holiday in Singapore, preschool and primary school kids can have the day off to spend a long weekend with their families.
In Australia, Children’s Day is not enough. Australians celebrate Children’s Week, and the main event day is usually the fourth Wednesday in October.
In the former and current communist parts of the world, Children’s Day takes place on June 1. This includes China, Vietnam, Germany, the Czech Republic, and so on.

To establish a universal Children’s Day worldwide, the United Nations chose November 20 to be World Children’s Day. On this date, the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration and Convention on Children’s Rights.

So the critical question is: If you have a remote international team, which date should you choose to celebrate Children’s Day?

To make it inclusive for all, you can select November 20, as many countries celebrate UN World Children’s Day alongside their own Children’s Day. If you have the time and budget, you can celebrate UN World Children’s Day with the whole global team and then organize other customized activities on Children’s Day for the employees at each location.

Why is it Important to Celebrate Children’s Day with Your Employees?

Gallup’s research has shown that when employees feel cared about as a person, they will be more engaged and more productive at work. For the working parents in your team, there is no better way to warm their hearts than caring for their children and their relationship with their kids.

For your other team members, who don’t have kids, you can use Children’s Day to celebrate childhood memories and the inner child in yourself together. This will help your team connect more personally and foster friendship at work. As Gallup’s research has also pointed out, having a best friend at work will increase employee engagement and productivity.

10 Ideas to Celebrate Children’s Day with Your Remote Team

Best for: Virtual Fun

1. Children’s Day Meeting Icebreakers

If your team is short on time, consider starting your meeting with a quick and easy Children’s Day icebreaker. This works whether you practice remote work or hybrid remote work.

Instructions

We recommend the list of ice-breaking questions below:

Tell us about one “accomplishment” you made before 18?
(Don’t have to be anything serious. For example: “I went to the grocery store alone for the first time when I was 12.”)
What was your first dream job when you were little?
What is a hobby you have kept from your childhood?
One thing you wish you had known before 10?
What were your most and least favorite subjects in school?

Also, check out those quizzes from BuzzFeed because they’re really fun! (Just keep in mind that they’re not based on any science.)

2. Letter to The Future

Writing a letter to the future is an excellent way to remind your team of their bigger goals in life and what is important to them. This will help motivate your team to tackle their current challenges. On Children’s Day, invite your team to write a letter to their kids or future kids that will be sent some years after.

Instructions

Inform everyone that you will hold Letter to The Future activity and schedule a 30-minute to 1-hour session.
In the session, tell your team to go to https://www.futureme.org/
Everyone starts writing their letter. Some prompts to help you write:

Tell your kids about your current self
What are your fears?
What are your beliefs?
What do you want to do for your kids?
Any advice for your children?

As your team write, they can share parts of their letters if they’re comfortable.
Once done, guide your team to set the delivery time and recipient’s email address.
Finally, hit “Send to the Future”!

3. Photo Collage - Childhood Objects

Photo Collage Activity for Children's Day

What is the object that reminds you of your childhood? In this activity, your team put together pictures of their childhood objects into a photo collage. Each person takes turns sharing the memory that the thing brings to them. The experience will help your team connect.

Instructions

Copy our photo collage template, and share the link with your team.
Ask your team to upload a photo of their childhood object to the template.
Run the activity, share the stories, and have some good laughs!
After the meeting, share the photo collage to Team’s channel/Slack/Email as a recap‍.

4. Guess the Childhood Photos

How about gathering your team and looking at some good old memories together on this Children’s Day? Tell your team to share their photos as a child, and you will be surprised about who has changed the most (or still looks exactly the same)!

Instructions

Announce to your team that you will have this activity and ask for their childhood photos.
Put everyone’s baby photos in a deck, one photo on each slide.
On Children’s Day, have everyone gather in a room and present the deck.
One by one, guess who the photos belong to.
The owner of the photo can tell a short story about the occasion when the photo was taken.

5. Kid Drawing Showcase

Every child is an artist. They act, they sing, and they draw! On Children’s Day, invite your working parents to show off their kids’ drawing talent (which we’re sure they’d love to).

And if every child is an artist, it means that every one of us used to be an artist, too. Encourage your child-free team members to release their inner artist by contributing a kid-style drawing to the fun!

Instructions

Inform your team one week before the activity so they can take photos of their kids’ drawings or make their own.
On Children’s Day, send a message in your team’s communication channel (Teams/Slack/etc.) and ask everyone to reply with their drawing.
Even better, if your company has internal social platforms like Workplace by Facebook or Yammer from Microsoft, you can invite your team to post their drawing with #ChildrensDay.
Your employees will check out each other’s drawings, and some fun conversations are on the way!

6. Change Zoom Background

Changing Zoom background to Children’s Day theme is a quick and simple way to celebrate this special day.

Instructions

Find a Zoom background available online. We recommend searching for the keywords “children’s day zoom background” on https://www.freepik.com/.
Send the image to your team and encourage everyone to change their Zoom background.
To make it more fun: You can ask your team to use drawings of their kids or their own if they don’t have kids to be the Zoom background!
Not sure how to change your Zoom background? Check out the instructions here.

>>> Explore more options where your team meet virtually at our best virtual workspaces and virtual meeting platforms here

Best for: In-person Team Building

7. DIY Recycled Toy Workshop

Get ready to celebrate Children's Day with our fun-filled DIY Recycled Toy Workshop. Gather your team and turn ordinary materials (that you can easily find around the office) into extraordinary recyclable toy masterpieces. Ignite your playful spirit and take your finished creations home as heartfelt Children’s Day gifts for your little ones.

Instructions

Choose a tutorial for your team to follow:

Let your team know about the DIY workshop. Ask everyone to RSVP at least three days before so that you can prepare the logistics.
Prepare all the required materials.
Book a room with a TV or projector.
On the event day, turn on the video, follow along, and have fun!

8. Movie Night

Have you considered hosting a Movie Night for your team on Children’s Day? It's a great way to unwind and bond outside of work. Inviting your employees' families to join in! The kids will love it too! You can make it even more enjoyable by providing snacks and drinks.

Instructions

Choose a date & pick a movie by sending out a survey to your coworkers to see which dates and movies they prefer. You can find the best children’s movies currently on Netflix here.
Reserve a space in the office where you can set up a screen and seating.
Send out the invitation. For those teammates who are not big movie fans, you can convince them to join with snacks and drinks.
Make sure you have all the necessary equipment, including a laptop, connecting cable, projector/screen, and sound system. Test the equipment beforehand to make sure everything is working properly.
On the day of the event, set up a snack table with popcorn, candy, and other movie theater snacks.
Optional: You can prepare a movie quiz for your team to play after watching the movie. There are many pre-made movie quizzes on the internet for you to choose from. If you cannot find one you like, you can always create your own with Mentimeter.
Enjoy the Movie Night! Once everything is set up, sit back and enjoy the movie with your coworkers.

9. Skribbl Parent-Kid Game Tournament

Roll up your sleeves and prepare for a hilarious showdown with Skribbl Parent-Kid Game Tournament! This will be a chance for your co-workers to showcase their drawing skills and strengthen the bond with their children in the most exciting way. It's time to start the doodling frenzy!

Instructions

Plan the prize and purchase the gifts for your participants. Some possible prizes are:

Best Duo: For the team with the highest points
Most Creative Duo: For the team with the most creative drawings

Send out a form for your employees to register their teams. Each team has two members, and they can either be employee - their kid or employee - employee.
Book a meeting room for the game day and block participants’ calendars.
On game day, gather everyone in the room and go to https://skribbl.io/ to start playing!
Alternatively, you can also organize Parent-Kid Game Tournament entirely online.

10. Volunteer for Children in Need

To make Children’s Day even more meaningful, how about organizing a weekend visit to a local orphanage with your colleagues? Encourage the working parents to bring their children along as this is a great chance to teach the kids compassion and gratefulness.

Instructions

Pick a local orphanage or shelter and contact them to know when you can visit and what type of donation they need.
Two weeks before the visit, spread the news to your team and ask for donations of the items needed. You can also set up a charity bank account for your team to transfer their donation.
Send out an invitation to your team and let them know the date, time, and meetup point of the visit.
On the decided weekend, gather at the meetup point and go to the orphanage together!

Beyond Children’s Day

We hope you found “the chosen one” to celebrate Children’s Day with your team in the list above. Children’s Day is one of many unique opportunities to engage your employees. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive more employee engagement ideas in the upcoming months!