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Fun group activities are easy to find in Cincinnati, Ohio because there is so much to do in the local area. You might even have a hard time deciding which activity your group would enjoy the most.
If you happen to be the person in charge of your office outing, you know how hard it can be to choose group activities that are both engaging and appropriate.
Which outing works best for your group will depend on the people who make up your group and the goal you hope to achieve. Choose an activity that is appropriate to the range of ages and skill levels of the members of your group.
This is imperative for the enjoyment of participants as well as for keeping everyone engaged throughout the event.
The next thing to consider is what the goal is for your group. Do you want to improve teamwork, strengthen the bonds of friendship, or enhance creativity? Different exercises and experiences will produce different results.
Team building games and puzzles are best for improving teamwork and stoking the competitive juices. Making memories by sharing unique events and new experiences helps to build friendships. Learn something new or delve into the arts to enhance creativity.
Best Group Activities for Adults in Cincinnati
Here are the best small group activities for adults around the Queen City divided into groups based on what you hope to achieve with your event.
Team Building Games
These are games and puzzles that help your team members learn to communicate, cooperate, and work together to achieve a goal.
1. Play Dodgeball at Archery Arena
Archery dodgeball is a hybrid sport taking its game rules from dodgeball, but replacing the ball with foam arrows. In archery dodgeball, competitive fires are lit by a fast paced game and cooperation and teamwork are learned as players team up to pick off the other team and get the victory.
The best part is friendships are also built as everyone makes fun memories together.
You are encouraged to bring your own food and drinks if you would like to. This is a physical activity, but not overly demanding. Groups can include up to 16 people for a one hour event for $425. A brief instruction session for archery starts your event, followed by 50 minutes of game play.
2. Take Your Group Fowling
The Fowling Warehouse provides a fun hybrid game that is a cross between bowling and football. Play in teams as you would in bowling and see who can hurl the ball down the lane to knock over the most pins.
You can bring your own food and drinks or you can have them catered by the Warehouse. This is a physical activity, but not overly demanding. Groups of 10 can reserve a lane for up to two hours starting at around $140.
3. See Cincinnati Together on the Paddlewagon
If you really want to do some cross departmental bonding, this is one event that takes full participation from every member of the team. Everyone pedals together to make the wagon go.
Tour options include the Cincinnati Mural Tour, the Pedal Power Lunch, and the Redlegs Rally Cruise. This activity definitely promotes cooperation and teamwork.
Groups of eight up to more than 100 can be accommodated. This activity includes moderate to intense physical activity. Most tours last for approximately two hours. $449 for a group of 15 for the Cincinnati Mural Tour.
4. Break Out of an Escape Room
Your team will learn to focus and work together as they solve a series of puzzles in a defined period of time to accomplish their goal to escape a room at Breakout. Participants will definitely have to stretch their cooperation and communication muscles in this one. This is a good team building activity for work.
This activity is not demanding as far as physical activity. The puzzles last for about an hour. Choose from several different themes. This costs around $200 for a group of eight.
5. Take Your Group on a Game Show
For a whole lot of fun that doesn’t involve anything physical and keeps the competition silly and easy gives your small group from work or church a game show experience. This is good for building teamwork and communication skills that your group can take back to the office.
This can be played by groups larger than 100, but the ideal team size is six to eight participants. The events last for one and a half to two hours and can be played either indoors or outdoors. Contact Best Corporate Events and Team Building for a quote for your corporate group event.
6. Have a Grown Up Field Day
Jam provides your team with a field day just like you used to have at the end of the school year each year as a kid. Play and have fun with games like cornhole and giant connect four and water pong while secretly building skills that support good teamwork.
This is a low impact, mildly physical outdoor activity. The session lasts from an hour and a half to two hours and starts at $500 for up to 25 people.
7. Survive a Zombie Onslaught Together
Can you and your team survive a zombie onslaught overtaking your small own?
Find out at Deadwood Valley. Learn to work as a team when adrenaline is rushing. You determine how this story ends.
This is a Sandbox VR VR Experience that works best as an activity for smaller groups as it only accommodates up to six participants and starts at $55 per guest.
Group Activities That Build Friendships
Getting to know each other better promotes a better working relationship in the office or during other joint projects. Here are some great activities for building the bonds of friendship by sharing unique memory making events.
8. Take a Tour of the Findlay Market
Findlay Market has been a staple of Cincinnati’s vibrant commerce since the 19th century. Your group can take a walking tour and explore all of the shops and fantastic delicacies that the market has to offer.
There are locally led tours of the market available. Wear good shoes and be prepared to do a lot of walking. You will also want to come prepared to purchase snacks, food, drinks, and keepsakes.
9. Take a Sightseeing Cruise on the Ohio River
See Cincinnati from a whole new perspective aboard a BB Riverboats sightseeing cruise. Choose between seeing historic sights, learning all about pirates on the Ohio, and an early evening sightseeing cruise that will give everyone ample opportunity to take great pics to share on social media.
This is not a physically demanding activity but is a bad fit for anyone who is afraid of the water or experiences sea sickness or motion sickness. Cruises last for approximately two hours each and start at about $30 per person.
10. See a Game at the Great American Ball Park
Visit the Great American Ball Park home of the Cincinnati Reds. Nothing will build unique memories more than catching a game with friends. Tickets for a single game start at around $65. You can also visit the Hall of Fame and tour the stadium.
If you want a jaw dropping experience for your group that will cement memories that will last a lifetime, get a luxury box seat. This accommodates about 16 people for around $8,000.
11. See the Bengals at Paycor Stadium
Since Joe Burrow has taken the reins, the Cincinnati Bengals have been playoff contenders. Take your group to see one of the league’s premiere teams play in their home stadium when the Bengals play at Paycor.
The average price for single game tickets for a Bengals game is around $200. For the experience of a lifetime, get your group a luxury suite at the game. Suites cost between $12,000-$20,000 and can accommodate about 30 people.
12. Take Your Group to a Concert at Riverbend Music Center
Riverbend Music Center is a spectacular outdoor music venue that sits right on the bank of the Ohio River. It can accommodate 20,000 people and features lawn seating beyond general admission. Many popular artists and bands play at this venue regularly.
Wear comfortable shoes and make sure everyone in your group will enjoy the activities that you choose. This will lead to a great experience that will help build budding friendships.
13. Ride Over Cincinnati in a Hot Air Balloon
For a real adventure that no one in your group will ever forget, go on a hot air balloon ride with Adrenaline. Their hot air balloon rides take you more than 3,000 feet above Cincinnati. You will have a true bird’s eye view and the opportunity for amazing photographs.
Balloon rides last for about an hour and include a champagne toast. Make sure no one in your party is afraid of heights. Rates start around $300 per person.
14. Go on a City Wide Scavenger Hunt
Learn all kinds of exciting new things about the Queen City as you and your team complete an epic scavenger hunt. You will solve puzzles and explore historic landmarks over a two and a half mile course with ten stops along the way.
This is a physical activity that demands a lot of walking and good shoes. Tickets start at $12.99 per person.
Creative Activities for Groups
The type of activities that help to enhance creativity and inspire new ideas among groups of people who work together are activities that relate to viewing or practicing fine arts and activities that involve learning new things.
15. Learn to Blow Glass From a Skilled Artist
Blowing glass is an amazing visual art to watch and has a ton of intricate science behind it. Your group can experience the art of blowing glass with a hands on demonstration and even a group project.
The cost for the demonstration is $13 per person and projects range in price from $25-$50.
16. Explore the Culinary Delight of Over-the-rhine
This is a great activity for all of the foodies out there. Tour Cincinnati from a culinary perspective on a Cincinnati Food Tour. Start at Findlay Market and work your way through the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood experiencing the delights of four iconic neighborhood restaurants.
This is a walking tour so you will need to be in reasonably good shape and wear comfortable shoes. The tour is two miles long and takes about three hours including the stops along the way. Groups of up to eight are welcome and the cost is $75 per person.
17. Create Your Own Art
Check out the Splatter room at the OTR Funplex. You can create your very own splatter art with your group. This allows you to let loose and have fun while letting your creative side run wild. You can rent a single room and work together or each participant can have their own. It’s all up to you!
Corporate events for up to 12 people start at $209 and include two hours in a party room with a dedicated host and the activity of your choice.
18. Go Museum Hopping With Your Small Group
The Cincinnati Museum Center offers more to explore than your group could cover in a day. It is so easy to go museum hopping when they are all located in the same place! The Cincinnati Museum Center is home to the Cincinnati History Museum, The Children’s Museum, the Museum of Natural History and Science, the Robert D. Lindner Family OMNIMAX Theater, the Nancy and David Wolf Holocaust and Humanity Center, and much more.
You will want to wear good shoes for walking and bring along money to stop in for lunch. There is lots of walking and this could easily be an all day event.
What is the Best Team Building Activity?
When planning group activities it is good to keep in mind that some of the very best team building activities incorporate games that increase teamwork, activities that help build bonds, and activities that promote creativity. These activities include dodgeball archery, grown up field day, and the Cincinnati scavenger hunt.
When choosing between quality activities like these it simply becomes about choosing the activity that your group will like best and that will keep them engaged.