20 Fun Online Campfire Ideas for Teams in 2023

Here is our list of the best online campfire ideas.

Online campfire ideas are virtual campfire-related activities held remotely. Examples include camping Mad Libs, camping Bingo, camping stories, guided meditation, and guess the song. The purpose of these activities is to make team building activities enjoyable and increase employee engagement.

These activities are similar to online field trip ideas, online team building icebreakers, and online happy hour ideas for work.

​This list includes:

• online campfire games
• online campfire activities
• online camp activities
• online bonfire ideas

Here we go!

List of online campfire ideas

Online campfires are a great way to engage remote teams and promote team building among employees. These activities also encourage communication among coworkers and are perfect for a break from work. Here is our list of some online campfire games and activities.

1. Camping Costume Contest

Adding a costume contest to your event is a great way to feel like you are really in the woods!

Here is how to host this activity:

1. Have teams pick out camping-themed outfits.
2. Participants can put together silly costumes using tents, sleeping bags, or even fishing gear.
3. Take a few minutes to do a quick fashion show at the beginning of your party.
4. Give out awards to the most imaginative, funniest, or best outfits.

This exercise adds an extra layer of ambiance to an online campfire.

2. Camping Bingo

Camping Bingo is a little bit different from traditional Bingo, and the difference is basically in the prompts. You can design your own camping Bingo card or use this premade template.

​Here are some examples you can include:

Camping Bingo can bring up memories and funny stories and spark spirited discussions among  employees. Also, the employees will have a great time going through the Bingo cards and winning the game.

3. Flashlight Shadow Puppets

Making flashlight shadow puppets adds a whimsical twist to your virtual campout!

Here is how to host this activity:

1. Have participants gather flashlights and point their cameras at a blank wall.
2. Individuals can take turns making a flashlight puppet on the wall.
3. Teams will compete to guess the identity of the animal or object.
4. Whoever can identify the object first wins a point.
5. The gameplay continues until each team member gets to make a puppet.

This activity is a free way to add an element of fun to your party.

Check out these tutorials on making hand puppets.

4. Wilderness Word Ladder

In the wilderness word ladder, teams will build camping-related words together.

Here is how to host this activity:

1. Make a list of camping-related words, like tent, sleeping bag, and fire.
2. Split participants into two teams.
3. One player from each team will start with the word and change one letter. For instance, “tent” can become “rent.”
4. Folks will continue to see how many words they can create before moving to the next one.
5. Whichever team can make the most words wins!

This activity is a great way to stretch your brain while enjoying your virtual campfire.

5. Camping Knot Tying Race

Many kids learn to tie knots on childhood camping trips, and you can put those skills to the test with a camping knot tying race!

Here is how to host this activity:

1. Teams bring a piece of rope to the virtual gathering.
2. The host can either show a picture of a camping knot or describe the steps on how to tie it.
3. Participants race to see who can correctly tie the knot the fastest.
4. The first person to successfully tie the knot wins that round.

You can play several rounds with different knots or even add a bit of challenge by introducing more complex knots as the game progresses. This friendly competition is a great way to learn useful camping skills while having a good time with fellow campers!

Check out how to tie these six camping knots.

6. The Frog Game

The Frog Game is an icebreaker that tests your memory. The first player starts by describing a frog in a word or a phase. The next player continues by describing the frog differently. The game continues until a participant repeats a sentence that has already been said or if they are stuck and cannot find anything to say.

​Here is an example of how the game can go:

• A green animal
• That lives in a pond
• And eats bugs

You can play this game using a different animal or object as well. The best way to play would be to change the animal whenever an employee says a sentence wrong and gets eliminated. The player who remains wins.

7. Camping Stories

Sharing stories is a fun way to learn more about your coworkers and find colleagues with similar experiences to yours.

Your camping stories should not necessarily be scary. The tales can be related to any interesting event. In fact, telling a serious story with a funny twist at the end will get a few laughs!

Here are a few examples of themes and prompts for a camping story:

• First camping experience
• Animal encounter while camping
• Getting lost in the woods while camping
• The story of survival with limited food

Besides, telling your coworkers about your camping experiences will be an icebreaker itself. You can tell your own camping stories and invite participants to share their camping stories too.

8. Numbers

Numbers is an exciting game that brings out that camping energy needed for this Zoom call. In this game, players will call out a number from one to ten. The players will play in the correct order. However, if two players shout the same number simultaneously, then they will get eliminated. Here is an example:

Suppose a player calls out the number one. A different player calls out the number two. Now, two players call out the number three, so both will be eliminated.

​The last player standing wins!

9. Online Bonfire

If your company cannot arrange an actual in-person bonfire, then a virtual one will also work! If your coworkers do not have a fireplace at their house to warm up or miss the sensation of sitting together and getting cozy, then they can also wrap a blanket, cozy up, and put on a fireplace video in the background. Playing a video or putting up a virtual background is one of the best online campfire ideas.

To make the online bonfire fun and engaging for the employees, you can play icebreakers or other games that can help increase communication and engagement among coworkers. For example, you can put a fireplace video in the background and ask the remote employees to show their cozy setup. You can either watch a movie or discuss non-work topics.

You can also combine the game with other online bonfire ideas to make the games fun and engaging for the participants.

10. Survival Game

This online campfire game will challenge employees’ problem-solving skills and help them develop creative solutions. To play the game, the host will prepare some unique scenarios beforehand. Then, the rest of the players will take turns coming up with a solution and survival plan for the issue.

​Here are some examples:

• What would you do if zombies attacked your campsite?
• What if you had to make a dessert over the campfire?
• What would you do if you got lost with only three precious items of your choice?

Each player will take turns answering and explaining their survival strategy. If you play this game in a large group, then you can divide the participants into subgroups where they can come up with answers together. The group with the best strategy will be the winner.

11. Campfire Songs

This game may seem childish. However, singing along to campfire songs is a great way to put your mind to ease and have a good time. Your team can send their preferred songs to the host a day before the Zoom session. You can have your playlist on during the call while enjoying some s’mores! This activity might be better for coworkers who get along and have known each other for a while because the singers will be able to perform without stage fright.

However, singing campfire songs can also boost confidence and reduce shyness in remote employees, making it among the best online bonfire ideas.

12. Would You Rather

Would You Rather is one of the simplest online bonfire ideas that can get all participants involved. In this game, all the players can prepare their questions a day before the call and give them to the host.

Here are some questions you can ask:

• Would you rather put a tent under the sky or camp in your RV?
• Would you rather camp in the mountains or the forest?
• Would you rather go camping in the summer or winter?
• Would you rather go camping for one week or one night?
• Would you rather stay in the camp or go hiking?

The host reads the questions one by one while the players answer.

13. Camping Mad Libs

Mad Libs are popular among children and adults alike because they are fun and result in hilarious stories. You will have to purchase Mad Libs or find them online to play. Since you are planning campfire activities, you can look for camping-themed Mad Libs.

Mad Libs consist of a passage with several blanks where words are missing. Instead of telling the exact words, the game just tells you whether you need to put in a verb, noun, or adjective. Players must suggest a word without knowing the context of the surrounding sentence.

This game is fun because the players do not know what the passage says. The participants are just filling in random words, and the host is the only one on the call who gets to see the passage. The participants can go over the blanks and ask their coworkers for verbs, nouns, and adjectives. The host can then read the completed story aloud while the others try to control their laughter!

14. Virtual Charades

Virtual Charades is among the best online camp activities to help coworkers get more comfortable around each other. In virtual charades, you will divide the players into two teams. One participant will be the actor, and the rest of the team will guess. For a virtual campfire, you can theme the words after camping!

Here are a few examples of words and phrases to act:

• Snake
• Going on a hike
• Climbing a tree
• Grilling
• Chopping firewood
• Setting up fire
• Washing the dishes
• Playing the guitar

When the game starts, the actor will get the words or phrases one by one, which they must act out. Each correct guess will get you a point. If the players get stuck on a word, then they can always pass the word for a new one!

Here are more online party games.

15. Virtual Icebreakers

Icebreakers help remote teammates communicate better and gain more confidence, creating a comfortable environment for your coworkers. To get your coworkers out of their shells, come up with innovative questions that lead to unique answers, making participating in the conversation easier and less awkward.

Here are some icebreaker questions you can include during your next video conference session:

• What is the best way to make instant noodles?
• If you could be a Disney character, then who would you be?
• Did you have a childhood imaginary friend?
• Do you have any hidden talents?
• What is a weird fact about you?
• What is your earliest memory?
• What is the most recent show or movie you have watched? Did you like it?
• What is the oddest memory you have from school?

Asking funny questions will lead to amusing answers and fill the Zoom room with laughter.

Check out more icebreaker questions and virtual icebreakers.

16. Guided Meditation

A good way to help your coworkers relax is to include guided meditation in your online campfire activities. Employees need a break after a hectic day, and while games are fun and beneficial, meditation is one of the best ways to step away from work and refocus. Meditation also helps improve sleep and mood and reduce stress.

To set the campfire mood, play relaxing bonfire sounds or a calm bonfire video on YouTube. You can also guide the employees to set the lighting of their rooms accordingly. To practice guided meditation, you should either decide on a video to follow online or book a meditation session and follow a professional.

The relaxing exercises and guided narratives are great for calming the mind and helping employees take a rest from their work lives.

Here are more online wellness ideas.

17. Werewolf

Werewolf is a team building game that involves problem-solving and persuasion skills.

The game works best in groups of eight to twelve, with the following roles:

• Werewolf: Eats the villagers
• Villager: Decides and votes to eliminate werewolves
• Seer: Can check the identity of a particular player
• Medic: Can save a player from dying
• Host: Manages the game and decides the roles

The game starts with the host assigning roles to players via direct message. Werewolves keep their identities secret. During a Zoom call, players discuss and vote on who they think is a werewolf. After voting, the host reveals the chosen player’s identity.

The “night” phase follows, with players turning off cameras and mics for five minutes. Werewolves choose a villager to eliminate, the seer learns one player’s identity, and the medic protects a chosen player. The host announces if a villager died, and the process repeats for three rounds. If werewolves avoid detection, then they win!

18. Guess That Song

Guess That Song is one of the most common online campfire ideas. In this game, the host prepares a list of songs. Participants will divide into groups to make the game fun and quick. Each group will take turns guessing.

Then, the host will play the instrumental version of a song, and one group will get three minutes to guess. The more songs the players guess, the more likely they are to win.

Instead of the instrumental version, the host can also show the song title to a member of the guessing group. This member will hum the song while the rest will attempt to guess. The group with the most correct answers wins.

19. I Went To The Market

I Went To The Market is a challenging memory game that calls for you to remember a complex chain of phrases and words.

Here is how to play the game:

1. The game begins with the first player saying, “I went to the market.”
2. The next player will repeat the sentence and add another one of their own. “I went to the market, and I bought fish.”
3. The following player will repeat both sentences and add another sentence. “I went to the market, I bought fish, and I saw a crate of fruit.”

This chain will continue until a player forgets and messes up the chain of phrases. You can eliminate each participant who flubs and choose the last one as the winner.

20. Online Campfire Scavenger Hunt

You can hold a virtual scavenger hunt over an online conference platform such as Zoom or Google Meet. It is helpful to prepare a scavenger hunt list before the call.

For a virtual hunt, the players will fetch the mentioned items from around the house, and the first one to return with all the objects will be the winner.

Here are some examples:

• Sunscreen dabbed on your face
• A pillowcase with a flashlight inside
• A full water bottle
• A Band-Aid on your hand

You can develop a unique checklist to make this game more fun and challenging.

Here are more online scavenger hunt ideas.

Conclusion

Online campfire ideas and activities are effective because they improve communication, give employees a fun time, and make it easy to become more productive. In addition, these games serve as icebreakers and competitive activities that can take your mind off work and give a motivational boost.

Engaging employees in online campfire ideas will help them bond better and participate in different activities to enhance coordination. Coworkers will also feel happy to be part of productive activities that give them time off work.

Read about more online team event ideas.