You found our list of online Father’s Day ideas.
Father’s Day is celebrated in the US, Canada, UK and other regions on the third Sunday of June. The holiday pays homage to the hard work of fatherhood. Virtual Father’s Day ideas are ways to celebrate online via virtual meeting software or other platforms.
This day is a subset of virtual celebrations, an online version of Father’s Day, and is a companion holiday to online Mother’s Day and Mother’s Day at the office.
This article includes:
- Fathers Day Zoom games
- virtual Fathers Day activities
- Fathers Day online events
Here we go!
List of online Father’s Day ideas
From games to gifts, here are the best ways to celebrate Father’s Day in remote offices.
1. Dad Libs
Dad Libs are fatherhood-themed versions of the word game Mad Libs. Participants complete blanks in a story without knowing the context of the surrounding sentence. At the end of the end of each round, the game master reads the often humorous results aloud.
To play Dad Libs during a video call, either collect word suggestions via a Typeform or Google Form, or play the traditional way and have players call out possible answers. The second approach tends to be more fun and interactive, especially when playing with a larger group.
We made a few templates you can use in your game.
Check out our full list of word games.
2. This or That: Dad Edition
This or That: Dad Edition is a Father’s Day twist on the classic question game. Instead of asking players to choose based on their own preferences, the game challenges participants to pick the option they think that dad would pick. The game is most fun when the father is present and can confirm answers.
Here are some This or That: Dad Edition questions:
- Football or baseball?
- Tuxedo or tuxedo tee?
- Cats or dogs?
- Grounding or withholding allowance?
- Mad or disappointed?
- Road trip or plane trip?
- Neckties or bowties?
- Couch or recliner?
- Chips or pretzels?
- Baseball hat or cowboy hat?
- Go bald or get a toupee?
- Noise hair or knuckle hair?
- Sneakers or dress shoes?
- Do it yourself or hire a professional?
- New toys or new tools?
- Christmas or birthdays?
Check out more This or That questions.
3. Digital Dad Day Bingo
Digital Dad Day Bingo is a free online team building game to play with coworkers. First, send all meeting attendees a Bingo card. Then, split participants into breakout rooms, or keep the main room as one big group, and encourage attendees to talk about their fathers. Players will mark boxes with the names of coworkers who possess the kinds of fathers described. Staff members may relate to more than one square. Players can repeat names, but cannot use the same name more than once in a line.
Here is a template we made for your game.
This activity helps colleagues get to know each other better and uncovers similarities among staff.
For more tips, check out our guide to remote team building Bingo.
4. Remote Cookout
Remote cookouts are one of the best ways to celebrate Father’s Day online. First, schedule a Zoom meeting and send attendees a link. Participants will join outdoors while cooking or eating delicious barbecue food. You can send dads a box of steaks or other grilling staples, or reimburse the cost of groceries or takeout. Attendees should attend the event from the great outdoors, for instance, the backyard, a park, or the beach, and should warm up the grill before the call. Joining via mobile app is advisable, and if the WiFi connection is weak, partygoers can dial in by phone instead. During the call, coworkers will grill, eat, relax, and chat together while enjoying the fresh air.
Pro tip: Swap food pictures by uploading photos to a shared album. The team can also exchange their best barbecue or picnic recipes.
5. Comedy Workshop
Dads are notorious for sharing corny jokes. This Father’s Day, you can help the dads in your crew hone their humor by attending a comedy workshop together. Comedy Workshop is a 90 minute virtual team building event that helps attendees build standup skills. Experienced comedians host the sessions and teach participants how to recognize and craft the perfect joke. This fun-filled event promotes laughter and team bonding, all while teaching office clowns how to craft less eye roll-inducing one liners. Comedy Workshop is one of the best Fathers Day online events.
6. Father’s Day Icebreakers
One of the easiest virtual Fathers Day activities for work is to start meetings with holiday icebreaker questions.
Here are some sample Father’s Day icebreakers:
- What is your favorite memory of your father?
- What is something your father taught you?
- What is the funniest thing your father ever did?
- What is the most annoying habit your father has?
- Which fictional character would you want as your father?
- Which celebrity would you like as your father?
- Share a story about your grandfather.
- Tell your best dad joke.
Check out our full list of icebreaker questions.
7. Zoom Games
Zoom games liven up any virtual event or meeting. In honor of Father’s Day, you can arrange an online game day or virtual tournament. Simply invite the team to a meeting, and compete in online challenges. You can divide the groups into dad teams and non-dad teams, make coworker fathers team captains, or just play games that have a fatherly twist.
Here are some Fathers Day Zoom games:
- Trivia: Quiz the group with facts on founding fathers, dads throughout the decades, and papa-themed pop culture
- Never Have I Ever: Find out which fathers in the group have used unconventional parenting practices with prompts like, “Never have I ever stolen my kids’ Halloween candy,” or “Never have I ever fallen asleep during my kids game or concert.”
- The Newlydad Game: Participants’ fathers complete an online survey. Then, teammates must guess the responses. Every matching answer earns one point.
Check out our full list of Zoom games for adults.
8. Online Tours
One way to celebrate Father’s Day online is to take a virtual tour together. Think of these trips as mini family road trips, only without getting lost because Dad won’t ask for directions.
You can book a hosted virtual tour at a spot the fathers have always wanted to explore. During these experiences, an area expert typically shows photos and videos while telling stories about the location. Sometimes, there are trivia quizzes, and throughout the tour participants have the opportunity to ask questions.
Or, you and the group can take a self-guided virtual tour of a museum, historical site, tourist attraction, or park. Let the fathers in the group cast votes for the destination. Then, join a Zoom call, pull up the virtual or panoramic tour, and share the screen.
Check out our full list of virtual museum and park tours.
9. Papa Presents
One way to celebrate Father’s Day in the workplace is to send a small gift to dads on staff.
Some Father’s Day gift ideas for employees:
- Mug
- Photo frame
- Snacks
- Pens
- Baseball caps
- Sunglasses
- Starbucks or Amazon egift cards
- Special swag with company name and “dad,” for example “TeamBuilding Dad”
You could also send along gifts for the kids, such as coloring books and crayons or mascot plushies. Also, cat or dog treats are thoughtful gifts for pet parents!
For more gift ideas, check out our lists of work from home gifts and budget employee gifts.
10. Father’s Day Messages
One of the best virtual Father’s Day ideas for work is to send a special message to all the fathers in your organization. You could either email an ecard, or tag the dads in a special Slack message. The gesture is more impactful if other coworkers can react and send along warm wishes to the rad dads in the office.
For design ideas, check out our guide to making holiday party invitations.
11. Bring Your Dad to Work Day
Bring Your Dad to Work Day is a twist on Take Your Child to Work Day events. Instead of showing up to work with kids in tow, employees invite their parents to watch them work. Dad can either join the festivities remotely via web conference software, or can visit their child’s home office. Since many fathers are used to working on-site, this experience will likely be enlightening. Dads can attend Zoom meetings and remote department socials, complete projects and tasks for their kids, and meet their children’s bosses and colleagues. At the end of the day, fathers will hopefully have a greater understanding and appreciation for their child’s job.
12. Bring Your Child to Work Day
Bring Your Child to Work Day offers kids the opportunity to learn about pop’s profession while gaining industry insights. Take Your Child to Work Day is most commonly celebrated on April 22, however many companies choose their own dates to host the events. The children of telecommuters can participate in virtual versions of the event. Kids can set up mini-at home offices next to dad, attend virtual meetings, and take part in online team building events. Children should get the chance to try tasks, ask questions, and learn more about the job and the company. Father’s Day is a good time of year to host a Bring Your Child to Work Day event because the occasion helps kids understand and appreciate their dad’s role in the wider world.
Check out our list of virtual take your child to work day ideas.
13. Virtual Murder Mysteries
Many fathers are crime buffs and real characters. Combine these two qualities, and you have the perfect setup for a murder mystery. Murder mysteries are a type of roleplaying games where participants search for clues to crack a fictional case and identify an imaginary killer. To make the activity more holiday appropriate, you can play a murder mystery game with a fatherly theme, or name the dads on your crew as the lead detectives. Simply choose a game, arrange a video meeting, give all participants a role to play, then read through the script together. Another fun virtual Father’s Day murder mystery idea is to invite the dads on the team to bring invite their children to play the game, assuming that the kids are old enough to hear pretend crime stories.
Check out our list of online murder mystery games.
14. Family Photo Album
Office fathers often have photos of their kids on the wall or in frames on their desks. Work from home dads might decorate home offices with family pictures, however their colleagues are less likely to see the photos across the great remote divide. Many virtual teammates only see each other’s families via the occasional Zoom cameo. However, fathers are often excited to show off their kids to their colleagues.
Father’s Day is a great occasion to give the dads on your team the ability to talk about their families. You can create a family photo album on a private social media group page, in a Slack channel, or in a cloud-based photo app like Imgur. Then, invite fathers to upload pictures to it. Throughout the week you can provide photo prompts such as “like Father, like son,” “activities you enjoy doing together,” “favorite memories,” and “proudest moments.” Coworkers without kids can contribute pictures of themselves with their fathers.
For more ideas, check out our list of virtual employee engagement activities.
15. Card Allowance
You can offer a Father’s Day-themed perk to employees in the form of greeting cards. First, pair with an online stationery vendor. Then, announce to staff members that the company will cover the cost of one card per employee. Of course, if an employee has more than one father figure, you could grant an exception and cover both cards.
Depending on the seller’s site, teammates can either order the cards individually, or you can collect your staff’s preferences and place a mass order. Then, team members can send the cards to dear old dad.
Virtual Father’s Day Tips
Here are best practices for observing Father’s Day in online workplaces.
1. Celebrate during the week
Father’s Day is on a Sunday, and your staff will likely want to spend the holiday with their own families. You should plan your Father’s Day celebrations for the week preceding or following the holiday, particularly the Friday before or the Monday after.
2. Be sensitive to nontraditional family structures
Some members of your team might not observe Father’s Day, or may have special ways of celebrating. For instance, a teammate might be estranged from a father, be grieving a deceased father, have an adopted pop, or have two dads. Same goes for the fathers in the group. Team members may be going through tough times with their kids or might prefer to keep family life private. While celebrating fatherhood is important, forcing festivities or defining the holiday in a narrow way can alienate some staff. Remembering that the spirit of work holidays is togetherness, aim to make your celebration optional and inclusive.
3. Steer clear of sexist stereotypes
A certain level of ribbing is acceptable on Father’s Day. However, society often spreads annoying stereotypes about dads, and these tropes have no place in your celebrations. For example, a joke that makes many dads upset is that they “babysit” their children rather than raise them. Folks often associate nurturing with mothers more than fathers, but there are plenty of dads who are loving, caring, and vocal with feelings. The idea that all fathers love beer, burgers, sports, and fishing is out of touch. Dads are as diverse a group as any part of humanity. Father’s Day is about rejoicing in unique distinctions while cheering the qualities all fathers share.
4. Support working fathers throughout the year
Balancing work and parenting is no easy task. While sending holiday wishes to the fathers on staff is a nice gesture, you should take steps to support dads yearlong. This approach might mean flexible working hours so that dads can attend children’s special events, paternity leave policies, and employee resource groups.
Conclusion
Since Father’s Day falls on a weekend, many offices do not observe the occasion. However, the holiday provides an opportunity for team bonding and staff recognition. Striking a balance between professional demands and parenting can be difficult, and offering praise and appreciation makes working dads feel more seen and valued by employers. Not to mention, most folks have a father, so the holiday gives teammates common ground. Workplace holidays give coworkers the opportunity to gather and bond, which is especially important in remote offices.
Next, check out our list of virtual Pride month ideas.
Angela Robinson