What Do You Get When You Mix Survivor-Style Challenges with Company Team Building?

You Get a Handstand Field Day.

On Survivor, tribes race to solve oversized puzzles, help each other through obstacle courses, and coordinate challenges under pressure. We took the same mix of strategy, movement, and group energy (minus the drama and backstabbing) and infused it into a classic outdoor summer event, Field Day.

The result is our Handstand Field Day: a team-building experience that’s high-energy and designed to get folks collaborating in ways that feel playful, purposeful, and fresh!

Why We Designed This Event

After over a decade of designing large-scale experiences, we’ve learned that the best events aren’t about who wins (though winning helps). They’re about giving everyone a chance to show up in their own way and connect through fun challenges and shared accomplishments.

We’ve built everything from 12-hour city scavenger hunts to immersive escape rooms with that goal in mind: create experiences where people’s unique strengths can shine.

Handstand Field Day isn’t sack races and egg tosses. Anyone can set that up (no offense, Anyone).

We wanted to create an experience that was strategic, creative, and designed to spark problem-solving, creativity, and genuine collaboration – without taking itself too seriously. (See below for that last point.)

What Are the Building Blocks of a Handstand Field Day?

When we created the Handstand Field Day, we used a touch of Survivor ingredients, and added many of our own:

• Simple rules, so everyone can jump in
• A mix of challenge types to reflect different strengths
• Modular medals that tie the experience together (more on that below)
• Real-time scoring on a leaderboard to keep things exciting

Yes, there’s some competition. But it’s strategic, light-hearted, and blindside-free.

A Format That Feels Like Real Teamwork

Great teams are made up of a mix of personalities and skills. So why do so many team-building events only reward one kind of contribution?

Our Field Day format is built to reflect true collaboration. Players share ownership, support each other, and bring different skills to the table.

Every Handstand Field Day event includes a mix of three types of games:

1. Physical 🔥

Game type #1 is movement-based challenges that are more about communication and coordination than athleticism. There are intricate props and lots of group strategy invovled.

Teams must work together to plan and experiment to get the fastest time. Ultimately, their goal is to reach the other side of the playing field, but as you might guess, it's not that simple 😉.

2. Mental 🧠

These challenges test memory, observation, logic, and quick thinking. They shift the spotlight from physical skills to mental agility, and they’re just as satisfying to crack. Want an example? Check out some of the greatest Survivor puzzles!

3. Creative 🎨

The third style is the Creative portion, where teams show off their humor, design skills, and improvisation chops.

No matter someone’s comfort zone, there’s a space where they can step in and contribute. That’s the whole idea.

Medals That Come Together...Literally

At each station, teams earn a shard of a medal that represents that specific challenge type (physical, mental, or creative). As the day progresses, those pieces clasp together to form a full medal, like puzzle pieces.

The finished medal serves as a keepsake and a tangible reminder of how the team worked together. People often hang onto awards like these long after the event ends, not because they’re flashy, but because they’re meaningful.

Our Guiding Principles for Designing a Field Day

We’ve spent years testing and tweaking game mechanics. These are the main pillars of our Field Day:

🔁 Replay-ability

Games should be fun across multiple rounds. It should not be a one-and-done. Players should be able to try again and want to try again using their learnings from previous rounds, without diluting the experience.

👀 Spectator Value

Even if you’re not playing, the game should be exciting to watch and easy to follow. Go back to Survivor. The challenges are exciting to watch, even from your couch!

🌍 Inclusivity

Design with different abilities, communication styles, and energy levels in mind. No matter where you fall on the spectrum of competitors, you should feel like you can contribute and have a great time doing it.

🛠 Customizability

The experience should align with your company’s tone, whether it’s goofy, high-energy, analytical, or a combination of all of the above. We take your group's story and reflect it by tweaking the game design.

✨ Aesthetic

We care about how things look. From medals to signage, everything’s thoughtfully designed.

The attention to detail is what makes the difference between something your team shrugs off and something they’ll talk about for the rest of the year.

Why HR and Culture Leaders Love a Handstand Field Day

✔️ Low-lift logistics

We plan everything. We bring everything (equipment, staff, signage, medals). We run everything. You show up and enjoy the day.

✔️ Scales to your team

Whether you're planning a small team retreat or a company-wide offsite, we can scale the experience from 50 to 500 and adapt it to your group's needs, space, schedule, and goals.

✔️ Works with any team dynamic

Remote-first? Cross-functional? Mixed energy levels? We’ve built this with that in mind.

✔️ Easy executive buy-in

You’ll have a clear proposal with measurable outcomes like engagement, team feedback, and shareable memories. If you need some extra "oomph" to a thumbs up, check out these tips for getting budget approval.

Is a Field Day Right for Your Company's Team-Building?

If you’re still reading, chances are this is a fit. But we also know there are a million ways to gather your team. So why a Handstand Field Day?

Here are a few reasons our Field Day would get four hundred thumbs up from your employees versus other events:

It brings genuine, plain old fun

We started Handstand with one goal: to be the highlight of your year. That spirit lives in every experience we design.

These challenges are intricately designed and meticulously built to spark collaboration and a real sense of accomplishment.

Everyone stays in one shared space

Unlike our scavenger hunts that split teams into smaller teams and send them out into the world, or virtual competitions where everyone is physically apart, Field Day keeps everyone together on the field.

Teams rotate through challenges side-by-side, cheer each other on, and actually feel like one big competitive unit.

It works for teams with a wide range of strengths

A mix of physical, mental, and creative challenges ensures everyone has a way to contribute—whether they’re introverts, extroverts, strategists, problem-solvers, or big-idea people.

It’s active, without being cutthroat

The focus is on teamwork, not intensity. It’s about shared laughs, creative problem-solving, and enough challenge to keep things exciting.

What's a Good Reason to Have a Company Field Day?

Here are a few perfect fits:

• You want to boost company morale 😄
• You have a summer employee engagement event ☀️
• A company milestone celebration is coming up 🎉
• You want an outdoor team-building activity 🏕️
• You’re planning an in-person team meetup or company offsite 🤝
• There’s an upcoming kickoff for a new project or quarter 🚀
• You simply want everyone to have fun! 🤗

Want to Create a Field Day That Fits Your Team-Building Goals?

We’d love to help.

A Handstand Field Day is flexible, fully facilitated, and tailored to your team’s vibe. It's fun and collaborative, leading to connection and lasting memories.

Let's build something unforgettable for your team.

👉 Reach out to learn more or schedule a quick intro call.

More FAQs: Handstand Field Day Edition

What is a Handstand Field Day?

A Handstand Field Day is a team-building event where coworkers rotate through a series of strategically designed physical, mental, and creative challenges to promote collaboration and fun. It’s lightly competitive and designed to get everyone involved.

How long does a Handstand Field Day typically last?

Most of our Field Days run between 2–3 hours, including game rotations, breaks, and time for awards or celebrations at the end.

What group sizes work best for a Handstand Field Day?

Our Field Day is scalable, but most fun with at least 50 people, and ideally more. We group teams in a way that keeps things engaging and well-paced.

Is this company event just for outdoor spaces?

Nope. While our Field Day event is perfect for parks or...fields 😉…we can adapt the format for courtyards, large offices, parking lots, and even indoor conference centers. But we recommend having your company Field Day outside for extra fun!

Does Handstand bring all the materials?

Yes. We bring all the equipment, props, signage, medals, and hype needed to make the day run smoothly, along with staff to host and facilitate.