What's Love Got To Do with It? post from Kara Anderson at C3.

Valentine’s Day is a long-celebrated tradition of celebrating love by sending cards, flowers and chocolates to your love interest. Traditionally it is a day of courting with romantic symbols to unlock your lovers heart, or not.

Valentine’s Day is a very tricky day because of the diversity of relationships in the office. People celebrating the day with their significant others look forward to this day every year, however people who are not in relationships can find this day to be quite depressing.

Celebrating Valentine’s day to appeal to both sides of the spectrum can be tricky but it can be done. Here are ways to celebrate in the office without excluding any of our co-workers.

Have a Pot Luck

Invite your colleagues to participate in a potluck. Ask them to create a Valentine’s day dessert or dish whether it be heart shaped cookies or cupcakes with daggers through a heart, your colleagues are sure to have fun with it. Make sure to award a prize for the most creative Valentines related dish that is elected by popular vote.

Valentine’s Karaoke

Rent a karaoke machine and have a Valentine’s Day sing off. Provide a list of ‘Love Songs’ and ‘Anti-Love Songs’ to choose from. Throw in a couple of duets for an extra way to spice it up.

        Love songs:

o You’re Still the One- Shania Twain

o Can’t Get Enough of your Love Baby- Barry White

o Love Potion No.9- The Searchers

o I Got You Babe- Sonny and Cher

o Love Me Tender- Elvis Presley

       Anti-Love Songs:

o Anything Taylor Swift

o Single Ladies- Beyoncé

o Girls Just Want to Have Fun- Cyndi Lauper

o So Lonely- The Police

o I Hate Myself for Loving You- Joan Jett and the Blackhearts

o Love Bites- Def Leppard

Love Board

Set up a love board where everyone can share what it is that they love about their job. This is a great way for encourage team building and have everyone focus on the positive of their job and not think about the holiday itself.

Photo Booth

Rent or create a photo booth for everyone in the office. You can make or purchase an ‘I love you’ back drop and encourage your colleagues to take fun pictures with each other. This is a great way to remind everyone how much they appreciate each other. You can even make photo props that appeal to both sides of the spectrum such as ‘Be Mine’ and ‘Go Away’.

Play a Game

Games are always a great way to boost morale in the office. It promotes team building and gets them moving. The following games are great for Valentines whether you are ‘pro’ or ‘anti’ because they involve lots and lots of chocolate.

Ring around the Roses- Get 3 faux or chocolate roses and 5 rings to toss. Spin player 5 times and give them the rings to toss onto the roses. Players have two rounds of chances. If they do not get 3 rings around the roses the first time, make sure to spin them again 5 times before their second round. Be sure to have a prize for all the winners.

Box of Chocolates- Blindfold a player and give them a box of name brand chocolates (Kit Kats, Snickers, etc.). Players must race to put all the chocolates in alphabetical order. They can do whatever they need to figure out the type of chocolate such as smell and taste to figure out what it is, they cannot ask a friend. Whomever gets the chocolates in alphabetical order first wins.

Celebrating Valentine’s Day in the office doesn’t have to exclude anyone. Just have fun with it and it will brighten everyone’s day.


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