Games and Prizes at Work

[IfItPlugsIn]

I want to reach out and ask for some suggestions to use at work. Here's the sitch: I'm the Wellness Champion at my place of employment. We are trying to get employees to be more active, and one program we run is a walking group. We normally play some kind of game, give out weekly prizes, and also give out a quarterly prize. People have to walk 15 minutes (one break) per day, at least 3 days per week to qualify for the prizes. I feel like we're playing the same games, and giving out the same prizes all the time. Since nerds are the ultimate gamers, and we're all striving for fitness, I'd like some ideas of new games to play, and fitness related prizes we could give out.

Here are examples of current games:

Scrabble (draw a letter each day you walk, person with the highest scoring word at the end of the week wins, everyone is entered for drawing for quarterly prize)

Yahtzee (shake 1 die each day, at the end of the week, mark down your score on a Yahtzee card, best score of the week wins, best total score at the end wins quarterly prize)

5-Card Stud (draw a playing card each day, best poker hand of the week wins, drawing for quarterly prize)

Spin the Wheel (spin a wheel-of-fortune-type wheel to earn points or go bankrupt, highest points of the week wins, drawing for quarterly prize)

Weekly Prizes

We always give away a $20 Target gift card for 1st prize, $10 gift card to a local sub shop for 2nd place.

Quarterly Prizes

We have about $400 per quarter to come up with a prize. We've done custom bikes from a local bike shop, Wii Fit package (Wii, Wii Fit, games, controllers, etc.), gas grill and grocery store gift card, Year of Fun package (baseball tickets, passes to local water park, go-karts, mini-golf, regular golf with club/cart rental, bowling)

Caveats

Lots of the people here are 50+ and in pretty poor shape. We want to make it as inclusive as possible, so the games can't be anything that require much, if any, skill. We tried doing bean bag tosses and ladder golf, and people complained. Games can't be too complex/confusing. If it takes too much time, or the rules are too confusing, people tend not to participate (some peole even complained about Yahtzee!!). So basically, easy is good; fast is good; luck is prefered over skill.

This is such a great program, and our company is amzaingly supportive, so I'd love to come up with something fresh to entice people to participate. Thanks for the help!

[IfItPlugsIn]

Anybody???

[concretecavewoman]

Nice that your company is so supportive. Do you have any CSAs in your area? Maybe a subscription to one of those might be a nice healthful gift as a quarterly prize. As for games.... Maybe a pedometer competition? Whoever has the most steps at the end of the week? No skill involved, just walk (who complains about bean bag tosses, srsly)

[joeyb]

You could do Wii Sports or Wii Fit competitions. We had a home run derby and a hoola hoop contest once.

[IfItPlugsIn]

Nice that your company is so supportive. Do you have any CSAs in your area? Maybe a subscription to one of those might be a nice healthful gift as a quarterly prize. As for games.... Maybe a pedometer competition? Whoever has the most steps at the end of the week? No skill involved, just walk (who complains about bean bag tosses, srsly)

I like the CSA idea. I don't think we have one, but we do have a farmers' market, and I'm sure there's some kind of online thing I could order (like a fruit of the month club, or something along those lines). I kinda think people complain just to complain? old people being grumpy?

I'm thinking if there could be a way to make a lotto game or bingo work???