26 Best Women's Day Celebration Ideas, Games & Activities for Office
Celebrate International Women's Day at work with engaging ideas, fun games, and thoughtful recognition activities. Discover creative ways to appreciate the women in your workplace while promoting diversity, inclusion, and team bonding.
On this page
International Women's Day, celebrated every year on March 8th, is more than just a calendar event—it’s a powerful reminder to honor women's social, economic, cultural, and political achievements across the globe. It’s also a time to reflect on ongoing efforts toward gender equality and to create spaces where women feel supported, heard, and empowered—especially at work.
In the workplace, Women's Day is an excellent opportunity to build a more inclusive culture through thoughtful celebrations. It can be as simple as recognizing the contributions of female colleagues or as vibrant as organizing office-wide events that bring people together.
From fun games that spark team spirit to interactive workshops, creative competitions, and social media shoutouts—there are plenty of ways to make the day engaging and memorable.
This guide explores a mix of ideas, including team-building games, recognition activities, and inclusive celebration tips that can help make Women's Day meaningful for everyone in your organization. Whether you're planning a small team huddle or a company-wide event, there's something here for every celebration.
What is International Women's Day?
International Women’s Day is a global celebration of women’s achievements. It honors their contributions in social, economic, cultural, and political spaces. This day also highlights the ongoing fight for gender equality and women's rights.
Observed every year on March 8, it reminds us to value, respect, and support women everywhere. From sharing meaningful women's day messages to honoring female employees, it’s a time to celebrate women in all roles and walks of life.
A Brief history of celebrating International Women's Day
International Women's Day (IWD) has a rich history rooted in the global struggle for women's rights and equality. Its origins can be traced back to the early 20th century, marked by significant social and political upheaval.
The idea for an international day to honor women first emerged at the turn of the 20th century amid the rapid industrialization and urbanization that characterized the period.
In the United States, the first National Women's Day was observed on February 28, 1909, organized by the Socialist Party of America to demand better working conditions, suffrage rights, and overall equality for women.
Inspired by this initiative, women across the world began organizing and advocating for their rights. In 1910, during the International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen, Denmark, German activist Clara Zetkin proposed the establishment of an International Women's Day.
The proposal was met with unanimous approval, leading to the first International Women's Day being celebrated the following year, on March 19, 1911, in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland. More than one million women and men attended rallies and demonstrations to demand women's rights to vote, work, and hold public office.
The date of International Women's Day was later changed to March 8th to commemorate a strike by women garment workers in New York on March 8, 1857, protesting against working conditions and low wages. This event became a symbol of women's resistance and solidarity.
Significance of celebrating Women's Day
International Women's Day is a powerful reminder of progress, perseverance, and the impact of women in shaping industries, workplaces, and communities. Beyond celebration, it’s a call to action—encouraging workplaces to foster inclusivity, recognize contributions, and create growth opportunities.
The gender pay gap remains a critical challenge, limiting economic potential and career advancement for women. McKinsey Global Institute estimates that advancing gender equality in the workplace could add $12 trillion to global GDP by 2025, emphasizing the need for organizations to support equitable policies and inclusive work environments actively.
Honoring this day isn’t just about appreciation—it’s about committing to real change that empowers women to thrive.
Download our Women's Day Celebration Kit now!
Get ready to celebrate International Women's Day in style! Our Women's Day Celebration Kit is the ultimate resource for companies looking to recognize and celebrate the women in their workplace.
14 Wonderful Women's Day activities in office to motivate and encourage your female employees
Here are some wonderful Women's Day activities in the office that will provide an excellent opportunity to recognize the contributions of women in the workplace.
1. Employee recognition & awards
Take the opportunity to recognize and celebrate the achievements of women employees within the organization. Whether it's through awards, certificates, or public acknowledgment, highlighting their accomplishments can boost morale and inspire others.
Managers and peers can give digital badges and appreciation messages on social recognition walls via employee recognition platforms like Empuls. Additionally, rewards can be given for outstanding achievements, which employees can later redeem for gift cards or experiences.
You can use that to encourage employees to send appreciation to women co-workers and praise them for their contributions.
2. Personalized e-gift cards
A one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t always work when showing appreciation. Instead of generic gifts, offer e-gift cards, allowing women employees to choose what matters most to them—shopping, dining, travel, or wellness experiences. This adds a personal touch and ensures they truly enjoy their reward.
3. Women's Day-themed polls & quizzes
Interactively engage employees by running Women's Day-themed quizzes or polls about inspiring female leaders, gender equality in the workplace, or women’s achievements. Empuls’ survey and poll feature makes creating and distributing these quizzes easy. To make it more exciting, you can offer reward points or gift cards for employees with the highest scores.
4. Virtual panel discussion with women leaders
Hosting a virtual event featuring successful women in leadership roles can inspire employees and encourage career growth. With Empuls' communication feed, you can send out invitations, share event details, and provide a platform for employees to engage in discussions. After the event, a recording can also be uploaded, ensuring employees who missed it can still benefit.
5. Wellness & self-care vouchers
Women often juggle multiple responsibilities at work and home. Offer wellness rewards and let them choose what works best for them, whether it's fitness challenges with rewards or a range of online and offline subscriptions, from gym membership and virtual yoga classes to fitness and nutrition consultations.
Empuls’ wellness rewards include a range of physical and mental self-care experiences that employees can redeem, allowing them to unwind and recharge.
6. Donation matching for women’s causes
Encourage employees to support organizations working toward women’s education, healthcare, and empowerment. Build a deeper emotional connection with your employees, by empowering them to donate to a charity of choice.
7. Host a Women's Day lunch
A Women's Day lunch is an excellent opportunity to unite all the women in your office to celebrate the occasion. Arrange for a special lunch for all the women in your office. You can also share meal vouchers with the team.
Socializing and celebrating the day with your colleagues is an excellent opportunity. Use Empuls' rewards platform to provide meal vouchers or credits for a special Women's Day lunch, allowing remote and in-office employees to celebrate together.
8. Shoutouts for women colleagues
Encouraging employees to recognize their female colleagues publicly fosters a culture of appreciation. Using social intranet platforms like Empuls where employees can post thank-you notes, appreciation messages, and highlight achievements.
Managers can take this further by awarding points or digital trophies to employees who receive multiple recognitions.
9. Customized swag & merchandise
Offering Women's Day-themed gifts like customized mugs, T-shirts, tote bags, or notebooks is a fun way to make the celebration more memorable. Present them with Women's Day themed company merchandise they genuinely desire and will proudly showcase.
10. Conduct a learning session
Before International Women's Day, plan and invite staff to a learning session. By organizing a learning session (utilizing a platform like Empuls) for your staff, you can assist them in understanding the significance of the day and demonstrate your company's support for the women who work there.
Organizing a free and optional learning session might be a great starting point for those who want to participate in the conversation but aren't sure how to get involved.
11. Cultural celebration
Celebrating the diverse cultures of the women in your office is a great way to promote diversity and inclusion. Cultivate engagement across diverse demographics within your workforce, spanning various cultural backgrounds and interests.
You can organize a cultural festival where you showcase the food and music of different cultures. It's an excellent opportunity to learn about other traditions and celebrate the rich heritage of your team.
12. Thank you notes & cards
A simple yet powerful way to celebrate Women's Day is by acknowledging the incredible contributions of the women in your office with personalized thank-you notes. A heartfelt message recognizing their dedication, resilience, and impact can go a long way in boosting morale and motivation.
Whether you write handwritten notes for a personal touch or send a thoughtful email to the entire team, this gesture fosters a culture of appreciation. It makes every woman feel valued and celebrated.
Virtual gift cards are a simple and easy way to celebrate women this International Women's Day, especially if you have a remote or virtual team. They can be quick to personalize as well.
13. Social media campaign
Launch a social media campaign that promotes the cause of Women's Day and encourages employees to share their stories, thoughts, and messages related to the theme. The campaign can include hashtags, contests, and challenges and can effectively reach a wider audience and generate buzz around the cause.
If you will use Instagram for your social media campaign on Women's Day, make sure to post engaging visual content. An Instagram carousel is the best way to promote the cause of your campaign.
You can also create informative posters in a digital form and share them on different social media platforms. Use a poster maker to create visually appealing designs that grab people's attention.
This activity includes employee recognition, which will also encourage and motivate your female employees.
14. Women's Day newsletter
Create a Women's Day newsletter that features stories, articles, and interviews related to the theme of Women's Day. The newsletter can be distributed to all employees and can help promote awareness of the cause and encourage engagement and participation.
This newsletter activity will encourage women, make them feel special, and fill them with self-confidence. This newsletter activity is an excellent way to promote employee recognition, especially for female employees.
12 Interesting games for Women's Day celebration in office
Here are 12 amazing games for the Women's Day celebration in the office that will surely add an extra spark to your Women's Day celebration.
1. The guessing game
People Needed: There are no boundaries; this game is ideal for up to 15 females.
Items needed: A clear bowl, paper, and pens.
Instructions: Give each woman a pen and a piece of paper. Have them list two or three self-reflections on paper. Put the papers you collected from all the women in the bowl.
Bring one woman to the middle and let her to choose a folded piece of paper from the bowl. She has to read the truths aloud and identify the author. Note the points in writing. The woman with the most points in the end wins.
2. Guess the thing
People needed: No rules, ideal for 20 ladies playing in pairs.
Items needed: A few standard home goods, papers, and pencils.
Instructions: Form two women into pairs and have them sit with their backs to one another. The domestic item bag will belong to one of the partners, and the pen and paper to the other. Without giving away the specific name of the object, the woman carrying the bag must explain it to her partner while asking her to identify what kind of object it is.
She must record her guess on paper when she has made one. Ninety seconds pass between each round. Whoever correctly answers the most questions after the game wins. You should give the winners some presents.
3. Bottle spinner
People needed: No limits are necessary; this game is ideal for 15 or more females.
Things needed: A bottle and nail paints
Instructions: This cute twist makes it different from the standard Spin the Bottle game. Place some nail polish bottles in a circle on your table for this activity, allowing enough room in the centre for a bottle to spin.
Gather around the table in a circle. Each woman in the group must spin the bottle one at a time. After the bottle stops spinning, the woman it is pointing at gets one minute to paint her nails with the nail polish in front of her.
In a minute, try to paint as many nails as you can. The bottle should be spun until each lady has a turn. The lady with the most painted nails wins after each woman has had a turn.
4. Music puzzle game
People needed: No limit, perfect game for 20 or more women
Things need: Phone/music player, paper, pen, and two buzzers
Instructions: This game requires some preparation, so make a playlist before you plan to play it. Also, write some questions about the songs, such as "Who is the singer of this song?", "What is the hook of this song?", "Who was the guest on this song?" etc. When the guests arrive, divide the women into pairs. If more than four ladies are in your company, split into additional groups and conduct the game in batches. Call the first batch, i.e., two groups of four women.
Give each track one buzzer, play a song, and ask your first question. The first group to press the buzzer answers the question. If a player does not respond, the question automatically goes to the other team, and they can answer it. The team that gets all the correct answers wins the game.
5. Have you ever
People required: Unlimited, perfect game for 20 or more women
Mandatory: List of questions
Instructions: You must plan and prepare for this game before the party. Make a list of exciting questions like "Have you ever been arrested?", "Have you ever locked yourself in a room?", "Have you ever peed in the pool?" etc. Give your visitors a notepad and paper when they come, and then ask them these questions.
They must answer yes or no to each question. "Yes" is worth 10 points, while "No" is worth 0. Add up the scores of all participants. The person with the highest score wins. Additionally, you can add your variations to the game to make it more thrilling and unpredictable.
6. Purse scavenger hunt
People Wanted: Unlimited, perfect game for 20 or more women
Items Needed: Papers and pencils
Instructions: Make a list of everyday items found in women's purses. List items such as red lipstick, lip gloss, combs, lip balm, scrunchies, clutches, etc. If there are 20 women, divide them into four groups. You can reduce or increase the groups according to the number of players. After forming groups, ask the women to take their bags.
Read each item on your list individually and have the women start looking for those items in their bags. All group members must collect the listed items from their bags and place them on the table. The group that has all the objects wins the game. The winner can also be chosen according to the quantity of the goods. For example, a group with five red lipsticks wins over a group with two lipsticks.
7. Name it in one minute
People needed: 8-10 Women
Things needed: Papers, Stopwatch and Pens
Instructions: When guests arrive, pass out a pen and paper to all the women. Make a list of things you will ask participants to write about. For instance, you could list well-known cosmetic companies, fashion designers, prominent Singapore vacation locations, well-known female athletes, etc.
A subject from the list should be announced when the players are ready. Give them one minute to summarize everything relevant to the topic, then sound the buzzer.
For instance, individuals must list as many female creators as possible. The person who enters the most titles earns one point. Move on to the next subject on the list to continue the game. In conclusion, the contest is won by the individual with the most points.
8. Draw on the balloon
People needed: 8 to 10 women
Things needed: ballpoint pens, whistle and balloons
Instructions: Give the ballpoint pen and the balloon to 5 women at a time. Blow the whistle and ask the women to draw something on the balloons with a pencil. For example, suggest drawing four hearts on a balloon. It's hard when you can't see what you're drawing.
All women must draw four hearts without popping the balloon. The game is won by those who draw all the shapes correctly on the balloon without breaking it.
9. Memory game
People needed: 4 to 5 women. More women can be played in sets.
Things needed: Pens, Paper, and Random Household Items
Instructions: Get a group of 4 to 5 people together and give them pens and paper. Now, place some everyday household items in the drawer. For example, you can arrange lipstick, glass, watches, coins, staplers and other similar items.
Now all the participants look carefully at the objects in the tray for 0 seconds and try to remember the order in which they were placed. Then, remove the tray. All participants must list the items in the order they were in the box. The player who gets all the items correctly and in the correct order wins the game.
10. Guess the movie
People needed: 20 or more women
Things needed: Stopwatch
Instructions: Divide the participants into two groups. Call one member of each team. One member must whisper the name of the movie into the ear of the opposite group member. This team member must show the name of the movie in front of his team. Team members must guess the name of the movie. The only thing to remember is that the actor cannot speak and must explain the name through actions.
The contestant can play any scene from the movie or give suggestions about the actor or actress in the movie. If the team guesses the name of the movie correctly in the given time, they get a point. If it doesn't get the right answer, the opposing team gets a point.
11. Blow up the balloons
People needed: 8-10 Women
Things needed: Whistle and Balloons
Instructions: Give each woman a balloon. When you blow the whistle, all women get 10 life to blow the balloon. The player who blows the biggest balloon in 10 breaths wins the game.
12. Peel oranges
People needed: 8-10 Women
Things needed: Oranges and a Whistle
Instructions: If you're looking for a fun party game, this one will make everyone laugh. (You also get peeled oranges to make juice for the next few days!) Place a pile of oranges in front of each participant.
Once you have whistled, all participants must start peeling the oranges. Participants must try to peel as many oranges as possible completely in one minute. The player who peels the most oranges wins the game.
Final thoughts
Celebrating Women's Day in the office is more than just a gesture—it's a chance to show genuine appreciation, foster a supportive environment, and promote gender inclusivity. Whether it's through games that bring teams closer, recognition that uplifts voices, or activities that spark conversations, every effort counts.
Choose ideas that resonate with your workplace culture and create a meaningful, engaging, and inclusive celebration for all.
Make your Women's Day celebrations memorable by including seamless rewards and recognition designed to help businesses celebrate, appreciate, and engage employees.
From personalized gifts to curated experiences and exclusive perks, Empuls makes it effortless to create a culture of appreciation for the incredible women who contribute to your company’s success—on Women's Day and beyond.
FAQ’s
Why is it important to celebrate Women's Day in the office?
Celebrating Women's Day in the office is essential because it recognizes the contributions of women in the workplace, promotes gender equality, and fosters a supportive and inclusive work environment.
How can I ensure that Women's Day celebrations are inclusive?
To ensure that Women's Day celebrations are inclusive, you can make sure that all genders are invited and involved in the planning process, promote diversity by celebrating the contributions of women from different cultures and backgrounds, and provide opportunities for all employees to participate in the celebrations.
How should we celebrate Women's Day?
Celebrating Women's Day can include recognizing women's achievements, organizing learning sessions, offering wellness or self-care initiatives, supporting women-focused causes, and creating a workplace culture that values diversity and inclusion.
What is a good theme for Women's Day?
A good Women's Day theme should align with empowerment and inclusion, such as "Breaking Barriers, Building Futures," "Empowered Women, Empower the World," or "Embrace Equity." Choosing a meaningful theme helps reinforce the purpose of the celebration.
How do you plan a Women's Day program?
Planning a Women's Day program involves setting a theme, organizing engaging activities, inviting speakers or leaders, arranging appreciation initiatives, and ensuring employee participation to create a meaningful and inclusive celebration.
