When you think of socialising at work, many people think of slackers chatting at the printer station or discussing office gossip over a coffee break. However socialising in businesses today has become a positive aspect to all businesses and colleagues. Studies have found that 63% of employees found that productivity improves if their friends with their colleagues outside of work and 57% of managers agreed. People are now mingling in new ways – at after work drinks, social events or public holidays. The importance of colleagues socialising at work has become extremely important as it provides an environment where a community of practice is built.

It allows for knowledge-sharing during social activities where colleagues share their ideas on work practices over a drink or different perspectives and methods to certain activities. This sharing also encourages sense of teamwork where colleagues can share their challenges and achievements, encouraging problem-solving and creating motivation among colleagues. It also encourage co-operation among colleagues and departments – for example, an alliance between the production team and the accounting team of a business could find a way to cut costs in production. This can only mean good things for your business, and in turn, for your customers.

Organising social events for the year at businesses can be challenging. Trying to get people involved in something they will all willingly participate in isn’t easy! Being a multicultural country with increasingly diverse workplaces there is no doubt there is at least one public holiday a year that each person in Australia would celebrate, and it is important to ensure that everyone feels involved. There is Australia day, Chinese New Year, St Patricks Day, Easter, Christmas and New Year just to name a few.  Regardless of how people spend their holidays they always seem to bring people together. Celebrating the public holidays of the year can provide a platform where people can communicate with their managers and colleagues in more informal environment and create a more tight-knit team.

Decorating your office in the holiday cheer will create excitement for the public holiday and generally puts people in a better mood. It creates a positive environment and an opportunity for people to get involved and socialise with colleagues celebrating holidays they may not usually celebrate, even if it’s just to ask them what the holiday is about and how it is celebrated. Most businesses celebrate Christmas, Easter and New Year’s but there are many other holidays such as Australia Day, St Patricks Day, Chinese New Year and Bastille Day, which will allow different people to be involved and socialise with people they wouldn’t usually speak to at work.

Employees generally appreciate it when the company takes an interest in the holidays they celebrate as well. The next major holiday coming up is Easter, so get the bunnies and Easter eggs out!

Motivation is the difference between waking up before the dreaded beep of your alarm and lazing around the house in pyjamas all day long. It controls our desire to achieve our dreams and goals. In saying this, it’s one of the foremost topics in getting students to participate effectively in school. Some children run through those front gates but others aren’t so eager!

For years, teachers have been faced with the difficulties of motivating children to be enthusiastic about learning, and attending school. Their physical environment and their classmates are big factors in their motivation. While their greatest joy at school might be playing with their friends and running around the yard at lunchtime, their teacher must be enthusiastic in their work and discover new ways for them to want to learn.

Teachers need to make it fun, make it relevant and make it real! Activities need to be hands on and creative so they can make something from their own imagination. Their work needs to be explained so they understand the meaning behind the activity and it is relevant to their learning. It also needs to be real, referring to something going on in the world so they feel a sense of significance in what their doing.

Decorating the classroom for each holiday creates a stimulating physical environment for the children and teachers, a sense of excitement to be involved in something and an educational experience in different cultures. Chinese New Year, St Patricks Day, Easter, Mexican Day, Bastille Day and Italian Day, just to name a few!  Celebrating these cultural holidays makes learning fun, relevant and educational all at the same time.

Walking into a classroom with vibrant colours, drawings and displays creates excitement and inspiration. Allowing the children to make decisions on decorating and displaying items and their own work around the classroom gives them a sense of accomplishment and a sense of belonging in a classroom and school that has a little of their touch. Activities around the various cultural holidays also raise awareness of different cultural groups, encourage the children to ask their friends questions and learn from them, and provide them with a more rounded education overall.

St Patrick’s Day is here again,
So gather round with all your friends,
There’s music, laughter and Guinness too,
With a Pot o’ Gold beyond a rainbow’s view
The Leprechauns are all being cheeky,
Those cute little guys can really be sneaky,
The colour of choice is a nice shade of green,
So wear it with pride as that is the theme.

History:

Saint Patrick’s Day, is an Irish cultural and religious holiday held on March 17 which is recognised and
celebrated by many countries around the world. Although not born in Ireland but somewhere
in Roman Britain, Saint Patrick is Ireland’s most commonly recognised patron saint and
is celebrated as the one who introduced Christianity into the country and drove out
Paganism. Saint Patrick lived during the 5th century, he was the son of a deacon and his
grandfather was a priest in the Christian Church.

At the age of 16 St Patrick was kidnapped,
taken to Ireland and sold into slavery. Over the next 12 years he began to communicate
with God and eventually escaped from slavery. He traveled back to Britain, joined the
church and studied to be a priest.

In Irish folklore it is said that St Patrick was called back to
Ireland to spread the word of God and he used the shamrock as a representational tool in
his teaching of Christianity. Traditionally, St Patrick’s Day is a day of religious observation
in which Irish families would attend Mass to give their thanks for their patron saint.

They would also have a feast and perhaps listen to some Irish folk music; the wearing of the
green, shamrock decorations and drinking Guinness, which are all characteristic of a
modern day St Patrick’s Day festival, are of American origin and are a celebration of Irish
culture and heritage.

Trivia:

1. Green has not always been the primary colour associated with St Patrick’s Day, which
colour was originally used?

Answer: Blue

2. In what year did St Patrick’s Day become a public holiday in Ireland?

Answer: 1903

3. The shortest St Patrick’s Day parade in Ireland is in Dripsey, Cork and travels only 100
yards. What does the parade travel between?

Answer: The village’s two pubs

4. On any given day more than 5.5 million pints of Guinness are consumed around the
world. How many pints are consumed on St Patrick’s Day?

Answer: 13 million pints of Guinness

5. Which river in America is annually dyed green on St Patrick’s Day?

Answer: The Chicago River

6. What is the traditional food of St Patrick’s Day?

Answer: Corned Beef and Cabbage

St Patrick’s Day Badges
Create badges to wear during the St Patrick’s day celebrations using white cardboard
circles, images of green shamrocks, leprechauns and pots of gold. Green, white &
orange ribbon, paper and tissue paper will also bring your ensembles to life.

Potato Toss
Using a hoop and a bucket of potatoes, participants must stand behind a line and aim to throw potatoes so they land
inside the hoop. To keep the game moving quick use a maximum of 5 potatoes per person!

Irish Food Feast & Guinness Tasting
Why not prepare a feast of traditional Irish food with pints of Guinness or non-alcoholic drinks with green food colouring to wash it all down?
Suggestions include:
• Corned Beef & Cabbage
• Irish Stew
• Boxty (Irish potato pancake)
• Colcannon (mashed potatoes & cabbage dish)
• Coddle (pork sausages, bacon, onion & potato dish)
• Spotted Dog (cross between a cake and a bread)
• Shamrock shaped cookies
• Gold wrapped chocolate coins
• Irish coffee

Decorating a rainbow with a pot of gold
Using brown cardboard, cut out a pot shape, glue this onto a large white piece of
cardboard. Decorate the top of the pot with circles of gold foil to represent coins. Then
either freehand draw or paint a rainbow around/behind the pot or using strips of coloured
paper or crumpled pieces of coloured tissue paper to create the rainbow.

Irish slang guessing game
Create teams then ask them to come up with the meaning of some typical Irish slang:
Example – “We had a bit of ‘gas’ yesterday”…. (Meaning: yesterday we had fun)
Example – “We’ll need to call a ‘jo maxi’ later”…. (We need to call a taxi later)
Some useful websites for Irish slang:
http://www.slang.ie/
http://www.dublin1850.com/general/4mymofo.html
http://suziehq.hubpages.com/hub/IrishSlangExplained

Other Ideas:
• Attend local performances or hire music/dancing groups to perform
traditional Irish concerts

• Create and publish a collection of limericks and have a public reading.

• Hold your own St Patrick’s day parade, with costumes, music, dancing
and decorations.

History

In Roman times the feast of Lupercalia which was in honour of Juno, the queen of the Roman Gods & Goddesses occurred on February 14th. During the feast people would draw the name of their love out of a bowl. They would then pin this name on their sleeve (there began the saying “to wear your heart on your sleeve”).

The Roman Emperor, Claudius II, the prosaic party-pooper, however did not like this and put his foot down on the match making calling a halt to all marriages. He believed single men made better soldiers. Fear not all you romantics! Bishop Valentine saved the day conducting secret wedding ceremonies for couples in love.

Unfortunately for the Bishop his secret was discovered and he lost his head for his sins,  but not before he penned a final love letter signing off…’From your Valentine.’ The hopeless romantic King Henry VIII declared February 14th St Valentines day in 1537.

Trivia

Q: What professionals receive the most
Valentines Day cards?
A: Teachers

Q: Of the people who buy flowers each
year for Valentines Day what percent
are men?
A: 72% are men ..only 28% are female.

Q: Who is Cupid’s father?
A: Venus – the Roman God of love and
beauty.

Q: Who is Mickey Mouse’s Valentine?
A: Minnie

Q: What fruit is also known as the ‘love
apple’?
A: Tomato

Q: Over 1000 letters every year are sent
to the city of Verona on Valentines
Day addressed to whom?
A: Juliet Capulet

Q: What year did Hallmark produce the
first Valentines Day card?
A: 1913

Stack the Hearts

You will need a supply of the old fashioned
conversation candy hearts. Everyone builds the
tallest candy heart tower they can. The tallest tower
wins! The winner keeps all the candy!

For the Love of Sugar

Using a heart shaped cookie cutter make your
Valentine a sweet treat! Chocolate chip hearts,
raspberry jam hearts or cinnamon sugar hearts
Wherever your Valentines taste buds lie. Just
don’t forget to share them with your Valentine!

Pin the Heart on Cupid


Place a large picture of cupid on the wall.
Each person then takes turns being blind folded,
spun around 4 times and then tries to pin cupids
heart back in place. The person who gets the heart
closest to its correct position wins! For a added
entertainment, create other objects to pin on cupid,
or maybe pin your heart to a famous heartthrob.
Alternatively shoot arrows using a childrens Bow
and Arrow set. (stick on suction tips preferable)
This is a lot of fun for all ages and will have
everyone wanting to better their aim!

HO HO HO…..Merry Christmas!
Have you been a good boy or bad?
What’s that?…..maybe just a tad?!
Naughty, not nice, not helping mum or dad?
..Hang your stocking and hope Santa’s not mad!

Jolly Beginnings

Happy Birthday Jesus! It’s unlikely that the birth of Jesus took place on the 25th of December but in ancient times, once the Church took over pagen festivals and ‘Christianised’ them the date was set in 354AD. In England Christmas was originally called Yule (mid-winter), the word Christmas (Christ mass) was not used until 11th Century. It was in the 19th Century everything we love about Christmas came to life; Christmas trees, crackers, decorations and of course …Santa Claus. As to why we are so in love with a strange fat man in a red suit who breaks into our house through the chimney, eats our cookies and drinks our milk is a mystery – oh yeah….it might have something to do with the present filled stockings he leaves behind!

Tinsel Trivia

Q. If you received all of the gifts in the song ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas” how many gifts would you receive?
A. 364

Q. What do the songs ‘Jingle Bells’, ‘Winter Wonderland’ and ‘Sleighride’ have in common?
A. None of these songs mention Christmas.

Q. In which body of water is Christmas Island located?
A. Formally called Kiritimati, Christmas Island is in the Indian Ocean

Q. Which of Santa’s reindeers name starts with B?
A. Blitzen

Q. In which Australian city is the traditional Boxing Day test held?
A. Melbourne

Q. Which Saint became known as Santa Claus?
A. St Nicholas.

Q. What is traditionally hidden in a Christmas pudding?
A. A coin.

Mrs. Claus’ Festive Activities

To help keep the Christmas cheer lively even after a Christmas lunch full of all the trimmings try out these merry activities!

Mystery Stocking Game

Place 10 festive items in a Christmas stocking (e.g. shortbread, Christmas cake, baubles etc). Everyone takes a turn at feeling the items from the outside of the stocking and makes note of their guesses. The person with the most correct items wins the stocking full of Christmas goodies!

Project Snowman

Divide everyone into teams and provide each team with rolls of toilet paper, piles of hats, scarves  and buttons/carrots etc made out of coloured construction paper. Each team must transform one of its members into a snowman. Prizes can be awarded for the grooviest snowman.

Make Santa Smile

Everyone knows Santa gets hungry on his long night of present deliveries Why not show him your appreciation by baking him some delicious gingerbread to leave by the fireplace with his glass of milk (or beer).

Deck the Halls

Turn your usual basically bon bon Christmas celebration into a very merry merriment with one of our festive decoration and activity memberships. With two to choose from 2 Guys will have you carolling through the Christmas season.

Standard Membership	Deluxe Membership
6 Decoration and Activity Packs Direct to your Door. → More details	13 Decoration and Activity Packs Direct to your Door. → More details

  Let’s eat, drink and dance, we’ll have some fun,

Grab hold of your stein, and bask in the sun,

The food is out, the kegs are tapped,

The music is ready, lederhosen unpacked,

Now is the time to raise a glass,

Let’s celebrate the Bavarian past.

History:

Oktoberfest is an annual 16-day festival held in Munich, Bavaria, Germany from September to the first weekend in October. Primarily based around Beer and food, it is one of the most famous events in Germany. Oktoberfest was first held to celebrate the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig to Princess Therese of Bavaria in 1810.

Over the next 200 years it would slowly change and develop into the amazing festival that we know today. Countries all over the world now hold Oktoberfest celebrations, modeled on the historical Munich event.

Trivia to make you think before thou doesth drink..

Q: Which contest is held in the Armbrustschützenzelt
tent?
A: Crossbow shooting.

Q: What traditional German toast is
heard at the Oktoberfest festival?
A: Prost!

Q: Who leads the Oktoberfest parade?
A: A young girl.

Q: What clothing and costumes are traditionally worn at Oktoberfest?
A: A Dirndl for women and Lederhosen for men.

Q: At Oktoberfest traditional hats worn contain the hair of which animal?
A: Goat

Q: True or false; Oktoberfest is the
world’s largest fair.
A: True

Q: Traditionally Beer is served out of
what sized beer steins?
A: One Litre Beer steins.

Q: On average Oktoberfest currently
hires how many staff to help run
the event in Germany?
A: 12,000 people.

 Activities:

Oktoberfest is the worlds biggest fair. So think festival foods, games & activities!

German Music:

Play some German beer drinking songs or Oompah band music. For added effect dress in Lederhosen (or simply find some long white socks, white shirt, shorts and braces).

Blind Beer Tasting:

Have a blind beer tasting contest with answer cards and spaces to guess each brew. Eat or cook German food. For example Bratwurst, Hot Bavarian Potato Salad, black forest cake, apple strudel, gingerbread, German Chocolate Cake or pretzels.

Beer Pong:

Once you have your festival set up, you can also play a game of “Beer stein Ping Pong” simply find a beer stein (or large container) and 6 ping pong balls. Then ask each participant to bounce a ball on the table and see if they can land it in the stein. Repeat this for all six balls and score each contestant out of six. The person who lands most Ping Pong balls into the stein wins!

Lock your doors and turn out the light,

Or Ghosts and Goblins will give you a fright,

It’s Halloween and the Ghouls are around,

So hide under your covers and don’t make a sound!

History:

Halloween is celebrated all over the world on October 31. The word Halloween is a shortening of All Hallows Evening also known as Hallowe’en or All Hallows’ Eve. Some scholars say Halloween has its origins in the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain (pronounced “sah-win”) which is a celebration for the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture. Halloween is now celebrated all over the world with Costumes, Jack ‘o’ Lanterns, Bobbing for apples, bonfires, trick or treating and much more.

Tombstone Trivia:

Q: According to Halloween superstition, what should you do if you want to see a witch?
A: put your clothes on inside out and walk backwards.

Q: The ancient Celts used which vegetable for their Jack-o-lanterns?
A: Turnips

Q: Which country celebrates day of the dead starting at midnight on October 31st?

A: Mexico

Q: According to superstitions, on Halloween night owls will swoop down and feast on the souls of the dying. How would you protect yourself from hungry owls?
A: Turn your pockets inside out and leave them hanging out.

Q: What colour cat is bad luck if it crosses your path?
A: A Black cat

Q: Why did the ancient Celts begin to wear costumes and masks?
A: To trick evil spirits

Activity:

Here are a few great party games and activities to help you create a devilishly delightful day for Halloween.

A Frightful Fancy Dress Parade
Admire and comment on the great costumes and masks that have been created and worn by holding a parade followed by judging and prizes for the most interesting and impressive costumes.

The Terrifying Touch Box
Gross out participants with this very funny touch and squeal Halloween party game. Fill individual boxes or one large box with items like bowls spaghetti, peeled grapes, mashed potato etc, and see if your guests can use their hands to guess what the items are. Decorate the boxes for extra effect. *Prizes can also be given for the closest answers.

A Monster Movie Marathon
Choose two or three scary movies form past and present to watch together. Alternately you can also have these movies playing silently in the background when you are hosting your party.

Get the full kit and caboodle – There’s nothing better for turning a Humdrum Halloween experience into a haunting Halloween house of horrors than one of our dazzling decoration and activity memberships. With 2 to choose from 2Guys will have you sorted for Halloween and many more fun-filled events to come! See below:

Each month our blog will be updated with a range of great activity ideas, handy tips and practical information for upcoming events!

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Six activity packs complete with our 2Guys activity resource folder and all the decorations you’ll need for a stress-free, fun-filled year of celebrations delivered direct to your door.

Thirteen activity packs complete with your very own 2Guys activity resource folder containing the history, trivia and relevant activity ideas for all the major cultural celebrations delivered direct to your door right throughout the year.