Things to Do on Memorial Day at Work: 9 Ideas to Celebrate & Honor

Memorial Day means something a little different to everyone. For some, it’s the unofficial start of summer: cookouts, backyard games, and a long weekend with family. For others, it’s a solemn occasion to honor and remember the men and women who gave their lives in service to this country.

When it comes to things to do on Memorial Day at work, the best celebrations manage to hold both of those truths at once. In this guide, we’ve rounded up nine of our favorite Memorial Day work ideas—some meaningful, some just plain fun, and many that are both.

Why Memorial Day matters at work

Memorial Day isn’t just a day off. It’s an opportunity for leaders to bring their teams together around something bigger than the day-to-day grind.

Marking the holiday as a team, even in a small way, signals that your organization values more than productivity. It shows you care about community, history, and the people who made it possible for your employees to work freely.

That kind of culture matters. Employee engagement is directly tied to how connected people feel to their workplace, and shared experiences like a Memorial Day celebration are a simple, powerful way to strengthen those bonds.

It’s also a chance to model the kind of values-driven leadership that employees remember. Taking time to acknowledge a national day of mourning—even briefly nd imperfectly—says something about who you are as an organization. 

A brief history of Memorial Day

“This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.”—Elmer Davis

Memorial Day, originally known as Decoration Day, was established by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic. In his General Order No. 11, issued in 1868, he designated May 30th as a day for decorating the graves of soldiers who died defending their country.

The red poppy has been the American Legion’s official symbol of remembrance since 1920. That was inspired by the World War I poem “In Flanders Fields” by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, which describes poppies blooming over the graves of fallen soldiers in Belgium. Disabled veterans have assembled Buddy Poppies in VA hospitals since 1924, with proceeds supporting veteran rehabilitation and service programs.

Today, Memorial Day is a federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May, dedicated to honoring all U.S. military personnel who died in service to our country.

9 things to do on Memorial Day at work

Whether you’re planning a full team event or a simple gesture of remembrance, here are nine great ways to observe this holiday with your team.

1. Organize an outdoor team event

One of the most popular things to do on Memorial Day at work is to get everyone outside. The weather is typically beautiful, and an outdoor activity is a natural fit for the holiday’s spirit of togetherness.

Here are a few of our favorites:

• Go Give: Charity Challenge—Teams complete GPS-guided challenges that positively impact their community, building camaraderie along the way.
• Outrageous Games—A non-athletic, high-energy collection of games perfect for a company picnic or outdoor employee gathering.
• Team Chili Cook-off—Teams start with chili basics and barter for extra ingredients by completing fun challenges. Competitive, creative, and delicious.

Cooking for a Cause

Cooking for a Cause is a culinary team building activity that’s built around preparing and enjoying a meal with the rest of your team. You’ll also help your community in a meaningful way by creating donations for a local food bank. 

Team Chili Cook-off

This fiery team building favorite combines creativity, resourcefulness, and skill.  In the Team Chili Cook-off, each group starts with chili basics like meat and tomatoes, but collecting other ingredients means bartering while completing fun challenges.

Outrageous Games

From the opening ceremony to the closing awards presentation, Outrageous Games is the perfect collection of non-athletic Memorial Day games for your company picnic or employee meeting. Competition has never been more fun! 

2. Assemble care packages for active duty military

This is one of the most meaningful Memorial Day work activities you can organize, and it doubles as team building with real-world impact.

Our Operation Military Care program brings teams together to assemble care packages for deployed service members. It’s a hands-on, purposeful activity that your team will genuinely feel good about, and it connects the spirit of the holiday directly to the people it honors.

Consider pairing it with a brief team moment of reflection before you get started. Even just a few words from a leader about who Memorial Day is for and why it matters can make all the difference.

3. Cook a meal for your community

Food has a way of bringing people together, and Cooking for a Cause leans right into that. Teams prepare meals together and donate them to a local food bank, combining the best of culinary team building with genuine community service.

It’s a great option for teams that want a Memorial Day celebration with a service component—and one that keeps the focus on giving back.

4. Attend a local Memorial Day parade

Many cities and towns host Memorial Day parades, often followed by a memorial service at a local cemetery or monument. Encouraging your team to attend—either as a group or individually—is one of the simplest things to do on Memorial Day that still carries real weight.

Send a Memorial Day message to employees in advance, letting them know about local events, and invite anyone who served to share their perspective. It’s a low-lift gesture that means a lot.

5. Buy a poppy

In the days leading up to Memorial Day, Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) members collect donations in exchange for red poppies. It takes less than a minute, but it’s a visible, meaningful act of remembrance.

Consider setting up a small donation station in the office or sharing information about where employees can participate. When paired with other Memorial Day work activities, it adds a layer of genuine tribute to the celebration.

6. Observe the National Moment of Remembrance

At 3:00 p.m. local time on Memorial Day, Congress asks all Americans to pause for one minute of silence in honor of fallen service members. The time was intentionally chosen to represent the hour when most Americans enjoy their freedom.

If your team is working or gathering that day, pause at 3:00 p.m. together. It costs nothing, takes one minute, and carries a lot of meaning.

7. Fly the flag and decorate with intention

Decorating with red, white, and blue is a classic way to mark the holiday—but there’s an opportunity here to go beyond streamers and tablecloths.

The tradition of flying the U.S. flag at half-staff from dawn until noon on Memorial Day is a longstanding act of respect for fallen soldiers. If your office or venue has a flagpole, consider observing this tradition. Then raise the flag to full-staff at noon—a gesture that honors both remembrance and the living.

8. Thank a veteran

Memorial Day is primarily about those we’ve lost, but it’s also a natural moment to acknowledge the veterans on your team or in your network. A sincere, personal word of thanks—from a manager, a team leader, or the whole group—goes a long way.

If your team wants to do more, Operation Gratitude offers a letter-writing program for soldiers currently deployed. It’s a meaningful activity that can be built into a Memorial Day corporate event or done individually.

9. Share stories and send a team letter

Invite employees to share what Memorial Day means to them—whether they have a personal connection to military service or just a memory tied to the holiday. Collect those reflections and share them internally as a team letter or newsletter piece.

You can even take it a step further by printing the submissions and delivering them to a local veterans’ living center, or emailing them to an organization that serves veterans in your area. It’s a simple, human way to build connection at work while honoring the day.

How to celebrate Memorial Day at work: Tips for leaders

Not sure where to start? Here’s a quick framework for how to celebrate Memorial Day at work in a way that feels genuine, not performative:

• Send a Memorial Day message to employees ahead of the holiday—share what’s planned and, just as importantly, what the day means.
• Mix the meaningful with the fun. There’s nothing wrong with a cookout or a round of Outrageous Games—the key is pairing it with at least one moment of genuine tribute.
• Let your team lead. Ask whether anyone has a personal connection to the holiday and would like to share. You might be surprised by the stories in your own organization.
• Keep it inclusive. Not everyone has a military connection, and that’s okay. Focus on gratitude and community rather than assuming shared experience.

The most memorable Memorial Day celebrations at work aren’t the most elaborate—they’re the ones where people feel like the day actually meant something.

Make your Memorial Day celebration one to remember

Whether you’re planning a full team building event or a quieter day of reflection and gratitude, Memorial Day is a meaningful opportunity to bring your team closer together.

And remember: you don’t have to figure it all out on your own. The right activity—whether it’s something charitable, something competitive, or something that simply brings people to the same table—can make this holiday genuinely memorable for your whole team.

We’re here to help you make it happen. Contact TeamBonding today, and we’ll help you find the right program for your team—whether that’s a high-energy outdoor event, a charitable activity, or something in between.