Teambuilding Activities

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Claud Long
5 years ago
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1 Teambuilding Activities Pass the Clapper Focus: Having fun, Visual communication Stand in a circle. One person has the clapper (You can just have them clap their hands as well) in their hands and turns to face a peer next to them. About when they make eye contact or just when they are facing each other, they clap simultaneously. Then, that next person has the clapper and turns to pass it on. After it has been passed around once and everyone has the hang of it, begin to time him or her. Encourage people to move around, jump into a different part of the circle, and reverse it. Concentric Circles Focus: Get to Know One Another Divide everyone into two groups. Have one group make a circle facing outward. The second group then makes a circle around the first group and faces inward. Everyone should be facing someone from the other circle. Each person can talk to the person across from them for a minute or two before you yell, SWITCH, and have one circle move to the left or right a few steps. If participants seem shy, give them a topic to talk about each rotation, such as movies, food, etc. Move It Buddy Focus: Memorizing Names Stand in a circle, with one person in the middle. When the person in the middle says so, participants will be given 30 seconds to one minute to memorize the first, middle, and last name of the person to their left and right. After the minute is over, the person in the middle will

2 point to somebody and say left or right. If he or she pauses or stumbles saying the full name, he or she is then in the middle. If everyone seems to know each others names right away, the person in the middle can call out, Move It Buddy! and everyone must rush to a new space and begin memorizing names again. Highs and Lows Focus: Getting Personal (create school related questions for students to follow) An activity like this is good for a small group or a group that is coming to the close of a year. Hand out pipe cleaners to each participant and begin by doing the activity yourself. Start by tying a knot on one end and saying where you born, when, and to whom. Then, go through your past and identify the highs and lows you ve experienced, while moving the pipe cleaner to display the ups and downs. Other variations that can make people more comfortable with the activity include describing only high school or this past year. Build a Shelter If you're working with a large group, split them up into groups of four or five. Give each group a pipe cleaner, a piece of paper, toothpicks, tape and string. Give each group 20 minutes to construct a shelter that has to withstand the assault of three tennis balls being dropped on it from above. The groups will have to communicate and problem solve in order to build the structure to the standards required. Typically, group members will take on clear roles. You may see the leader, the builder, the thinker and so on. After testing each structure with the tennis balls, discuss what worked well and what didn't work as well when it came to group cohesiveness, roles, problem solving and communication. Construct a Tale Stand in a circle with a tennis ball or bean bag. The first person holding the ball or bag begins to tell a story, but he can only say 10 words. He then tosses the item to another person in the circle, who continues the story with 10 additional words. Each person may only add to the story one time, so the players must listen carefully and consciously note how many players remain to wrap up the story. After every player has contributed, discuss with the group what went well and how the story could have come together better. Play the game a second time to see if communication, listening skills and teamwork improve.

3 Elephant, Palm Tree, Monkey Station the group in a circle and stand in the center of the circle to start the game. As the facilitator, you start by pointing at one of the players while calling out "elephant," "palm tree" or "monkey." If you call out "elephant," the person you point to must cross his arms in front of him like an elephant's trunk, while the players to the left and right of him must form a "C" with their arms to form the elephant's ears. If you call out "palm tree," the person you point to must raise her arms above her head, while the players to her right and left mimic hula dancing. And if you call out "monkey," the central individual puffs out his cheeks, while the players surrounding him scratch their arm pits. The last of the three participating players to react to the command becomes the next facilitator, while you take her position on the circle. Continue playing the game for five minutes. Discuss with the players afterward how it felt to take on the different roles and what roles were hardest for them. Birthday Line-Up Instruct the group to line up according to the order of the players' birthdays. Players need only consider the month and day of the birthdays, not the year. To make the challenge more difficult, require the group to complete the task without talking at all. Players will have to use sign language to indicate their birthdays. Hula Hoop Pass Large, open indoor spaces can accommodate the hula hoop pass activity. Have all members of the group stand in a circle facing each other. Place a hula hoop around one player's arm, and then have all the players join hands. The group must work together to move the hula hoop around the entire circle without letting go of each other's hands. Once the group accomplishes this task, make it more difficult by imposing a time limit. See how fast the group can move the hula hoop around the circle. Alphabet Pockets Divide into teams of 4 or 5. Everyone on the team searches through their own pockets, wallets, pocketbooks, etc. The group tries to come up with one possession which begins with each letter of the alphabet. The winning team is the one to have objects representing the most letters.

4 Big Bad Wolf Supplies: LOTS of newspaper and LOTS of tape. Wanna see how well your group does building something together? Try this fun exercise. Divide students into teams of 4-6. Give each team enough newspaper and tape to build a newspaper shelter of some kind. It must be big enough to get three team members inside. Set a time limit on how long you want to give teams to work on the project. The Big Bad Wolf (youth leader) then attempts to blow the shelter down. Award prize to the best construction job. Afterward, have a giant paper fight. Blind Square This is a quick, but effective teambuilding activity. Supplies: 1.) As many blindfolds as you have team members 2.) 1 large rope, at least 40 feet in length Simply blindfold all your team members and throw a rope on the ground next to them. Tell them to make a square, using the full length of the rope lying on the ground next to them. Give them no further instructions. There is no trick. It s just great to see who takes charge, how they organize the corners, if one person facilitates from the middle, etc. Don't Let It Drop Divide your group into teams of 6-8 people. Give each team a balloon. At 'go' each team tries to keep their balloon aloft. There are 3 rules: #1 players cannot use their arms or hands, #2 a player cannot touch the ball twice in a row and #3 everybody on the team must touch the ball at least once. If your team's balloon touches the ground you are out and must sit down on the

5 ground. Last team standing wins. Trash bag Create-a-Game Supplies: Large, black trash bag filled with random items for every team. Description: Get some large trash bags together (preferably black ones that hide the contents of the bag). Have one for each team of 4-5 kids. Fill the bags with a half dozen of the most random items you can find. Give each group a bag and tell them they have ten minutes to create a game from the contents of the bag. Get the groups back together and have them "play" the game for everyone else to demonstrate what they created. The wackier the items, the better. You'll be amazed at what they can come up with. Sculpting Give your squad different supplies such as newspaper, scissors, construction paper, glitter, straws, tape, string, etc. and tell them to create a sculpture that represents their school's spirit. Have them explain the significance. If the school's spirit is low, use this opportunity to discuss how they can improve their school's spirit. Ball of String While standing in a circle; pass a ball of string from one member to another. The rules are only the person with the string can talk. After everyone has had their turn to speak and share their feelings, there will be a web of string. This web illustrates the interconnected nature of group process. Everything they do and say affects the team. Now toss a balloon in the middle and have them try to keep it. They are not allowed to touch it. This symbolizes teamwork.

6 Line Up Divide the group into 2. Each team will compete against each other to see who can get the challenge done faster. Challenges could be line up according to birthdays, alphabetically by first name or last name, age, etc. Try the same challenges without talking. Machinery Divide the group into teams (3 or more teams). Assign each group to build a certain machine with their own bodies such as a toaster, washing machine, vacuum cleaner, lawn mower, television, etc. Give them time to work it out. Then they build the machine and the other teams guess what it is. Minefield Have group discuss things that are detrimental to functioning as a group. For each characteristic/action, throw an object into the playing space, the "minefield." Have group choose partners. One partner is blindfolded at one end of field. The non-blindfolded partners stand at the opposite end of the field and try to talk their partners through the minefield without running into any of the obstacles.

GUESSING GAMES. Eye Witness

GUESSING GAMES. Eye Witness GUESSING GAMES Eye Witness How to Play: One person stands up and everyone looks at him or her. That person then leaves the room and changes something about himself or herself. (Example: A shirt gets tucked