How to Use Team Building to Strengthen a Family

Many families lack the cohesiveness you often find on successful teams. Team building was created to strengthen the bonds between people and to inspire trust. Use some of these team building strategies to strengthen the bond between you and your family.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Get the whole family together and pair off. Ask your partner about her week, school experiences, work or anything else she does. Get to know about this person through active listening. Share your own experiences with her.

2. Find a fallen tree log or trunk about 40-inches wide. Put half of the family at one end, and the other half on the other end. Let both groups try to pass each other while climbing across the log without touching the ground. This exercise will make the family work together to find a solution.

3. Practice the art of falling and catching each other after you get your family paired up. Trust that the other family member will catch you and fall straight back. This activity will create a bond of trust.

4. Pick a special dinner recipe to feed 10 people that requires a whole family team to cook. Ask one family member to delegate and give out the chores. Work through each course as a family team and let everyone have a purpose. This task will create a team-like bond.

5. Create a problem for your family to solve as a team. Let the family work through solutions as a team and come to a conclusion as a team. There may be some conflict while family members voice their opinions, but the point is to learn to consider everyone's ideas.