Kids & Family Team Building

Cooking as a family requires teamwork.

Team building exercises are commonly thought of as part of strengthening a company, but these activities are important for kids and families too. Every family can easily be overcome with busy schedules and isolating technology to the point they hardly spend any time communicating face-to-face. It's actually rather easy to participate in team building activities with your kids and bond as a family in the process.

Scavenger Hunt

Participating in a classic scavenger hunt brings out the competitive nature in kids and adults. For a simple game, have the children look for common items around the home, like a wooden spoon or mom's mascara. Using identifiable gadgets around the house like these is a good way to play with small children. To involve the entire family, set up an old-school scavenger hunt where you run around the city looking for items such as a theater bill or a burger from a famous restaurant.

Build a Pyramid

Teamwork is necessary when building a pyramid, either of people or other materials. If you want to just involve the kids, and you have enough to build at least a small pyramid of three, have them discuss how to put the structure together using their bodies. They work as a team discussing who is best to serve as the base and who should crawl to the top. Families can also build a pyramid the same way, or you can use blocks or playing cards to create the same effect.

Cook a Meal or Bake a Cake

Preparing a food item or meal is a solid way to build on your family working together as a team. If you want to involve only the children, choose a simple concoction like oatmeal or baking with a cake mix. As a family, you can branch out into more elaborate meals or even a three-course dinner for families who are used to sharing meals together. People seem to gravitate toward the kitchen during get-togethers, so there's something about this area of the house that fosters communication. Use these factors as more reasons to reinforce your family bonding as a team.

Pretend Mine Field

Trusting fellow family members is a critical part of team building at home. Playing a game of mine field is one way to build trust and leadership skills. Scatter a bunch of brightly colored objects on the lawn or a large area of the house. Blindfold one family member and have him take instruction from another member to try avoiding stepping on these items. You'll laugh at how much everyone gets into this game, treating a common tennis ball as though it were a grenade.

References

• Wilderom: Team Building Activities, Initiative Games & Problem Solving Exercises