Team Game Ideas for Kids

Encourage children to work together with entertaining team games.

Organize an assortment of team games to act as ice breakers during children's parties or as ways to improve teamwork, patience and camaraderie among children in a classroom, family or youth group. Devise activities to suit the season, party theme or age group to ensure the contests will capture the participants' imaginations.

Target Practice

Help the children improve their listening skills and sense of teamwork through a simple throwing game. Divide the group into teams of two and blindfold one player on each team. Give each team five ping pong balls and have the groups stand 3 to 5 feet away from a shoebox-sized container on the ground. Instruct the non-blindfolded player to give directions to his teammate that will help him toss the balls into the container. After the first round, have the players switch roles. Make the game easier for younger children by letting them toss the balls into a laundry basket or more difficult for older kids by having them throw the balls into a plastic cup.

Treasure Hunt

Let younger children work together to solve clues that lead the group to a large container full of "treasure" such as plastic sports bottles, packages of fruit snacks, pencils, notebooks and stuffed animals. Give the children a single map or list of clues to get from one location to the next until the group reaches the treasure chest. Include different types of clues such as riddles, word scrambles, entertainment trivia and math problems to ensure each of the children can help answer the questions. If you're organizing the children's game for a party, tailor the clues to the theme, such as requiring the guests at a zoo-themed party to find stuffed animals around the house or yard in order to obtain the next treasure hunt clue.

Pass the Puzzle

Encourage the children's teams to cheer one another on with a puzzle making challenge. Divide the children into teams and give each team a 25- to 50-piece jigsaw puzzle. When the time starts, one player from each team must work on the group's puzzle for 30 seconds, and then the second player works on it for the next 30 seconds. Continue the process until one team completes its puzzle.

Relay Races

The children can work as part of a team and burn off extra energy with a variety of relay races. Divide the group into two to four teams. Have the first member on each team race across the yard or classroom to complete a task before running back to tag the next member of the team for her turn. Award prizes to the team that finishes the race first. Create races that require the kids to run to a bucket to grab a small flag, run back and forth carrying a stack of books or race to a table to eat three marshmallows before racing back to the starting line, for example.

References

• Kids Health: Ready, Aim, Throw
• Family Fun: Flag Tag Relay

Resources

• University of Illinois Extension: Team Game Ideas