Team Building Activities & Events

Everyone must work together to reach a goal in team-building activities.

Team-building activities and events give children or adults a chance to build social skills. Whether you are planning a corporate event for your employees or an event for your children in a class, team-building activities allow participants to build trust, reduce conflict and increase leadership development. Enthusiastic players and a few supplies are all you need to get started today.

How Are We Alike?

Divide the participants into groups of four or five players, and give each group a sheet of paper and a pen. The object of this activity is for the players to write down as many things as they can that everyone in the group has in common. They cannot use common things, such as "we all have hair" or "we all have teeth." Tell them to dig deeper and find out about one another. Examples of good list items include "we all have an older brother" or "we all like pepperoni pizza." Have one person from the group read the list aloud. The next step is for the groups to write down things only one person in the group has done. This activity will show the participants that even though everyone can seem different, they have more in common than they think.

Carpet Flip

You will need an 8-foot by 8-foot tarp or piece of paper. Have the employees stand on the paper or tarp. There should only be about one to two feet of border around the outside of the tarp. If you do not have enough participants, just make the paper or tarp smaller. Explain to the group that this is a magic carpet and the instructions for how to work it are on the other side. However, they are already in the air and must flip the carpet over without anyone getting off. This activity will improve communication and make the participants learn how to work together to accomplish a goal.

Switching Spots

Make felt or paper spots to use as a marker for each person. Place the spots on the floor in a line and put an extra, empty spot in the middle. Each person will stand on a spot (except the free spot in the middle) and all participants on each side will face the dot in the middle. The object of the activity is for each participant on the left side to move to the right side, and each participant on the right side to move to the left side. The only rules are: Players can only move one person at a time, and only one person per spot at all times. Participants cannot move backward, and participants cannot "jump" their own teammate. Players on opposite teams can "jump" (move around each other). If the participants break any rules, they must start over. This activity will teach the participants how to work together as a team to complete a task.

References

• Group Games: Commonalities and Uniquities
• Ultimate Camp Resource: Favorite Team Building Activities