Team Building Games
Commonalities and Uniquities
Summary: A group team-building activity in which people identify common things that everyone has in common, along with interesting characteristics that are unique to a person in the group.
Ages: 12 and up. Recommended number of people: Groups of 5-8. Messiness factor: No sweat. Materials required: Two sheets of paper and a pen for each group. Recommended setting: Indoors.
Commonalities and Uniquities
Form groups of five to eight people and give them two sheets of paper and a pencil or pen. The first part of the activity is Commonalities, where each subgroup compiles a list of the things they have in common. In order for it to make the list, it must apply to everyone in the subgroup. You want to avoid writing things that people can see (e.g. “everyone has hair,” or “we are all wearing clothes”). Try to get them to dig deeper. After about 5 minutes, have a spokesperson from each subgroup read their list.
Then, depending on your goals for the session, you can have half of each subgroup rotate to another group for Uniquities or you can leave everyone in the same group. On the second sheet of paper have them record uniquities, meaning that each item applies to only one person in the group. The group tries to find at least 2 uniquities for each person. After 5-7 minutes, you can have each person say one of their uniquities or have a person read them one by one, having others try to guess who it was. (Again, you want to go beyond the superficial, avoiding those things that people can readily see). This is an excellent team-building activity because it promotes unity, gets people to realize that they have more in common than they first might realize. The awareness of their own unique characteristics is also beneficial in that people can feel empowered to offer the group something unique.
(Contributed by Amy R.) Thanks Amy!
The Great Egg Drop
Summary: A team building exercise in which groups build structures with the goal of preventing an egg from breaking. A judge tosses all structures (with the eggs inside) from a high elevation at the end. The winners are the groups that successfully protect the egg.
Ages: 14 and up. Recommended # of People: Several groups of 4-5. Messiness Factor: Quite messy. Materials required: Raw eggs, several straws, masking tape, newspaper, and any other materials for building.
Instructions
The Great Egg Drop is a teambuilding activity that involves creativity and problem solving given a set of resources. To begin, assemble groups of 4 or 5 and give each group various materials for building (e.g. 5-20 straws, a roll of masking tape, one fresh egg, newspaper, etc.). Alternatively, you can give no materials and ask the participants to find materials from outdoors, but this increases the difficulty level significantly. Instruct the participants and give them a set amount of time (e.g. 30 minutes) to complete building a structure, with the egg inside. When time expires, collect all structures and then dramatic finale in which the structures are dropped from at least 10 feet in elevation and then inspected to see if the eggs survived. The winners are the groups that were successful in protecting the egg. Many variations are possible — additional constraints, for example. This activity is useful to illustrate the importance of team and to highlight aspects of project management.
Photo Scavenger Hunt
Summary: A team-based scavenger hunt with a twist — bringing back digital photos (or polaroids) of interesting places and things.
Ages: 14 and up. Recommended number of people: Teams of about 4 people. Messiness Factor: Be prepared to walk around. Materials Required: Cameras for each team. Recommended Setting: Outdoors.
Prepare a list of about ten interesting places, things, and circumstances that can be capturedusing acamera. You could list, for example:
· A group photo with someone famous
· The most relaxing place you can find
· The biggest tree
· A group photo with someone dressed in a tuxedo
· A photo with a yellow car
· A fast food worker
· A human pyramid of at least seven people
· The funniest thing you can find
And so on. Be creative. Divide the group intoteams of about four people. Make sure each team has at least one functioning camera (preferably digital, althoughpolaroid is okay too).
Set a time limit for the groups (e.g.two hours or so). Instruct the teams to find as many things on the list and take a picture with all the group members in the photo. When timeexpires, have all members reconvene and present theirphotos along with the checklist. Award one point for each successfulphoto item and bonus points for extra creativity or effort.
This activity is good for building team chemistry and for creating funny memories. Be sure to provide adequate supervision if there are young participants. Have fun, and always keep safety first!
Stranded on aIsland
Summary: A teambuilding activity that asks people to identify what object they would bring if they were to be stranded on a deserted island. Each person discusses why they brought the object. Within groups, people decide how to improve their chances of survival by combining various objects.
Ages: 12 and up.Recommended number of people: Groups of 5 to 10. Messiness factor: No sweat. Materials required: Paper and pen, if desired. Recommended setting: Indoors.
Stranded on a Island is a useful team building activity to help people get to know each other better. Form groups of about five to ten people and give the following instructions: “Unfortunately, you will be relocated and stranded on a deserted island for an indefinite amount of time. You may only bring one item to the island, and you only have a few minutes notice. What will you bring? Share with your group your object, why you chose it, and what you plan to do with it.” Have each person briefly share their item, why it is important to them, and what they plan to do with it. After everyone has shared, instruct the groups to figure out how they can improve their chances of survival by combining the items in creative ways. Allow ten to fifteen minutes of brainstorming time, and then have each group present their ideas. Give a prize to the winner (most creative group) if desired. (Contributed by Jeff T.) Thanks Jeff!
Trust Walk Activity
Summary: A team building activity centered around trust. A leader gives verbal or nonverbal instructions to navigate a blindfolded partner to avoid obstacles.
Ages: 14 and up. Recommended number of people: Pairs. Messiness factor: Might break a small sweat. Materials required: Blindfolds. Recommended setting: Outdoors, in a location with no dangerous obstacles.
The Trust Walk Activityis a team building activity involving leadership and lots of trust as people navigate each other around obstacles.Instructions
Find a good location with some obstacles, but nothing dangerous. Some good locations may include the woods or a large field. Form pairs. Ask one partner to be the navigator (guide), and the other to be blindfolded. When the blindfolded partner is ready, slowly spin the person around a few times so that they do not know which direction they are headed. From this point on, the guide should not touch the partnert at all, but rely solely on verbal cues (e.g. “About five steps ahead, there is a branch. Step over it slowly.”)
The guide is solely responsible for his or her partner’s safety. He or she should be navigated to avoid obstacles. In this way, participants learn valuable lessons related to teamwork: the guide learns about the challenge and responsibility of caring for another individual’s well being, while the blindfolded partner learns to trust and rely on another person. Ask participants to reflect and share upon their experiences.
Sample Questions to Ask During Debrief
To help participants reflect and learn upon their experiences, the following are some good sample questions to ask following the Trust Walk team building activity:
· What do you think is the purpose of this team building activity?
· What was it like to be the guide, responsible for the safety of your teammates?
· Did you have any difficulty trusting your partner while blindfolded? Why or why not?
· Why is trust in your teammates important?
· How did it feel when you and your teammate successfully trusted each other to accomplish something challenging?
· How does this relate to ______(fill in the blank with the current scenario of the participants, such as class, a sports team, employees working together on a project, etc.)?