Group team building activities and games are an effective way for employers, managers, teachers, trainers and coaches to get individuals within a group to work together and bond as a team. Team building games can be loads of fun and they can strengthen the bonds and trust between you and your group mates, school mates, and co-workers. They can be used in all different types of circumstances, like a good icebreaker / energiser before meetings, or a breakout session from a conference or half and full day themed activities. Fun and games are an excellent way to break down barriers, deliver messages and work on specific outcomes like communication, problem solving, conflict resolution, decision making, time management, leadership etc in a different and more experiential way. The sharing of these experiences go along way in helping individuals personally develop but also to bond and unite with their team by the way of build stronger relationships.
If you are looking for ideas, check out our growing list of team building games
The game starts out with splitting the group in to two smaller groups, with a task of building a package for the egg that can protect it from an eight foot drop. After each package has been built each group is asked to create an advert for their package. At the end of each presentation each group is than instructed to drop their egg using the package to test if it works. The game not only promotes teamwork amongst the group, but also brings them closer in achieving a common goal of creating an egg package that can successfully protect the egg.
Variation
A variation to this game is instead of building a package around the egg, teams are given a packet of straws and 1 egg. Their task is to build a structure that is able to catch / support an egg being dropped from shoulder height (or a height you decide). Teams need to get creative as work together as they try to work out the best way to achieve this task. – Courtesy Total Team Building
This game begins with asking all the group members to empty their pockets, wallets, bags or any coins that they have, then placing it on a table in front of them. Then each person is instructed to create a logo for themselves using the coins they placed. Each participant would then explain their logo to the group and why they made it to represent themselves. This activity not only helps in self-awareness of the participants but also it allows the participants to get to know each other on a more personal level.
This game is a perfect icebreaker for both small and large groups. This activity begins with each participant closing their eyes and think of all the best moments in their lives. Any moment whether it would be being alone, with family, or with friends also included are personal success, professional success, or life adventures as long as it was a highlight of their lives. Next step would be to narrow down those highlights, while their eyes are closed the participants are asked to choose which 30 seconds of their lives they want to relive if they only had 30 seconds left to live. Then the leader of the activity would ask each person of the group to share what moment they want to relive and why they would want to relive it. The first part allows participants to reflect on the goodness of their lives, the second part will let them get to know their group mates more intimately. The game allows the participants to get a feel of the passion, love, and personalities of their co-workers.
The game starts out by having each team member right down two truths, and one lie about themselves. Members should not let anyone know what they wrote down! Once all persons involved has completed writing, allow 10-15 minutes of open conversation. The idea is to let the team question each other and try to guess which of the three statements they wrote down are truths or lies. Once this is done the whole team will form a circle and one by one each team member will share what they wrote down, then the group will vote on which of those is a lie or a truth. This game help co-workers know each other better as well as promote better communication amongst the office.
If you have an upcoming conference or meeting and your looking for some team building games to energise your group after lunch or during presentations then try this quick 10-20 minute activity. It will definately get everyone working together and communicating as they try and solve the Human Knot
The goal of this challenge is to figure out how to untangle the human knot without letting go of each others hands.
This game will work for all ages and can work for any size group and can be conducted indoors or out.
Human Knot Game
Goals of the Human Knot Game:
Team building and communication
Problem solving
Ice-breaker or get to know others better
Setup for the Human Knot Game:
This game is versatile in that multiple group sizes can play. Form groups of about 10 people each. Have each group standing, facing towards each other, in a circle. Each person should be standing shoulder to shoulder. First, instruct everyone to lift their left hand and reach across to take the hand of someone standing across the circle. Next, have everyone lift their right and reach across to take the hand of another person standing across the circle. Make sure that no one is holding hands with someone standing directly beside the person.
How to Play the Human Knot Game
To play, the groups must communicate and figure out how to untangle the knot (forming a circle of people) without ever letting go of any hands. If you wish, this icebreaker can be played competitively, in which the facilitator says “Ready.. Set.. Go!” and has all the groups race to become the first group to finish. If any group member lets go of a hand (breaks the chain), then the group must start from the beginning, or you could impose a penalty/punishment for that person (e.g. wear a blindfold).
This game typically takes 15-30 minutes to complete. You can impose a time limit if you wish to make the game more challenging. When you are done with the Human Knot activity, you can ask some debrief questions if you wish, such as “How well did you group work together? What strategies did your group adopt? How did it feel to solve the game?” etc.
Variations
To increase the difficulty level, you can either (1) blindfold some of the players or (2) require that the game be played silently (no talking).
Group team building activities and games are an effective way for employers, managers, teachers, trainers and coaches to get individuals within a group to work together and bond as a team. Team building games can be loads of fun and they can strengthen the bonds and trust between you and your group mates, school mates, and co-workers. They can be used in all different types of circumstances, like a good icebreaker / energiser before meetings, or a breakout session from a conference or half and full day themed activities. Fun and games are an excellent way to break down barriers, deliver messages and work on specific outcomes like communication, problem solving, conflict resolution, decision making, time management, leadership etc in a different and more experiential way. The sharing of these experiences go along way in helping individuals personally develop but also to bond and unite with their team by the way of build stronger relationships.