Team Building Activities that Actually Work

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Body Part Twister

Body Part Twister gets people working together and energized. Participants will need to get comfortable leaning on each other. When the leader calls out body parts, only those parts can touch the floor. Encourage participants to work together to find a solution and balance on each other if they need to. For example, to a group of nine people you could call out four bums, two feet, one head, two hands, four knees. Call out the next set of instructions as soon as everyone is in position. Just remember to think before you call out combinations or you could call out something that is physically or numerically impossible!

Type of Equipment needed:No equipment required

Participants:10

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Bonding Belt

Take “group bonding” to a whole new literal level with this hilarious activity. Teams of six are actually, physically bound together with plastic cling wrap (i.e., Saran-wrap™). Then each team has to race across a room as a single unit. The objective is for each team to improve their time with practice.

Type of Equipment needed:Large space, clear area, a roll of film, belt, etc.

Participants:12

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Bridge the Gap

Develop creativity, problem-solving, and consensus-building with this creative activity for teams of two to four. The goal: Build the longest cantilever bridge they can using only toothpicks and modeling clay. You can award points for construction time, the bridge’s length, sturdiness of the resulting bridge, and more.

Type of Equipment needed:Modeling clay, toothpicks

Participants:4

Source:Pridestaff

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Campfire/Memory Wall

Here’s a great way to begin, or end, a longer retreat. Jot down a few general work-related subjects on a whiteboard, such as “First day on the job,” “Teamwork,” “Work travel,” etc. Get the team together and ask each participant to pick one topic, then share a story about it with the group. It’s a great way to get a group to bond over common experiences. Alternatively, you can get participants to jot down their memories and stories on post-it notes, then arrange them under the subjects as a “positive memory cloud.”

Type of Equipment needed:Post-it notes or whiteboard

Participants:5

Source:The Wrike Blog

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Circle Of Questions

This is a simple “getting to know you” activity that will help foster better listening skills, too. Form two circles with your participants, one inside the other. As the circles rotate in opposite directions, participants face different team members, and get to ask each other a series of questions.

Type of Equipment needed:Stopwatch, whistle

Participants:10

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Classification Game

The classification game can work equally well as a quick icebreaker or a more complex activity. For the purposes of this example, we will treat this activity as a quick icebreaker. Before splitting the room into teams of four, explain the concept of “pigeon-holing someone,” which means classifying someone as something or stereotyping someone. Point out that this type of classification is completely subjective and unhelpfully judgmental. After a quick round of introductions and an exchange of likes/dislikes, each team decides together how to classify themselves into two or three subgroups by using criteria free from negative, prejudicial, or discriminatory judgments. For example, night owls and morning people, or pineapple pizza lovers and sushi lovers. This activity encourages coworkers to get to know each other better and enables them to consider collectively the nature and inherent value of all individuals within the team.

Type of Equipment needed:No equipment required

Participants:

Source:Huddle

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Climbing the Corporate Ladder

This particular game requires quite a bit of planning, skill and raw courage to perform. In this game, team members are require to work together in order to meet their goals, which is to climb up a short ladder or a rock wall that has been set up for this particular activity. The higher each team gets, the more points they accumulate. The ladder or rock wall is usually quite steep, and the entire activity usually lasts between 45 to 60 minutes, so team players only have a limited amount of time to finish a challenging task. Aside from speed and agility the “Corporate Ladder” game also requires strategic planning, and requires each team member to coordinate effectively with the larger team in order to advance. Creativity as well as group problem solving are also required in order to maximize team performance. This process may sound easy at first, but it is quite difficult for anyone who has no mountain climbing experience. Furthermore, team members are expected to scale the ladder or rock wall with a certain amount of coordination, and they will only get their points as a team. Rewards will not be given for individual performance, which basically requires each group to coordinate their advance.

Type of Equipment needed:ladder or rock wall

Participants:15

Source:Training Station

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Cluck and Clap

In this game, you’ll have to create several index cards with “X”s and “O”s, where the X stands for “cluck” and the “O” stands for “clap.” Shuffle the cards together, then lay them out so the entire group can see each card. Go through the pattern first, with a steady slow pace, so the group can get comfortable “performing” the pattern. Keep repeating, increasing the speed, until it becomes super-challenging. This will help the group work together and have fun challenging themselves as a team to beat their own best performance.

Type of Equipment needed:Cards, papers with Xs and Os written on them

Participants:5

Source:SmallBizTrends

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Coin Logo

Have each participant empty out their pockets, purses, and wallets of any coins and place them in separate piles in front of them on the table. (Have some extra on hand in case someone doesn’t have many coins on them.) Out of those coins, each participant will craft their own personal logo in sixty seconds. If you have a particularly large group, you can break them up into small teams and have them work collaboratively on this design.

Type of Equipment needed:Coins, pens, notebooks, wallets, etc.

Participants:10

Source:Huddle

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Company Coat of Arms

In this challenge, teams of any size work together to create your company’s “coat of arms.” You’ll provide arts and crafts materials, and ask the teams to include elements representing recent corporate achievements, company values, and future plans. Post the finished coat of arms in your office.

Type of Equipment needed:Pens, papers, markers

Participants:5

Source:The Wrike Blog

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Concentration

If your team is feeling drained and stressed, this fun version of the classic card-based game is a great way to perk them up. It doesn’t require much time and is easy to play.

Type of Equipment needed:No equipment required

Participants:10

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Create your Own Team Building Activities

A little creative deception is required for this activity. Announce the completely fake problem: You were supposed to lead the group in a problem-solving activity, but you don’t know any, and you don’t want them to repeat one they’ve already tried before. So the goal is to have each group come up with a completely unique team-building activity, then present their finished activity to the group. This fun “meta” exercise promotes creativity and improves communication and collaborative skills.

Type of Equipment needed:No equipment required

Participants:5

Source:Huddle

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Creative Assembly

For this game, divide your group into small groups (two to four each). Give each team their own 3D punch-out wooden dinosaur puzzle kit, but without access to the boxes, pictures or instructions — and don’t give them any clues as to what the finished project should look like! Each team should assemble the project without assistance from any outside source, which should result in some creative and fun constructions. This activity fosters creative thinking, brainstorming, cooperation and consensus-building skills.

Type of Equipment needed:Puzzle kits

Participants:6

Source:Pridestaff

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Dare Jenga

Here’s a fun team-building activity that’ll also break the ice and help your team stretch beyond their comfort zones. Write a dare on the surface of each Jenga block. Make them fun dares that can be completed in the office setting, such as “do 15 pushups,” or “sing ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’ out loud.” Once each block has a “dare” written on it, stack them up as in a Jenga game. When a person pulls out a block, they have to perform that dare.

Type of Equipment needed:Jenga kit, papers, markers

Participants:5

Source:The Wrike Blog

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Dragon-boating

For an outdoor adventure, head out onto the water for dragon-boating or double-kayaking, which requires good teamwork. Include a race if possible to satisfy your team’s need to compete.

Type of Equipment needed:Kayaks, dragon-boats

Participants:10

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Dream Trip

If your goal is to improve communication and listening skills, Dream Trip could be the game for your team. Divide the group into pairs, then ask each pair to explain to each other their dream trip: what would that vacation look like if they had a month to do whatever their heart desired, with an unlimited budget and freedom from everyday routines? After everyone has exchanged their ideas with their partners, the partner must describe the other person’s dream trip as best they can.

Type of Equipment needed:No equipment required

Participants:2

Source:SmallBizTrends

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Eye Contact

Making eye contact is sometimes difficult for people, as it requires a certain amount of trust and confidence. This simple exercise helps coworkers become more comfortable and trusting of each other through eye contact. Each pair stands facing each other, and must stare into each other’s eyes for at least 60 seconds without glasses of any kind. Expect jokes and giggles initially, as it can feel somewhat awkward during the first try. As participants get the hang of it, it should become easier for them to make eye contact for prolonged amounts of time.

Type of Equipment needed:No equipment required

Participants:6

Source:Huddle

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Frostbite

Another variation on the “survival strategy” game, this activity is best performed in smaller groups of four or five participants each. The premise is simple: The group is stranded in the Arctic. Each group must elect a leader and build a structure in order to survive. However, the leader has frostbite and cannot physically help build the structure — and the other team members are snowblind (i.e., wearing blindfolds!) and cannot see what they’re doing. The leader must describe how to build the shelter and the team must carry out those instructions without being able to see.

Type of Equipment needed:Different types of equipment, blindfolds

Participants:8

Source:SmallBizTrends

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Game of Possibilities

This is a great team-building game that won’t take up a lot of time. Assign an object to one person in each group (you can just whisper the name of the object, or have each team pick from a hat). One at a time, someone has to go up in front of the group and demonstrate a use for that object. The rest of the team must guess what the player is demonstrating. The demonstrator cannot speak, and demonstrations must be original ideas — you can even assign extra points for wacky, “out of the box” ideas.

Type of Equipment needed:No equipment required

Participants:5

Source:The Wrike Blog

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Games & Activities with Balloons

There are lots of fun, gentle, low-exertion activities that your group can do with balloons. You’ll find a wide variety to choose from at this site.

Type of Equipment needed:Ballons

Participants:5

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Gas Stopping

Get the participants to stand in a spaced-out circle facing inwards, except one person who is “on.” The “on” player walks around the outside of the circle. At any time, the “on” player can touch another person on the back – once they do the race is on and they have to run around the circle in opposite directions to return to the gap left. The participant that fails to reach the gap first becomes the “on.”

Type of Equipment needed:No equipment required

Participants:6

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Gnome Dome

Divide your team into pairs of participants, and give each pair 20 gumdrops and 12 toothpicks. Out of only those materials, each pair must build a small dome fit for a garden gnome (or other really small imaginary creature). This activity helps improve problem-solving skills, creativity, and cooperation.

Type of Equipment needed:Toothpicks, gumdrops

Participants:8

Source:Pridestaff

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Go for Gold

In this game, each team has a common objective, but they’re also working with a whole different cache of materials. For example, the goal might be to create a structure using pipes, rubber tubing and cardboard that can carry a marble from one point to another in a certain number of steps, aided only by the force of gravity.

Type of Equipment needed:Different constructible materials

Participants:6

Source:Teach Thought

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Going Up

Want to improve creative problem-solving skills and help your team work more cohesively as a unit? Divide your group into teams of two to six participants each (depending on the total number of attendees). Give each participant a single sheet of 8-1/2″ x 11″ paper and a 5″ strip of masking tape, then ask each team to work together to build the tallest freestanding structure they can.

Type of Equipment needed:Paper, masking tape

Participants:4

Source:Pridestaff

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Grab Bag Skits

Here’s an acting exercise that’ll get your team energized and having fun. It doesn’t take up much time, but you will need to assemble some props ahead of time. Each group of participants will need a bag with five or six random objects, and the group must create a short skit (3 minutes or so) using each prop in the bag. You can assign topics or let them choose their own.

Type of Equipment needed:Different items and bags

Participants:10

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Gridlocks Systems Game

In this game, players are divided into four teams, each of which are given a mini-cart. The objective of this game is to prevent gridlock from occurring. In order to accomplish that goal, each participant has to plan strategically and act as a team, ultimately deciding whether to serve the interests of their own team or try a more cooperative strategy. Optimally, this game is best experienced with about 100 players divided into smaller teams, and it lasts around 60 to 90 minutes. Larger groups tend to reduce the game’s effectiveness and increase the chances of early gridlock.

Type of Equipment needed:Mini - carts

Participants:80

Source:Training Station

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Group Juggle

A great way to get to know each other, by tossing balls and calling out participants’ names in a sequence. You can extend this game to “Warp Speed” and see how quickly the group can toss balls to each participant in a set sequence.

Type of Equipment needed:Balls

Participants:10

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Hang Ups

Give each participant a wire coat hanger with instructions to “make something useful” from it. Set a time limit of 5 to 15 minutes. Have each participant demonstrate and explain the tool and its use. You’ll find out which team members are introverts versus extroverts, and which are natural leaders.

Type of Equipment needed:Coat hangers

Participants:10

Source:Pridestaff

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Helium Stick

A quick icebreaker, this game requires the use of a long, thin stick — which you’ll call “a Helium Stick” when you show it to the group. Divide the group into two lines, facing each other, with each person holding their right index finger chest high. Place the helium stick on top of the outstretched fingers. The challenge is to get the stick on the ground without any person losing contact with the helium stick. Initially, the stick will appear to rise — hence, the name of the game! — but that’s just the pressure of the participants’ fingers. Once they relax and work together, they’ll get it lowered quite easily!

Type of Equipment needed:Thin stick or balloon filled with helium

Participants:10

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Hockey by Numbers

Separate your team into two groups and direct them to sit on opposite sides of the room. Have each participant on each team assign themselves sequential numbers — so, for example, if you have 20 participants altogether, you’ll have two teams, with players numbered 1 through 10 on each. At each end of the room, designate a goal (chairs, a table, etc.). In the center of the room, place a balloon and two hockey sticks made up of rolled-up newspaper. To play, the leader shouts a number and that numbered player from each side runs up, picks up a stick and tries to propel the balloon through the opponent’s goal. The leader can switch numbers any time, and the team with the most goals wins.

Type of Equipment needed:Ballons, newspapers, goals made out of chairs or tables

Participants:10

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Human Knot

A quick, fun game that often goes hilariously wrong can help your team develop collaboration skills in a hurry. Simply start with all participants in a circle facing each other, shoulder to shoulder. At the same time, all participants grab the hand of a random person across from them with their right hand, then repeat with the left hand. Within a set time limit, the group needs to untangle the knot of arms without releasing their hands. If your group is too large, you can do this with smaller groups and circles, perhaps even with a timed competition element.

Type of Equipment needed:No equipment required

Participants:6

Source:The Wrike Blog

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Human spring

This activity will help foster trust and cooperation in your team. Pair up your team members standing face to face with each other, elbows bent and palms facing toward each other. As the palms touch, each pair of players begins leaning in to each other. Eventually, they’re holding each other up. To make it more interesting, have participants move their feet back, so that they have to trust their partners to stay upright.

Type of Equipment needed:No equipment required

Participants:4

Source:Mind Tools

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In the Picture

Here’s another variation on the puzzle game: Divide your participants into groups, giving each a jigsaw puzzle from which you’ve removed one piece. After each team completes the puzzle except for that last piece, ask each team what they think this demonstrates, in terms of teamwork. Common responses include: the importance of individuals to the successful accomplishment of a team goal, the need for proper planning, the importance of supply and quality control.

Type of Equipment needed:Jigsaw puzzles

Participants:12

Source:Pridestaff

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Keypunch

In this activity, your team members are tasked to touch randomly placed numbers, in a specified sequence, within a given time frame in multiple attempts. Your participants will learn the value of teamwork and improve their communication skills; it’s especially effective in medium sized groups.

Type of Equipment needed:Numbered disks, rope, timer

Participants:10

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Legoman

In this problem-solving activity, you’ll need nothing more than a few sets of Legos™ or other brand of children’s building blocks. The leader creates a small sculpture, hiding it from the group. Small teams of three to six are then given enough of their own materials to replicate the original — but only one person from each team is allowed to view the structure, who must then go back and instruct his or her team accordingly. This game helps teach players how to strategize, communicate well, and solve problems as a group.

Type of Equipment needed:Building blocks

Participants:6

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Life Highlights Game

Another great way to break the ice, this activity will work for groups of all sizes. It requires a strong moderator who can lead participants through a silent, mental review of their “life highlights” — i.e., career high points, personal epiphanies, especially meaningful encounters — and winnow those moments down to just thirty seconds. Then, the leader asks participants to share those thirty seconds with the team, and explain why they chose as they did.

Type of Equipment needed:No equipment required

Participants:5

Source:Huddle

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Life Timeline

A variation of the above, and another great icebreaker game, this one starts with participants closing their eyes to recall their earliest positive memories. After a few minutes, the moderator asks the participants to choose which memory they’d want to relive if they only had thirty seconds left to live. Participants then share their choices with the group.

Type of Equipment needed:No equipment required

Participants:5

Source:SmallBizTrends

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Lilly Pads

This fun game has a single objective: for all participants to make it successfully from one side of the “river” to another as quickly as possible. Using supplies such as cardboard or paper, create a path of “lily pads” from one side of the river (room) to the other. Each team member has to maintain contact with a lily pad or else get swept away, and thus removed from the game.

Type of Equipment needed:Paper, cardboard, whatever you seem fit

Participants:8

Source:SmallBizTrends

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Lost on a Desert Island

A group version of the ubiquitous question, “What would you take to a deserted island?” this game starts off as a “getting to know you” activity then segues into team-building and collaboration. Each participant describes their selected item, which doesn’t have to be practical or survival-related, and in fact can be as creative or funny as they want. Then the real fun begins: the group gets together to create a strategy for survival using each selected item.

Type of Equipment needed:No equipment required

Participants:5

Source:Insider Monkey

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Mars Bar Eating

Who doesn’t like chocolate? (First, make sure no one is allergic!) Have your group sit in a circle, in the middle of which have been placed the following: a Mars bar (or other chocolate bar), knife, fork, hat, scarf, coat, shirt and trousers. Each participant rolls the dice — if they roll a six, they have to run into the middle of the circle, don all the clothing, use the knife and fork to open and begin eating tiny pieces of the chocolate bar until someone else rolls a six, when they change places.

Type of Equipment needed:Mars bar, knife, fork, hat, scarf, coat, shirt, trousers, large dice

Participants:10

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Marshmallow Spaghetti Tower

Another construction challenge, this one uses marshmallows and (dry) spaghetti noodles to see who can build the tallest tower — but there’s a catch: the marshmallow has to be at the very top of the spaghetti tower, and the whole structure must stand on its own without any aid or support for five seconds.

Type of Equipment needed:20 sticks of uncooked spaghetti, 1 roll of masking tape, 1 yard of string, and 1 marshmallow for every team

Participants:8

Source:The Wrike Blog

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Masterpiece Murals

A simple, straightforward and yet highly visual way to break the ice, this activity requires plenty of art supplies for each participant to create a part of a mural. When everyone is finished, tape the individual paintings together to create your mural.

Type of Equipment needed:Canvas, brushes, paint

Participants:6

Source:The Wrike Blog

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Mine Field

This trust exercise needs more extensive setup before you can run it with your team, as well as a large and relatively open area (a room without furniture or an empty parking lot will do). Position “mines” randomly around the space; these can be balls, bowling pins, traffic cones, etc. Divide your team into pairs, one of whom will be blindfolded and cannot talk and the other of whom can see and talk, but cannot enter the field or touch their teammate. Each seeing/talking participant must then verbally guide their partner successfully through the minefield without touching the mines.

Type of Equipment needed:Balls, pins, cones etc.

Participants:10

Source:Huddle

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Multi-Way Tug-of-War

If you’re looking for a physically demanding, fun, competitive team activity, it’s hard to beat the classic. Several teams pull against each other, an endeavor which requires communication and tactics as well as strength to outmaneuver the other groups and win.

Type of Equipment needed:Rope

Participants:20

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Name that tune (or movie)

Make a list of several lines from either popular movies (or well-known song lyrics), then cut the list into individual pieces of paper — one line per slip of paper. Separate your group into teams, then have each team take turns drawing a slip of paper, then reading (or singing) the line in question. Each team then has thirty seconds to guess the name of the film (or song); if they’re unsuccessful, another team can steal to win the point.

Type of Equipment needed:Paper, pens, markers

Participants:5

Source:Teambonding

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Not worse than a Kangaroo

It’s hard to be stuffy when you’re jumping about with a tennis ball between your knees! Each player must cover a set distance without dropping the ball. If the participant’s ball drops, they have to pick it up, reposition, and resume towards the finish line.

Type of Equipment needed:Tennis balls, small boxes

Participants:8

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Office Celebrity

Like the popular party game Celebrity, this version is lots of fun and a great icebreaker. It’ll help participants get to know each other better — and when that happens, the team tends to work more efficiently and harmoniously together. It’s a simple game that involves each participant pulling a name of a coworker out of a hat, then trying to give enough hints about the person’s identity to teammates so they can guess the “office celebrity.”

Type of Equipment needed:Papers, pens, markers

Participants:6

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Paint-balling

By now it’s almost a cliche, but that’s because it works: Paintball is a great way to build team rapport. It’s active, highly competitive, and a great way to break the ice. After all, it’s kind of hard to be formal and aloof when you’re covered in paint!

Type of Equipment needed:Paintball gear

Participants:20

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Paper Plane Contest

Who doesn’t love making paper planes? This variation on the time-honored classic uses teams of two or more and cardstock to see who can construct the plane that flies the farthest. Allow them to view different designs on a website or in a print book to help teams in crafting and modifying their designs. Increase the fun factor by supplying them with markers, glitter, and other art supplies for decoration.

Type of Equipment needed:Paper

Participants:4

Source:The Wrike Blog

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Paper and Straws Game

A simple planning game that’s great for smaller groups and only requires basic supplies of drinking straws and a bit of paper, this game starts with a leader drawing a large circle on a piece of paper, with smaller circles inside. Each circle gets assigned a score like a bullseye target, with the smallest inside circle worth the most points. The paper is taped to the horizontal surface of a table, and participants use the straws to blow tiny balls of paper into the scored circles to get the highest score, without moving balls that are already in place. This can require strategy, repositioning one’s body, or teaming up with other team members to blow in different directions.

Type of Equipment needed:Papers and straws

Participants:6

Source:Huddle

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Pencil Drop

In this activity, pairs of participants tie the ends of two pieces of string around the eraser at the end of a pencil, then tie the other end of the strings around their waists. Standing back to back, the team attempts to lower the pencil into a water bottle on the floor below. It can get difficult!

Type of Equipment needed:Pencils, string

Participants:4

Source:SmallBizTrends

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Personality Quiz

Less “game” and more “opportunity to learn more about each other and ourselves,” this activity uses personality quizzes to help each individual learn more about their unique strengths, talents, and traits. Understanding each other’s personality type is the first step in improving communication and solving problems that may arise.

Type of Equipment needed:Personality tests

Participants:5

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Pictionary

Another classic game, Pictionary is a terrific choice for an office because it’s simple to do, and everyone can participate. Pictionary builds better communication skills, and also helps ignite that competitive spark as well. You’ll need a large surface on which to draw, so that everyone can see — ideally, this should be a whiteboard or large flip-chart on an easel.

Type of Equipment needed:Large surface to draw on

Participants:5

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Picture Pieces Game

This problem-solving game starts with the selection of a well-known image or cartoon with a fair degree of detail. The image should be cut into equal-sized squares so that each participant gets their own square, with no leftovers. Each participant then needs to reproduce their copy in exact detail, but five times bigger than the original size. The challenge, of course, is that no one person knows what the whole picture looks like. Use pencils, markers, paper, and rulers to simplify the process. When everyone’s finished, assemble the pieces into a larger copy of the original.

Type of Equipment needed:Paper, pens, markers, pencils, rulers

Participants:5

Source:Huddle

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Pipeline/Gutter Ball

In this team-building activity, each participant gets a short length of half pipe. The larger group must then coordinate and work together to deliver a marble down the pipes from a starting point to the finish line. This activity requires a high degree of communication and teamwork.

Type of Equipment needed:Halfpipe

Participants:10

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Plane Crash

A variation on the prior game, this activity asks each group to imagine they’ve survived a plane crash on a desert island. In order to survive, they can choose 12 items from the immediate surroundings or workplace. This game helps foster communication and negotiation skills.

Type of Equipment needed:No equipment required

Participants:6

Source:The Wrike Blog

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Poisonous Web

Here’s another cooperative team-building activity that helps improve trust and interdependence among your participants. You’ll need two pieces of rope, which you’ll attach across an open door’s frame, one 3’ off the ground, the other 1.5’ above that (or 4.5’ off the ground), leaving 18 inches of space between the two. The goal is for each participant to make it through the space without touching the ropes — the trick is that they’ll each need the help of the group.

Type of Equipment needed:Rope

Participants:8

Source:Pridestaff

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Poker Tower

Here’s yet another group construction project that will help improve teamwork and communication skills. Pass out a pack of playing cards and a pair of scissors to each group (two to five members each is best) with instructions to build a “poker tower” using only the materials they’ve been given. The tallest tower wins.

Type of Equipment needed:Playing cards, scissors, paper

Participants:4

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Prohibited Movements

Need to improve the team’s listening skills? Try this game: Participants stand in a circle surrounding the leader, arm’s width apart. The objective is to copy all the leader’s movements – except for two, which the leader designates ahead of time and substitute pre-selected alternate movements instead. (So for example, if the leader scratches her head, the group should jump up.) It’s harder than it sounds!

Type of Equipment needed:No equipment required

Participants:6

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Purpose Mingle

Are you looking for a simple activity you can do with your team indoors that won’t take half the day? This one might fit the bill. Simply ask each participant, before the meeting begins, to walk around the room, sharing whatever it is they’d like to contribute to the group with as many co-workers as they can. You could even offer rewards for certain metrics if you want — “most shares” for example, or “most successful contribution.”

Type of Equipment needed:No equipment required

Participants:5

Source:The Wrike Blog

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React and Act

A fun, charade-like game that focuses more on facial expressions, this game is great for icebreaking and communication skills. Each participant is an “actor” who must act out a specific situation — for example, winning an Oscar or reeling in a huge fish. Then, the other participants in the group must figure out what scenario is being depicted.

Type of Equipment needed:No equipment required

Participants:5

Source:Insider Monkey

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Rings A Bell

Here’s one that should be simple to run in this age of smartphones. Have each participant take turns playing their cell phone’s ringtone for the group. You can either use this as a simple icebreaker, or add a game element by asking the other participants to guess what this choice of ringtone says about the person. It’s also an effective way of making sure all cell phones get turned off at the start of the meeting.

Type of Equipment needed:No equipment required

Participants:5

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Road Map Game

Divide your participants into two roughly equal groups, and give each participant paper, pens and a map (of your state, the whole nation, a specific area – it doesn’t really matter, as long as each team has the same map). Ask each team to plan a vacation according to certain rules: i.e., a list of what they have available, how much money, what kind of car, its gas mileage, beginning and ending destinations, etc. Each team should document its final road trip plan, but any group that runs out of money or gas gets disqualified. You can award prizes to the teams that have the most original trip, the most exhausting trip, the trip with the most activities, or any other criteria you’d like to reward.

Type of Equipment needed:Pens, papers, map

Participants:6

Source:Huddle

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Running Free

Build trust and communication skills with your team members using nothing more than a large flat area and some blindfolds. This one needs to be played outside, preferably on a soft, grassy area. After pairing up, one team member is designated as the leader, and the other is the follower (who wears the blindfold). The leaders in each team must take the blindfolded follower on a slow walk around the area for a few minutes to get used to the terrain and the process of trusting their partners. Then speed things up — always keeping safety paramount. Follow up the last run with some discussion about what the participants found difficult or challenging.

Type of Equipment needed:Blindfolds

Participants:6

Source:Huddle

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Salt and Pepper

Try this fun game to energize your team and break the ice quickly. You can set it up fairly quickly, since it’s relatively simple, and it’s great for teams of anywhere from 10 to 40 (but preferably an even number). A facilitator comes up with different common-sense pairs, such as salt and pepper, Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, yin and yang, light and dark, etc. Jot down each half of each pair on separate pieces of paper — i.e., salt on one piece, pepper on another. Tape one piece of paper to the back of each person, then set each participant loose in the room to walk around. Each player then asks yes-or-no questions to find out what word is taped on their back. Once they discover that, their next challenge is to locate their match. The key is figuring out the right questions to ask!

Type of Equipment needed:Papers, pens, markers

Participants:10

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Scrambled Jigsaw

Place a 100-piece jigsaw puzzle on each table with five pieces removed from each and placed on another table. Assign participants to each table, and have them complete the puzzles in as short a time as possible. As they realize the problem, they’ll be forced to negotiate and deal with other teams to complete their puzzles. This activity promotes flexibility, communication, negotiation and cooperation.

Type of Equipment needed:Jigsaw puzzles

Participants:

Source:Pridestaff

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Silence

Want to learn how your team deals with the unexpected? This simple exercise will show you. As you convene the meeting, act very excited, as if you’re about to break huge news. Then … silence. Stop talking altogether. Stay silent for about a minute, and during this time, observe the participants and how they respond. Who gets nervous? Who cracks a joke? Who seems discomfited? At the end of the minute, open the floor for discussion about how the silence impacted each participant and the group as a whole. What did they learn about themselves and each other?

Type of Equipment needed:No equipment required

Participants:8

Source:SmallBizTrends

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Sleight of Hand

Separate the team into groups of four to six participants each, and give each group four tennis balls. Tell them each person must handle all four balls in the shortest time possible. Do this several times, each time asking, “How can you do it faster?” This exercise should progress from obvious methods (passing the balls down the line) to the more interesting choices (ball drops, swiping), while helping improve cooperation, quick thinking and creative problem solving.

Type of Equipment needed:Tennis balls

Participants:8

Source:Pridestaff

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Slice ‘n Dice

A trust-builder, this activity requires a large group (ideally 20 or more) and an outdoor space. Participants stand in two equal lines facing each other, creating a corridor between them, with their arms straight out in front and overlapping the hands of the people across the corridor. Taking turns, participants walk down the corridor, with the other participants raising or lowering their arms to allow them to pass. Subsequent rounds have participants walking faster, running, or sprinting — requiring them to trust their teammates to let them pass. Other variations can increase the trust factor.

Type of Equipment needed:No equipment required

Participants:20

Source:Huddle

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Sneak a Peek Game

For this problem-solving activity, first create a complex “model” structure out of building blocks, but don’t let the rest of the participants see it. Divide them into small groups, and give them sufficient materials to duplicate what you’ve created, including colors and configuration. Place the model structure in a spot that’s an equal distance from all the groups. One member from each team can come up at the same time to look at the sculpture for ten seconds and try to memorize it before returning to their team. After they return to their teams, they have only 25 seconds to tell their teams how to build an exact replica. After one minute of trying to recreate the sculpture, another member from each team can come up for a “sneak peek” before returning to their team and trying to recreate the sculpture. The game should be continued in this pattern until one of the team’s successfully duplicates the original sculpture. This game will teach participants how to problem solve in a group and communicate effectively.

Type of Equipment needed:Building blocks

Participants:12

Source:Huddle

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Spider Web

Tape two pieces of string across a doorway, one at about three-and-a-half feet and the other around five feet. This string is the poisonous spider web. Teams must get all their members through the opening between the strings without touching it. Make it even harder by taping more pieces of string across the doorway.

Type of Equipment needed:Rope, string, tape

Participants:8

Source:The Wrike Blog

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Story Starters

A great way to foster some creativity and teamwork, this game starts with a typical opening line for a story — such as “once upon a time” or “it was a dark and stormy night when…” — jotted down on a post-it note or index card. The leader recites the story starter out loud, then the group participants take turns reciting the next line of the story. The story continues until the last participant wraps it up with an ending.

Type of Equipment needed:Post-it notes, paper, pens, markers etc.

Participants:10

Source:Insider Monkey

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Survival Scenario Exercise

Here’s a classic collaboration, communication, and decision-making activity — with multiple variations on the same “survival” theme of a few earlier suggested games — that prompts intense engagement, due to the high “survival stakes.”

Type of Equipment needed:No equipment required

Participants:5

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Tag Team Game

This creative team exercise lets smaller groups of four to eight people work with the strengths of each individual participant to create “the ultimate team member” — at least on paper. Combining each participant’s own identified strengths and talents into a single theoretical superworker helps team members get to know each other and learn what’s special and noteworthy about the people they work with. The team should then give the “ultimate team member” a name, a backstory, and other characteristics, then write a short story about this new character. The game also helps employees learn to work with their perceived weaknesses by focusing on the group or team, and not their individual shortcomings by working solo.

Type of Equipment needed:Papers, pens, markers

Participants:8

Source:Huddle

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Take What You Need

A quick icebreaking activity that isn’t too complex to set up, this exercise helps your team members get to know each other, and can be used in groups of all sizes, but preferably between ten and thirty people. Have participants sit in a circle, and pass around your item of choice — a roll of toilet paper works well, or a bag of pennies. Ask each participant to “take what you need.” If they ask questions, simply answer “take as much as you think you’ll need.” When everyone has taken something, start with one participant and going clockwise, have each participant tell as many facts about themselves as they have items. So if they took six squares of toilet paper, they have to reveal six things about themselves.

Type of Equipment needed:Toiletpaper or pennies

Participants:10

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Talking in Circles

A difficult game that’s probably not well suited for every team, this game will work well for competitive groups that love a challenge. Situate everyone in a circle around a long piece of string, tied at the ends to form a circle. Each participant grabs the string with both hands at waist height. No one can let go of the string while the group forms shapes called out by the facilitator — a square, a triangle, a figure-eight, etc. After each shape has been formed once, go back and repeat the process but this time, ask participants to keep their eyes shut. They’ll have to communicate and listen especially well. You can make the shapes increasingly more complex, and periodically allow them to open their eyes to judge their progress.

Type of Equipment needed:String or rope

Participants:10

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The Egg Drop

Divide your participants into groups of three to five people and give each group an uncooked egg. Put a bunch of office supplies in a pile. Each team then has 15 to 30 minutes to use the supplies to build a structure of some sort that will keep the egg from breaking when dropped. Some suggestions for supplies are: tape, pencils, straws, plastic utensils, packing material, newspapers, rubber bands. Once time is up, test each structure by dropping each egg from the second or third floor of your building and see which eggs survive the Eggpocalypse.

Type of Equipment needed:Eggs, office supplies

Participants:12

Source:The Wrike Blog

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The Numbers Game

The Numbers Game is a light-hearted exercise ideal for large groups of people seated indoors in a secure setting. The goal is simple, but the execution is a little complex. It involves creating patterns of numbers and letters throughout the (hopefully large) space, with increasingly complex restrictions. It can take up to an hour, and is better with a larger crowd (20 to a few hundred participating). It’ll encourage collaboration, coordination, planning and flexibility in the face of external pressure.

Type of Equipment needed:No equipment required

Participants:20

Source:Training Station

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The One Question Ice Breaker Activity

Sometimes, the ideal activity is a simple conversation-based icebreaker. Here’s a good one to try in smaller groups. It’ll help get your team members talking to and working with each other. A group leader decides a scenario — being married, for instance, or staffing the company. The question then is asked and answered in that context. Participants are paired off, and the leader asks the prompting question: If you could ask just one question to discover a person’s suitability for (whatever the topic/scenario may be), what would your question be? You can mix things up by choosing different contexts/scenarios for different pairs.

Type of Equipment needed:No equipment required

Participants:8

Source:Huddle

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The Paper Tower

A simple planning activity, this game helps participants learn the importance of planning, timing, and thinking flexibly. Give each participant a sheet of paper and instruct them to build the tallest freestanding structure they can in five minutes, using only that piece of paper. Afterwards, discuss with the group how each participant planned their structures, who ran out of time, and what they could have done differently to better effect.

Type of Equipment needed:Paper

Participants:8

Source:Huddle

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The Take Away Game

Another planning game, for which you’ll only need a selection of 15 coins of any type. Divide the group into multiple paired teams. Flip a coin to decide who goes first. Each side may remove two coins every time they call the toss (heads or tails) correctly. The winner is the person/team who removes the last coin. Make the game harder by increasing the number of coins that can be removed on one turn, or adding a new rule that a player can put back coins if they choose. Adding these elements of complexity brings in more of a strategic component, with the ultimate goal being the recognition that simpler versions can be easily controlled by whoever goes first.

Type of Equipment needed:15 coins

Participants:8

Source:Huddle

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Tire Pass

You’ll need strong rope, a sturdy branch, and a tire for this one. Tie the tire about five feet from the ground, secured so that doesn’t move much. The goal is for everyone to work together to pass each other through the tire as quickly as possible, without touching the sides. Instruct the group that they must come up with their own strategy for getting everyone safely through the center.

Type of Equipment needed:Rope, tire

Participants:10

Source:SmallBizTrends

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Toxic Waste

The basics of this game are simple: Using a bungee cord and rope, ask your team to figure out how to transport a bucket of “Toxic Waste” and tip it into a “neutralization” bucket. Depending on how you set up your groups or teams, and what obstacles you devise for them, this activity can be used to emphasize just about any aspect of teamwork or leadership.

Type of Equipment needed:Bucket, rope

Participants:10

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Trivia

A rousing game of trivia is one of the easiest and most enjoyable group activities you can set up for your team. Use a game of Trivial Pursuit™ or a trivia website to create your own, and include several categories or subjects so as to ensure the widest possible participation. Add a teamwork element by creating smaller groups to compete against each other.

Type of Equipment needed:Paper, pens, markers etc.

Participants:

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Truth and Lies

A favorite of spy movies and novels, this is a simple ice-breaker that ends up being participatory and fun, in the right spirit. Each participant takes turns stating three truths and one lie about themselves. Then the other participants have to guess which statement is the lie.

Type of Equipment needed:No equipment required

Participants:5

Source:The Wrike Blog

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Turning Over a New Leaf

In this challenging approach to cooperative problem solving, a group of participants must devise a way to pick up a large sheet on the floor and turn it over without stepping off the sheet and without any carrying of other people. It’s harder than it might sound!

Type of Equipment needed:Large sheet

Participants:5

Source:SmallBizTrends

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Warp Speed

This team building exercise is based on the icebreaker “Group Juggle”activity. Groups are challenged to juggle as fast as possible. Invite the group to declare a time they can meet or best.

Type of Equipment needed:Several soft balls or throwable objects

Participants:5

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Who Am I?

A particularly good way to introduce new team members to each other, this game helps participants learn more about each other and thus improves the cohesiveness of the group. Your team members might even find new areas of commonality that help strengthen the team. You can use written anonymous questionnaires, or simply ask participants to write down answers to the questions posed by the leader.

Type of Equipment needed:No equipment required

Participants:5