Fun Team Building Activities for Kids! UPDATE: We’ve reached our first goal of 20 activities! Thank you to Natalie from Eau Claire, WI, for her contribution to our team building activities for teens page! You rock, Natalie! Hello and welcome to our site! We’ve compiled all of the best and most effective teambuilding exercises for children and young adults, and organized them into categories for you to choose from. If you are a teacher or youth leader and you want your group to get to know each other, develop socialization skills, and learn to operate as a team, you’re in the right place! In the paragraphs below, we’ve detailed some notes about the pages you’ll find here, and some guidance on how to make the most of your team building activities for kids. Thank you for stopping by!
Who Should Read This Site? We’ve included activities that are a great fit for the classroom, but this is site is not only for teachers—if you’re a youth leader of any kind, and you are looking to build group cohesion and get your kids to become friends, you’ll find a lot of great material on this site. That means scout leaders, youth group leaders, camp counselors, day care centers, little league coaches, after-school program directors, social workers, and so on. If you work with kids ages 4 to 14 (and older, in some cases), there are plenty of games here that can benefit your group. Because many of us come from a teaching background, we may slip up sometimes and write “teacher” instead of “group leader.” We apologize. We realize that a lot of people are coming to this page who are not teachers, and we don’t want to make them feel as though this site isn’t for them. It is, and we appreciate what you do! How Is The Site Organized? In order for you to find the activity that will benefit your group the most, all of our exercises have been categorized on the right-hand side of the page. Keep in mind that a lot of the activities fall under more than one category, so you might find the same exercise in more than one category.
What Else Can I Find Here? Most of the time, youth leaders who are looking for team activities also need a lot of other information and guidance, so we’ve included a blog where we discuss important issues such as bullying, how to deal with “drag-your-feet” participants, group members who are shy, encouraging emotional intelligence, classroom culture, and other topics that might help you in your day-to-day work with kids. Who Built This Site, Anyway? We are a group of elementary and early education teachers (and one social worker!) who work with kids and wanted to share our experience on how to work well with groups. You can hop over to our “About” page to read about us. I’d Like to Contribute! We’d love to have you contribute! It is our goal to make the site THE place to go for team building activities for kids, and if you’d like to be part of the effort, please feel free to send us activities that have worked for you. You can email us at matt (at) teambuildingactivitiesforkidscentral (dot) com. And, if you have your own website or blog want to share our site, please feel free to do so!
What’s with the “Warm Fuzzies”? We may be a little bit biased, but we think teachers and youth leaders are some of the best people in the world! They give 100% to their jobs, and the work they do can make a positive impact that can last a lifetime. But, sadly, for all the cheerleading that youth leaders do for others, it’s not always returned! They’re not always appreciated as much as they should be.
So we’ve included a “Warm Fuzzies” section at the bottom of each exercise. They may be inspirational quotes, pick-me-ups, or philosophical words on why youth leaders are super awesome.
Why Are Team Exercises Important? It is through teamwork that young ones learn to interact with the world. Group-building exercises are a like a training camp for kids to develop interpersonal skills, emotional
intelligence, and the character traits that help a person succeed in the community. Kids who learn how to interact with a group:
learn to trust and rely on others—while at the same time understanding that they must contribute to achieve the group’s goals; establish a sense of self, as well as a sense of group identity; develop confidence in their abilities to interact with others; begin to understand the concepts of trust, cooperation, support, patience, perseverance, and sharing.
Group activities for kids also:
encourage listening skills by having participants attain information from one another; assist in the “friend-making” process and help kids approach peers who they haven’t yet gotten to know; and promote feelings of self-worth and satisfaction.
From an instructor standpoint, team exercises are an EXCELLENT opportunity for guidance and instruction. Ethical behavior can be explained and praised; self-soothing skills can be incorporated when children become overwhelmed or frustrated; and positive interactions can be modeled and repeated. Events that occur during the exercise can be discussed afterward and dissected for relevance and importance. And, one of the wonderful things about team exercises is that they are beneficial for every single age group you can work with. At no point does team-building lose its educational relevance. Regardless of the demographics of your group, the exercise will be a positive addition to your program. The more team building activities for kids you can fit into your curriculum, the more cohesion and effort you will see!
The Ideal Team-Spirit Building Activity The most effective exercises that promote group cohesion instill a sense of “interdependence.” That is, when group members see that they are connected to one another, and that they themselves (as individuals) will not succeed unless everyone in the group succeeds, that’s when a participants truly start to feel connected to others. A group activity will be especially effective when each participant’s efforts are required for the success of the group, and when each participant has a unique and specific contribution to make toward the desired outcome. When group members realize that they are needed, and that their unique talents and abilities are integral to success, that is when a true commitment to others can be seen. Of course, sometimes you just want an activity that helps kids get along—and we have those here, too!
How to Make Team Activities Effective
Here are some tips we’ve come up with that will help you use the exercises located on this site. If you have some other pointers, please let us know! Pick the Right Game By Knowing Your Participants. This one seems a little obvious, but it’s pretty important. Age, ability, and maturity of the participants should always be considered. Are you working with a group who have sensory issues? A game like “The Human Knot” is a bad idea. Are you moderating a high-energy group of ten-year-olds who need to burn off some energy? Go with a high-energy game like “All Aboard” or “Get a Group.” If you haven’t yet met the group you’ll be working with, make a guess based on age. Pick the Right Game By Knowing Your Goals. What is your purpose for initiating the activity? Are you using the activity as an ice-breaker? Are you trying to help kids develop communication skills, interpersonal skills, or individual leadership skills? Are you worried that your group doesn’t have any listening skills, and you want to give them some practice? Try and determine your “curricular purpose,” and decide your activity accordingly. And, yes—sometimes you just need to fill up a half-an-hour before lunch. That’s good too!
Prep It or Wreck It If you’ve spent more than twenty minutes working with children, you know that if you don’t start the day with a plan you are in serious, serious trouble. As you’d imagine, an activity is only as good as the prep work you put into it. Here are some pointers for planning an efficient and successful activity:
Know the number of participants you’re likely to have—and then add a few onto it! Have all of your materials ready—hand-outs, Xeroxes, cups, whatever. Make sure you have enough for everybody, and one or two to spare when somebody loses/breaks the handout they’re supposed to use. Figure out the best way to explain the game. This is important, especially when you’re giving instructions to younger kids. Are there any difficult concepts you’ll need to parse out? Make sure the rules (and any safety measures you’ll want to take) are clear and understandable. Think about your audience. Is there a participant who may have a hard time with the activity? It might best to choose a different exercise, or figure out a variation to the game that will mollify any problems. Anticipate the disasters that are bound to occur. Because, of course, there will be disasters! Ask yourself all your “what if” questions, and brainstorm contingency plans. If the activity falls flat or doesn’t go long enough (or takes too long), do you have an alternate exercise you can jump into?
Discuss the Activity After You’re Finished
Team activities should always conclude with a lesson, and that lesson should be tied to the goal you started with. Prepare a list of discussion questions, but also let participants reflect on their own performance and come to their own insights. Team activities are an incredible opportunity for teaching, so be sure to make the most of it! Give the Activity a Review When the Day is Done Keep some notes of what worked and what didn’t. Did the group enjoy the activity? Why or why not? Could the activity use a tweak or two? Is it worth doing again? Did it go so well that you should make it a weekly or daily exercise? One of the most important things to think about is, “Did the activity meet the goals that were set?” Sometimes they don’t, and other times you can be pleasantly surprised when unexpected benefits occur.
Viva La Variety—Planning for Future Games Research has shown that people have an increase of positive regard for the people around them when they share a novel experience. If you find an activity that you really like, play it as often as you like, but try to mix it up with other activities. Groups are more likely to get to know and like each other when they are challenged in new and different ways.
Create the Right Culture for Teams to Form This will probably be the topic of a longer post, but always remember that your classroom or group atmosphere must be a place where helping and shared success are encouraged. You can do as many team exercises as you want, but if your classroom is a “winner take all” place, or you expressly value individual achievement over group cohesion and working together, the activities aren’t going to work too well!
One or Two Last Things We hope you’ll find everything you’ll need to make your next activity a five-star winner. If you have any suggestions that would make for great activities, please let us know. This site will always be a work-in-progress, and we want to include all the activities that we can find. Finally—THANK YOU for the work you do. We appreciate you! …and, if you could, please give us a “Like” before you go!
Super-Fun Outdoor Team Building Activities February 25, 2014 If you can get your group outdoors, there are some unique and worthwhile teambuilding opportunities you have available. Physical activity can be incorporated into the games, and participants can loosen up a little bit—and get a little loud! Here are some of our favorite outdoor team building activities. If you have other activities that have worked for you, please feel free to share them below!
Activity: Digital Scavenger Hunt Instructions: This is a very neat, very 21st-Century activity. Figure out how many smart phones you have in your group, and split the group into teams of two or three or four so that each team has a phone that is capable of taking digital photographs. Then send each team into the schoolyard or play area with a list of items they need to take photos of. You can make the list so that it contains concrete objects—ie, “a swingset” or “a red brick” or “a bird” or “four blades of grass”—or you can make the list items a little more vague and personal–ie, “Something I think is pretty” or “Something I think is funny” or “Something I like that is green.” After each of the items on the list has been photographed, team members come back and share their findings. Tip: If not everyone has phones capable of taking pictures, you can figure out how many phones you have, and divide the class up into that many teams. If you don’t have enough phones in your group, you can go lo-fi and have teams simply write down or draw the items on the list. Why the Activity Works: Team members work together to observe the world around them, and help each other find items on the list. If you give the participants some time, you may be amazed at the beautiful and insightful photos they bring back. Teachers and youth group leaders and camp directors—if you have a website that displays the activities you do, this makes an excellent addition!
Activity: Hunt the Leader How to Play: This one is a ton of fun (but it takes a little prep). Youth leaders, teachers, and/or parents are going to go “incognito,” dress up, and hide in plain site! The game is basically a variation of the game manhunt, where participants have a list of people they have to catch—the youth leaders, teacher, and/or parents. The catch is, the adults are disguised! The adults can wear wigs, put on fake mustaches, or even dress up like constructions workers or mailmen. Participants have a list of adults they need to
find, and must get the signature of each adult on the list. First to get all the signatures wins! The game works well in a school field or gym, but it’s also a lot of fun in a mall. Obviously, you’ll want to make sure that every participant is accounted for. You can split up into groups and have one youth leader per team. You’ll need a lot of adult support for the game, but each time we’ve played the game, the effort has been worth it! Why the Activity Works: The game is a fascinating study on how young people divide responsibilities and tackle a goal. To be the first group to find all of the adults, teamwork is a must!
Activity: Land Mines
Instructions: This is a great outdoor twist on an inside game called “Blind Obstacle Course.” Find a field or a basketball court, and set up water balloons (or Solo cups filled with water). Split your group up into teams of four or five, and have each team member—except one—put on a blindfold. The person without the blindfold will act as the team’s “eyes,” and the entire team must get across the mine field without bursting a balloon. Whoever does so quickest is the winner! Why the Activity Creates a Team: Participants must rely on each other, and trust that the “eye” will lead them in the right direction.
Activity: Egg Drop Soup Instructions: Split the group up into teams of two, and give each team a water balloon. Each group will line up across from each other and pass the water balloon back and forth three times. After everyone has done that, one side will take a step back and hand the water balloon to each other three times. After that, the teams will take another step back so that handing the water balloon is impossible, and they’ll have to toss the water
balloon to each other. After each toss, each team remaining takes a step back. The last team standing wins! Tip: You will almost always have one team that drops their water balloon before the game gets started! it’s kind of amazing. As with any activity that requires some equipment, it’s always best to have a few extras for when things go wrong! Another tip: If you’re truly daring, you can use eggs! We don’t suggest this, unless you’ve got a hose or something to wash off with. Why the Activity Works: Just fun! The activity lets students loosen up and build camaraderie.
Activity: Blindfold Soccer How to Play: Another blindfold game. Pair off into groups of two, and give every group a soccer ball. One person in the group is blindfolded, and his or her teammate has to guide the blindfolded player—either through verbal actions or by holding the person’s hand—to dribble and kick the soccer ball to the other side of the room. Why the Activity Works: Participants need to work together, and for the person with the blindfold on—there’s a lot of trust involved! As fun as this game is to play, it’s even more fun to watch—so make sure that you divide your groups into participants and observers!
Activity: Old-Fashioned Tug of War Instructions: The quintessential outdoor activity! Image Credit: StevenDePolo via Flickr
Team Building Ice Breakers—For Kids and Adults! February 21, 2014 When most people go to their favorite search engine and type in “team building activities,” they’re trying to find ways to develop togetherness in groups that already exist. But what about when group members don’t even know each other? How do you make a group of strangers into a team? The first thing you need to do is get everyone introduced, and then you need have everyone learn a little bit about each other.
The best team building ice breakers allow participants to reveal a little about themselves, find something to bond over, and hopefully create a space where people can develop feelings of familiarity and comfort. Here are some excellent ice breakers for groups that need to get to know each other and come together as a team! (Quick note: these are great activities for adults, teens, and kids seven and older. We’re working on a post about ice breakers for kids six and under, and we’ll let you know when that article has been published!)
Activity: Fact or Fiction Instructions: Participants sit in a circle on the floor or around a table. Each participant is asked to come up with three personal facts: two of the facts must be real, and one of the fact should be made up! We don’t usually urge people to lie, but for this game, we make an exception. The best kind of truths reveal things that lead to further discussion. After all—”Fact or Fiction” is an ice-breaker, and you want people to continue talking after the game is over. Urge participants to think about their life experiences, beliefs, or hopes that might be unique or original. For instance, “I like cotton candy” isn’t a very revealing truth; “My grandfather invented cotton candy” is. People can share when they met a celebrity, something that they’re proud of, or something from their “favorites” list (favorite movie, vacation spot, etc). If you have a few participants who can’t come up with anything, it can be handy to have a list of “safety” questions. If you have some extra time, the moderator can quiz participants at the end of the game, and everyone in the circle has to go around and say everyone’s name, and one of the two true facts about them.
Why the Activity Works: As team building ice breakers go, “Fact or Fiction” works very well. One of the reasons people hate small talk is because there is very little interesting information that is discussed. “Fact or Fiction” is an excellent activity because it allows people to present some interest aspects of their personality or experience. We don’t always realize that the people
around us may have had some very interesting experiences, and the items discussed make for great follow-up conversations where participants can further get to know each other. And—it can very interesting to observe the assumptions that people make about what is probably true and probably false about others!
Activity: Me Too Instructions: Divide the group into two different groups—if you have an odd number of participants, it’s ok if one side has an extra. Have the two groups form lines, so that the groups are looking at each other. The moderator will make a series of statements, and for each student must step forward for every statements is true for him or her. Excellent questions will introduce topics that people can discuss after the game is over. Here are a few: —I am the oldest/youngest sibling in my family —I still know the first person I fell in love with —I can hold my breathe for sixty seconds —I sing in the shower —I think it would be fun to be famous —I’m a good cook —and so on! If you have a younger/older group, you can vary your questions for your audience. The following questions work for younger participants: —I have a pet —I have an older brother or sister —I have a younger brother or sister —I love… —I am… Why the Activity Works: The activity takes off some of the pressure in “Fact or Fiction,” and participants don’t have to come up with personal facts about themselves. Instead, they get immediate feedback and find out which group members share experiences and beliefs. They also get to see similarities between themselves and other (which may sometimes be surprising!). Once group members find that they have traits or experiences in common with each other, they are more likely to mix and mingle and invest some time in talking to each other.
Activity: Alphabetical Line Up Instructions: Participants are given an instruction to line up in alphabetical order, based on personal characteristics. To start things off, you can have participants line up alphabetically by their first names. Then you can have them line up alphabetically according to other criteria, such as favorite movies, tv shows, best friend, favorite food, dream job, celebrity crush, and so on. After everyone is lined up, go down the line and have everyone state their answer.
For kids, you can skip the alphabetizing part of the activity, and keep the criteria can be much simpler. You can have participants arrange themselves by age, height, grade, hair length, and so on. Feel free to be original: you can even have the kids line up according to how their shirts make the colors of the rainbow—red shirts first, then orange shirts, yellow shirts, green shirts, blue shirts, indigo shirts, and violent shirts. Get creative! Why the Activity Works: The game is an excellent way to get people to learn about each other—while they’re working together! They’re acting as a team while they learn.
Activity: Action Alan Instructions: Have the group circle up, and have each participant say an action and then their name—but each action must start with the same letter as the person’s name. That could mean, Mooo-ing Matt, Clapping Cassandra, Kicking Keisha, and Laughing Lena. When each person says the action and their name, they must act out the action. So, Matt would moo, Cassandra would clap, Keisha would kick, and so on. After everyone has said their name, go around the circle and everyone must repeat the action for everyone in the group—everyone moos and says “Moooo-ing Matt,” and so on. Why the Game Works: Any good memory book will tell you that we are more likely to recall information when it is linking to something odd or remarkable—and the ridiculous actions everyone will be tasked with doing make names memorable. Plus, when all goes well, the silliness of the game lightens people up a little bit. It’s not one of the team building ice breakers that creates a deep bond, but it loosens people up, and creates feelings of comfort—and that can go a long way to creating a team. A quick tip for this one: Many people feel a little nervous in front of new people, and the thought of mooo-ing in front of strangers can be a little intimidating. If you play Action Alan, make sure that you yourself are relaxed and having fun—and that way other people will relax. It also helps if you can find the one person in the group who loves being the center of attention, and have him or her try to encourage others to get involved. For more team building activities, we’ve got three other posts that might fit your needs: Team Building Activities for Teens, Team Building Activities for Teachers, and Team Building Activities for Work. Thank you for stopping by!
Classic Treasure Hunt… with a Twist! January 21, 2014 In terms of social development, this is one of our FAVORITE team-building activities. It encourages team-thinking, emotional growth, and the total importance of social skills and communication.
Everyone knows the treasure hunt: you send a group of young ones out in the world, or a very small, fenced-in piece of the world, and task them with finding items on a checklist. That is an excellent group activity, and it can be very interesting to see how teams divide labor, focus on different jobs, and discover how to work together. A classic, and important, game. But, for our treasure hunt game, we’ve tweaked the rules a little bit, so that the game has more of a team focus.
So Tell Me–Who Plays? And For How Long? Ages: 6 to 13 Group Size: 4 to 16+ Equipment: This is actually very important part of the game. Moderators are to choose whatever items will be on the treasure hunt checklist. Common items could include things you’d find around the classroom, such as a box of crayons, a tennis ball, a toy everyone is familiar with, etc. If you don’t have time to get 10 or 15 different kinds of items, you can use 15 of the same type of item, such as 10 tennis balls. Or, you can tie getting the items into another project—you can go on a hike to find neat rocks, which you can then paint, and hide around the school property (or if you’re in an urban school, around the classroom or in empty rooms). Time:
Prep: 30 minutes if you’re choosing unique items to hide; 5 minutes if you’re hiding 15 of the same item Activity: 15 to 30 minutes, usually Clean-up: 10 minutes Total: 1 hour, ish—sometimes shorter, sometimes longer
How to Play Regular rules of treasure hunts apply: send participants out to find hidden items. However, instead of sending each participant out to find treasures on their own, the moderator will send half of the team out. When a participant finds an item, s/he has to return to “home base” and tell another participant where the treasure is. So, if Tammy finds an item under the swingset, she doesn’t pick it up, but instead runs back to home base and tells Aaron where it is.
Variations to the Game There are a couple of different things you can try:
If you’re squeezed for time, you can “up the participation” on the part of the students. Instead of hiding the items yourself, you can give each participant one of the items, and have them hide it (and then tell you where they hid it, so you can be sure to get it back!). We’ve found that players are more invested in the game when they’ve hidden an item, and it can interested to see how participants react when nearing the hidden object. It can be very fun to hide a nutritious snack, such as dried fruit or nuts. If that’s the route you take, though, make sure you have enough bags for everyone.
Benefits of the Treasure Hunt “Treasure Hunt with a Twist” is a neat game, because it encourages a TON of great team-building qualities. It promotes communication because team members have to express a lot of information to teammates, including where items are hidden, and details that they might need to know (under the rock, behind the jungle gym, etc). It encourages curiosity and attention to detail, as kids look for items. Finally, it’s a great physical activity, especially when kids run back to home base to tell teammates where a treasure is hidden. How the Activity Helps Build a Team: Instead of taking all the credit for themselves, team members realize that each item was retrieved by a group effort: one person to find the item, and another to retrieve it. Participants learn to give help and receive help in order to attain a goal. Members also come to understand that their success is tied to their interactions with others.
Some Useful Tips This is important: keep a list of where you hid everything! Not only will it help you when pointing participants in the right direction of a hidden gem, but it’ll also keep you from losing the items you hid! Problem Areas: Once in a blue moon, there might be some stealing going on. Sad, but true. That can be one of those teachable moments, though, and you can have a great group discussion on respecting others’ property, the value of honesty, and forgiveness (if someone steals something and fesses up!). If you’re really worried about participants taking treasure hunt items, you can hide ten or twenty of the same types of “nobody-isgoing-to-take-these” items (such as fifteen tennis balls or the painted rocks we mentioned).
Who’s In the Mood for Some Warm Fuzzies? Go team!
How great is this activity? It can be tough to pull off, and during the game there are kids running every which way, but the benefits can be substantial: in order to finish the game, everyone has to help someone. There’s a reason why this game is such a hit—there’s something in each of us loves giving (and loves getting) help from others. So, let’s bring this home: who are you helping? And who is helping you? If the answer to those either question is “No one,” that’s not good! Your greatest asset—and the easiest to overlook—are the people in your life. Coworkers, friends, family members, neighbors. People you love, people you like, and even people you’re on the fence about. So lend a hand! It can be so wonderful to think, “There are people who want to help me,” and… it’s so wonderful to wonder, “How can I help someone today?”
Image by FateDenied via Flickr
The Ha Ha Game November 24, 2013 The Ha Ha Game is a very silly game that has never failed to induce giggles. We’re kind of chuckling thinking about it. It’s fun, and super-easy (and over too quickly, sadly!).
So, Who Plays and How Long?
This dog thinks the “Ha Game” is totally hilarious Ages: Age 4 to 100+. Like most games for children, it works great with adults, too! Try it the next time you’re out with your friends on a camping trip or doing outdoor yoga or something. We dare you not to laugh! The game even works for teenagers who are really, really trying not to have a good time. Group Size: 3 to 100+. You can try the game with as few as three participants, but the more, the better. Equipment: None Time:
Prep: 5 minutes to clear a space on the floor or to find a space in dry grass (there’s some lying down involved, so you don’t want a bunch of soggy backsides!) Activity: 5 minutes. The game doesn’t usually laugh much longer than that. Clean-up: 5 minutes to move desks/furniture/etc back into place. Total: 10 to 15 minutes.
Ha Ha Game Instructions The teacher or instructor has one Participant #1 lie on his back with his/her arms at his/her sides. Participant #2 has to lie down on the ground perpendicular to Student #1, with the back of his/her head (oh my goodness we’re just going to say “her” from now on) Student #1s belly. Student #3 does the same, and… why don’t we just go to the video? That seems easier. As you can see, the goal of the game is to get to the last participant without laughing. Which, of course, is impossible. Here’s a bunch of adults who can’t make it through the instructions without laughing:
Variations: In the video above, the contestants have to say “Ha” three times… one time should suffice! We’ve found that one “ha” usually keeps it silly, which is the point of the game.
Ha Ha Ha Benefits / Goals This is a great game for a quick laugh. If you or your students have had a tough morning or encountered a stressful situation, this can alleviate some of the tension. And, if there are two children who might be having a difficult time with each other, position them close to one another, and maybe some of that conflict will disappear! How the Activity Helps Build a Team: The game doesn’t have any of the complex interaction that many of the other games do, but it creates a gleeful interaction between all the participants—and that’s the basis of friendship, really! Useful Tips: If you’re outside and it’s rained recently, don’t try this—you’re going to have a lot of angry parents if you return participants with muddy clothes! Problem Areas: This might be our only totally problem-free game. Woo-hoo!
Ha Ha Ha Have Some Warm Fuzzies This seems like a great opportunity to talk about laughter. We haven’t done any research, but it seems right to say that children laugh a lot more than adults do (to any grad students out there, feel free to make this your thesis). And that’s wonderful, and should be encouraged! But it’s a strange thing: any teacher who has ever had a “class cut-up” knows that a perfect lesson plan or a great day of teaching can be taken hostage by one student who makes everybody laugh. It can be distracting, and sometimes it can get in the way of things. Teachers, who by-and-large have pretty incredible senses of humor, sometimes come to have a love/hate relationship with laughing classes! That’s why the Ha Ha game can be such a hit. It’s an opportunity for laughter to be encouraged. It’s a reminder that we need to keep things as fun as possible, and to make time for some laughter!
“Freeze, Silly!” Improv Game November 14, 2013 We’re very excited to announce that we’re adding a new category to our repertoire! The new category is… It is…
Oh my goodness the tension… IMPROV! Yay! For those of you who have done improv before, you know how creative and fun the activities can be, and the value they can add to learning experiences. We expect to add a few more improv games over the next few weeks, and if you know of any improv games that have worked in your classroom or youth group, you know the drill: head over to the tab that says “Contact Us” and let us know!
Game Name and Summary “Freeze, Silly!” This is a super-silly, high-energy game, that usually fizzles out after a few minutes (which makes it great for filling up that ten minutes before lunch). Great for creative groups and very good for children who have a little energy that they need to burn off. Participants, Time, and Materials Ages: 4 to 8 (although around age 7 or 8, participants may feel a little too old for the game; try and figure out beforehand if your groups is “too cool for school”) Group Size: 4 to 16+ Equipment: As with most improv games, there is no material required—just imaginations! Time: Five minutes to explain and clear an open space; five or ten minutes to play; five minutes to move desks/chairs/bean bags/whatever back into place.
Freeze, Silly: Here are Some Instructions The moderator blows a whistle/claps her hands/makes a noise, and lets the children know that they can start moving. Children are encouraged to make any kind of movement they want, and the sillier, the better! They can make funny faces, wrap their arms into pretzel shapes, or do jazz hands all over the place. After a few seconds of the children making shapes (five to ten is good; twenty seconds is an eternity), the moderator will tap one of the participants on the shoulder, and that participant has to yell “Freeze, Silly!” All of the other participants look at the child who yelled “Freeze, Silly!” and make the shape that that child is making. The moderator blows the whistle again, and children begin making shapes again. Variations: Sometimes, participants are a little bashful about yelling “Freeze, Silly!” In that case, the moderator can yell “Freeze, Silly!” and say, “Everyone make a shape like Timmy! Now make a shape like Erin!” etc.
How the Activity Promotes Team Building: The game is an excellent way for classmates and group members to focus on what other team members are doing. It teaches interaction skills, observation, and body awareness. But perhaps the best part of the game is that there are no “wrong” poses, and every participant’s contribution adds to the fun of the game.
Useful Tips If you have students or participants who are involved in dance, they may be familiar with the activity, and you might let them be leaders in the game until all participants feel comfortable. They’re also good candidates to be the first to yell “Freeze, Silly!”
Freeze! We all look like zombies! Problem Areas. As with a lot of games, some participants are going to love it, and some will be all, “meh.” For the kids who aren’t impressed, there may be another aspect of the game that they enjoy—for instance, if one of the participants doesn’t enjoy physical activity games, but loves to be bossy and give commands, s/he might be designated the “Freeze, Silly!” yeller.
Warm Fuzzies We’re so excited that we included an “Improv” category! We’ve had tremendous success with the activity, so today’s Warm Fuzzy will be improv-related. The fun of improv is the element of surprise. You’re never quite sure what’s going to happen next. This is TOTALLY true of youth leaders. For many people, the workday is a routine: 10am TPS meetings, lunch at noon, conference call at 2pm. And there’s nothing wrong with that—it’s reliable, and a lot of people love that kind of pattern. Working with kids, however—you never know what’s going to happen! While there may be some reliable routines (Tim doesn’t get along with Tom; Sandy the 5th grade teacher is going to be late getting the kids back from lunch)—there are so many aspects of a
youth leader’s job that are totally unpredictable. You never know what your group is going to say, how they’re going to feel, or the observations they’re going to make. And that is amazing! Every day is a new set of experiences and a new opportunities to learn something new. It’s easy to overlook, but not everyone who goes to work every day has something to talk about at the end of the day. So… Viva la improv! He’s to not knowing what comes next!
Use “Who Said That?” To Help Kids Learn Deductive Skills November 9, 2013 “Who Said That?” seems like a simple, straight-forward game, but it is an excellent activity to help kids develop deductive skills and learn to read body language. Here are the specifics: Ages: 5 to 8 Group Size: six to 12+ Equipment: None; also, no need to clear a space—if you are in a small room or classroom, kids can sit at their assigned seats or desks. Time:
Prep: none, really Activity: 10 to 20 minutes Clean-up: none Total: 10 to 20 minutes
Instructions: A group member is selected to come to the front of the group and be the “guesser.” The guesser stands next to the moderator at the front of the group, but the moderator faces the group while guesser faces away from the group. The moderator then points to someone in the group, who will call the guesser’s name. The guesser then has to turn around, and figure out who called his or her name. Participants must not move around after the guesser’s name is called. The guesser can usually tell by eye contact and giggles the person who called his or her name. As a nice little addition, you may have the group cheer after the guesser figures out who called his/her name. Very often, they’re pretty proud of themselves! Benefits / Goals of the “Who Said That” Activity
The activity is an incredible exercise for social development, and teachers (even us older ones!) can be amazed at the reasoning ability that participants display. It’s incredible to see how even younger participants can pick up on very minute social cues and clues.
How the Activity Can Help you Build a Team The game reinforces the group identity, when guessers turn around and see all their group members and friends giggling! And, when group members are encouraged to cheer after the guesser gets the right caller, bonds are formed.
Useful Tips for Game Play
Vary the Instructions: Younger participants enjoy the game, but may need to hear a few different explanations of the rules. If they need to hear the instructions a couple of times, that’s totally normal! They usually love the game once they get it. Problem Areas: Kids sometimes get upset when they don’t correctly guess who called their name. When that happens, it’s a great opportunity to teach kids about trying again on second turns.
This is a Warm Fuzzy that we LOVE! “Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher.” — Japanese proverb When you work with kids, it can be frustrating when the outside world doesn’t “get it.” When they say, “Oh, your job must be so much fun,” or “I’d love to be a teacher—it must be worth it to get summers off,” those comments are little hints that the person saying
them doesn’t quite understand how difficult it can be to work with young ones. Working with kids is exhausting! And difficult! A lot of people don’t realize that working with young ones presents a ton of challenges, and and providing a safe and creative space for kids to learn and develop is NOT easy. And, honestly—it can be discouraging to think that people don’t understand all the effort and heart that goes into teaching and instructing kids. But for many of us, this quote is one of the ideas that keeps us going. Educators and youth group leaders are IMPORTANT. They can have a positive effect on a child’s life that lasts an entire lifetime. Think about that—an entire lifetime! How many people get to come home from work at the end of the day and say, “Yep, today I did something that’s going to benefit somebody for the rest of their life.” Not too many people! So be the best teacher or instructor you can be. Today, tomorrow, and for the rest of your career. Because it’s true: one thousand days of diligent study isn’t as good as one day with an excellent teacher. Image Credit: spicygreenginger on Flickr
Get a Little Loud with “All Aboard!” October 31, 2013 “All Aboard!” is a very fun activity for a moderate-sized classroom or group. It is highenergy–and high noise! Because the game brings the kids into close proximity with each other, it works best with a group of kids who have known each for a little while.
Who Plays, Age Range, and Equipment Needed Ages: 4 to 8 years Group Size: Eight to twenty children (or adults!), depending on the size of the play area Equipment:
a large play area, preferably carpeted a long piece of rope or string
Time:
Set-up: five minutes to clear a space and arrange the rope ten to twenty minutes, depending on how much the kids are enjoying the activity five to ten minutes to review the activity and interview the children on their experience and what they learned.
Instructions and How to Play Find a large section of flooring and make a large circle with a length of rope, and tell the kids that the object of the game is to have everyone in the group fit insid
e the area of the circle. The moderator will play music or clap hands while the children walk or run around the circle. When the moderator stops playing music or clapping, all of the children must try to fit inside the area of the rope. After everybody jumps into the circle, the moderator rearranges the rope to decrease the area of the circle, and the game starts again. Kids who aren’t able to fit into the circle sit out until the game is played again.
Benefits / Goals The exercise does a couple of things. It
teaches kids how to work with others encourages kids to develop a “team mentality” develops strategic skills
How “All Aboard!” Helps Build a Team The activity encourages kids to help each other out and assist each other when getting into the constricted space inside the rope. Giggles ensue.
Useful Tips Kids can get pretty loud during the exercise, especially during the running-around period before the music stops (and after the music stops, it’s mostly giggles). Best to make sure that there are no other groups in the immediate area who need quiet time.
Moderators should encourage participants to get everyone inside the circle, and ask “How can we get everybody in?” The question encourages strategic thinking.
Some Problem Areas to Look Out For Children with sensory issues may be unwilling to play, or very uncomfortable while doing so. Try and think of any participants who might have an issue with the activity. Other “task-oriented” children may push some of the other kids out of the circle, and that presents a great opportunity to teach cooperation, an understanding of the feelings of others, and teamwork.
Variations for the Game For some groups, particularly groups with smaller children, the competitive nature of the game can be taken out. So, instead of having the kids who can’t fit into the circle sit out until the next game, the moderator ends the game and says, “Ok, now that we all can’t fit we should start over!” and rearranges the rope so that it is large enough for all of the participants.
A Musical Warm Fuzzy for You Music time!! Yay!! Here’s a beautiful song by rock n’ roll singer Jack White of The White Stripes. It really captures what it’s like to be in that age range of 4 to 8, and to be heading back to school. We’ve included a YouTube video of the song below–give it a listen if you’ve got the time, it’s very pretty!
“We’re Going To Be Friends”
Fall is here, hear the yell back to school, ring the bell brand new shoes, walking blues climb the fence, books and pens I can tell that we’re going to be friends
Walk with me, Suzy Lee
through the park and by the tree we will rest upon the ground and look at all the bugs we found safely walk to school without a sound safely walk to school without a sound
Here we are, no one else we walked to school all by ourselves there’s dirt on our uniforms from chasing all the ants and worms we clean up and now its time to learn we clean up and now its time to learn
Numbers, letters, learn to spell nouns, and books, and show and tell at playtime we will throw the ball back to class, through the hall teacher marks our height against the wall teacher marks our height against the wall
We don’t notice any time pass we don’t notice anything we sit side by side in every class
teacher thinks that I sound funny but she likes the way you sing
Tonight I’ll dream while in my bed when silly thoughts go through my head about the bugs and alphabet and when I wake tomorrow I’ll bet that you and I will walk together again I can tell that we’re going to be friends
Photo image by wickerfurniture via Flickr
“This Person Is” Icebreaker Game October 28, 2013 The name of the activity is “This Person Is.” The moderator gives clues about a person in the group, and other participants need to guess who “This person is.”
Who Plays and For How Long? Ages: 4 to adult Group Size: six to 20+ Equipment: No equipment necessary for younger groups, but older groups may require Xeroxed surveys to gather information about other participants. Time:
Prep: 20 to 30 minutes, if Xerox surveys are to be used Activity: 10 to 30 minutes Clean-up: none Total: 10 to 60 minutes
How to Play If the group is younger (ages 4 to 6): The moderator stands at the front of the group, and says, “This person is…” and lists a characteristic of someone in the room (in this way, the group is similar to Get a Group). The moderator will list characteristics until the group can guess who the moderator is referencing. The moderator may say, “This person has brown eyes… this person is wearing a white shirt… this person loves the class plant… this person’s name starts with a ‘P’… this person…” and so on, until the group guesses the correct identity of the person. If the group is older (10 and above): The game is similar to the “Ages 4 to 6″ version of the game, but instead of a moderator calling out characteristics about group members, the group members fill out a survey . When group members are encouraged to share details about themselves in the survey, other group members can be surprised to learn that the people in their group are very interesting. For instance, “This person has been to Iceland…” or “This person can hold her breath for two minutes…” or “This person can say the alphabet backwards…” Participants are encouraged to guess who the identity of the person being referenced. It can be very funny when people make guesses that are totally off—and very surprising when participants find that the shyest person in the room is an excellent breakdancer. What is neat about the exercises, for both older and younger groups—is that as the group spends more time together, the moderator gets to know more about individual group members, s/he can be more in-depth about the clues s/he gives. For instance, after the moderator knows more about the group, s/he may say, “This person knows a lot about lizards… her name is Spanish for ‘Miracle’… she has two little brothers…” and so on. Variations: None
Benefits and Goals For young ones, the game encourages participants to look around the room and use deductive skills (ie, “Tina and Brad are both wearing red shirts… but only Brad has blue eyes…”). The game also encourages listening skills, as participants have to listen for the next clue. For older participants, the game helps participants develop a deeper understanding of each other, and can spark conversation between group members who did not know that they had similar interests or talents. How the Activity Helps Build a Team: When group members know each other in a way that is more than superficial, they are more likely to feel comfortable and make meaningful connects. In many ways, knowledge of who your teammates really are is the first step to building a team.
Useful Tips As mentioned above, when older groups are given surveys and encouraged to share information about themselves, other group members are more likely to ask them questions about themselves, or have topics of conversation to bring up. The best questions will lead to answers that draw on each participant’s unique experience, such as:
What is a talent that you have, that nobody else can do? (“This person can yodel…”) What is a dream vacation that you would like to take? (“This person dreams about climbing Mount Fuji…”) Who is the best singer in the world? (“This person is in love with Beyonce…”) What drives you crazy more than anything else? (“This person hates getting things stuck in her teeth…”)
Problem Areas: There will always be a member or two of the group who does not want to be known–or is hesitant to be known. It’s best to respect those boundaries, and list only information that the person would be comfortable sharing.
Warm Fuzzies “The job of an educator is to teach students to see the vitality in themselves.” — Joseph Campbell Joseph Campbell was a pretty neat guy, and his quote is pretty fantastic. The “This Person Is…” activity can help team members realize that the person they’ve been grouped with are pretty spectacular, and that that spectacular-ness isn’t always so obvious!
Last Night a DJ Saved My Life October 22, 2013 “DJ” (or sometimes called “Soundboard”) is a short, silly, giggle-producing game good for groups that need some levity. Good for use as a reward after a long study session or a long car-ride.
Stats Ages: 6 to 14 Group Size: 5 or 6 to 20
Equipment: none; an open space for kids to sit near each other cross-legged Time:
Prep: Five minutes to clear the room for sitting Activity: five to ten minutes Clean-up: five minutes to re-arrange desks or furniture Total: 20 minutes
Instructions: Participants are instructed to sit in a tight circle or in rows of three or four or five, but with space between each row so that someone can walk between the rows. After participants are arranged and sitting cross-legged, each is instructed to choose a nonsense sound. Participants can choose any sound they want–so, yes, prepare for a few fart noises. If participants are having a hard time choosing a noise, we have found popular selections to be “Toot!” and “Ping!” and “Goooong!” and “Boing.” Students are encouraged to be as creative as they like—they can mimic a coyote sound, a fax machine, a car horn, or a computer.
After each participant chooses as a sound, one person is selected to be the DJ. The DJ goes between each row and pats participants on the head (duck-duck-goose style), and upon being patted, the participant will loudly make his or her sound. The DJ can pat anyone’s head, as quickly or as often as s/he likes. Giggles and laughter to ensue! Variations: For an added twist, participants can assign a sound for the person next to them. Benefits / Goals: Honestly, there really isn’t any true psycho-social development involved in the game. How the Activity Helps Build a Team: The exercise provides some levity and shared experience for kids to bond over. Don’t be surprised if you find them doing the activity on their own during lunchtime or free play!
Useful Tips: Kids LOVE this game, and the role of DJ can be given for good behavior or for meeting a predetermined goal. If there is a kid in your group who has a hard time keeping quiet, this game can be his chance to shine. Problem Areas: The activity can be difficult to do if you have some “too cool for school” participants or kids who are a little more tightly wound. Luckily, they usually lighten up a little when the more active students start hooting and howling.
Warm Fuzzies Usually we like our “Warm Fuzzies” section to be motivational, or insightful, or inspiring, but in honor of the silliness of the Soundboard game, we’ve included some quotes about teaching that made us laugh. Hope you enjoy!
“The perfect way for me to demonstrate what I’ve learned is a standardized test.” —Said no child, ever
“I do this for the money.” —Said no teacher, ever
“I am a teacher: I am silently correcting your grammar.” —Anonymous
The #1 Reason Why Good Grammar and Commas are Important: “I like cooking my family and my pets.” Don’t be a psycho. Use commas.
Image Credit: audio-luci on Flickr
Go-to-the-Zoo Goal-Setting Activity! October 19, 2013 “Let’s Go to the Zoo!” is an excellent team building activity, and it has kids work together towards a common goal over an extended period of time. The exercise is best if it takes
some time to complete (one or two weeks or more), but shorter, one-day activities can be useful as well. Works well for any group that meets every day, such as a class or a camp group.
Game Specifics–Ages, Group Size, and Instructions Ages: 4 to 6 (although variations of the activity can be used for ages 8 to 14) Group Size: 10 and up Equipment: one store-bought plant, water and soil, posterboard and marker. The necessary equipment can vary depending on the project; see “variations” below. Time: To be determined by facilitator; usually one week, two weeks, or four or more weeks.
Instructions: The instructor does an in-class survey, by writing three possible day trips on the board: ZOO, PLANETARIUM, and NATURE RESERVE. The instructor then passes out little pieces of paper and has the group vote on the activity they’d like to do most. The instructor counts the votes, determines the winner, and tells the class, “Two weeks from now, we can go to the zoo, but we have to remember to water this plant every day. If we don’t remember, we can’t go!” The instructor then creates a “To Do” list on the poster board, where every day one participant will be assigned to get water from a classroom faucet or water fountain, and give it to another participant, who will water the plant. Day 1: ___Raymond___ gets water and ___Keisha___ waters the plant. Day 2: ___Dana___ gets water and ___Jose___ waters the plant. By having two people in charge of watering the plant, there’s a little more insurance that participants won’t forget about their responsibilities.
Benefits / Goals: The exercise is a best utilized as a long-term activity, which helps participants feel as though they’ve earned a reward, and done their part in a group effort. It also contributes to group interaction—after you’ve found out what goal is important to the kids, you may find that the kids start running the activity, and reminding you to take care of the plant! Also, the plant can also be tied into other lessons about ecology (seeds, soil, sunlight, water), communities (farmers and animals), and so on, and you can arrange the lessons according the age of the kids involved. How the Activity Helps Build a Team: The “Let’s Go to The Zoo” activity can be an extremely effective method to teach kids about a “team experience.” The activity encourages all participants to do their part in a public way, and it teaches each member of the team that *everybody* contributed, and that everybody’s contribution was important to the final result. It also gives kids the idea that they have to rely on different team members— participants will begin reminding each other of the duty to water the plant (“It’s your day to water the plant!”) and may even look forward to the day when they contribute. Useful Tips: There are a lot of moving parts to this exercise, so here are some important things to keep in mind: If it’s towards the end of the day and the kids haven’t remember to water the plant, the instructor can nudge the kids by saying, “So what are we most excited to see at the zoo?” When the activity is working best, the kids are running the show, and reminding the instructor that the plant needs to get watered. The instructor should keep the group’s attention on the goal, and “sell” the trip to the zoo whenever possible. It can be difficult to have children focus on a far-off goal, so reminders can be very helpful. Reminders of the goal, too, are a great way of getting kids to remember to look on the poster board. One way to keep the keep the zoo and the plant on the kids’ minds is to make the plant an active part of the classroom or group area. You can have a naming ceremony, or maybe a couple of decorating ceremonies, so that the kids retain their focus on the plant. The most important task of the activity is to narrate the lessons that are being learned, and to do so every day. If you are using the activity to teach the idea of personal contributions to the group, you could say, “Timmy just watered the plant for us!
He’s doing his part so that we all get to go to the zoo!” You can even have participants give a round of applause after a team member finishes his/her duty for the day.
Problem Areas That Might Pop Up Some kids will fail to participate, or not care. That happens. Do your best to sell them on the zoo (or whatever activity you’ve chosen), and if s/he seems unimpressed, try and find an aspect of the zoo that s/he would appreciate, and sell that. Sometimes there’s one or two kids who are super-charged about the activity, and they end up being the ones who remind the class every single day. If you find the same participant is piping up, you can ask that participant to not speak up the next day, or make reminding the class a separate task, and assign it to a different person every day.
Variations Day trips can be a parent-intensive and work-intensive activity; if you want to do something easier, like an ice cream party, that works too. The important part is that you have the kids vote on the activity they want to plan as their goal, as the goal has to be something that the kids truly want. Also, watching a plant grow can be a low-intensity activity; if your group requires higherenergy interaction, you can get a turtle or a lizard or a goldfish instead (although, always check with your boss about this!).
Warm Fuzzies The plant activity is pretty great metaphor for teaching, so for today’s quote, we’ll go with a psychologist who knows quite a bit about metaphors: “One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.” Carl Jung
