Teamwork makes the dream work! Have fun together with these Team Building Activities and Games for Kids! You and the kids will love playing games like the hula hoop drop, challenging each other to build skyscrapers, imagining how to escape from a deserted island, and more.
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Why is Team Building Important?
What does teamwork have to do with STEAM? Everything! It took a giant, global team to make the International Space Station come to life. Famous artists Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat collaborated together on a series of art. Medical breakthroughs, like vaccines, are often based on the work of research teams around the world. Teamwork can be found everywhere!
What does teamwork bring to a challenge? Creative brainpower! Everyone is different and every person brings their own unique ideas and thoughts to a challenge. When these diverse ideas come together, often something innovative can come out of it. It takes work to make the team come together, so try one of these challenges to help the process.
Get Printable Instructions for These Team Building Activities
To make building teams even easier for you, I’ve pulled together a helpful set of printable instructions for each of these team-building activities and games. To have the printable emailed to you, simply fill out the form below.
FREE! TEAM BUILDING
ACTIVITIES AND GAMES
INSTRUCTIONS
Birthday Lineup Game Team Building Exercise
Goal:
Line up a group of people in order of their birthdays, from January 1st to December 31st.
Supplies:
- People (the larger the crowd the harder the challenge)
Instructions:
- Have the group line up in random order.
- Instruct them to rearrange the line into birthday order, from January 1st to December 31st by communicating with each other.
Add an Extra Challenge:
Try the challenge without talking by using hand signals or other non-verbal communication.
Hula Hoop Drop Team Building Game
Goal:
Lower a hula hoop to the ground without dropping it. Everyone must help!
Supplies:
- People!
- Hula hoop
Instructions:
- Split the group into teams of 4-6 people.
- Instruct the teams to circle up and hold a hula hoop at shoulder height using only one fingertip per person, palm facing down. The hula hoop must rest on the fingertip, not be hooked on it.
- Lower the hula hoop to the ground keeping every team member’s fingertip under the hoop when it touches the ground.
Add an Extra Challenge:
Try the challenge with no talking.
Building Challenge Team Building Activity
Goal:
Use teamwork to build the tallest tower in five minutes.
Supplies:
- People!
- Blocks
- Tape measure
Instructions:
- Split the group into teams of at least two people each.
- Instruct the teams to build the tallest tower they can in five minutes.
- Measure and see who won.
- Talk about what worked and didn’t work and how communication played a part.
Add an Extra Challenge:
To make communication even more important in the challenge, add a rule that anyone adding a block to the tower must follow the instructions of another team member.
Deserted Island Team Building Activity
Goal:
Devise a plan to escape a deserted island with only the four items given to you.
Supplies:
- People!
- 4 random items
Instructions:
- Pick four random items.
- Split the group into teams of at least two people.
- Instruct the teams to imagine that they are stuck on a deserted island with only their team and the four random items they found on the beach. To escape, they must come up with a plan using only those items.
- Set a timer for five minutes then present the plans.
Add an Extra Challenge:
To make communication even more important in the challenge, add a rule that anyone adding a block to the tower must follow the instructions of another team member.
More Fun Games for Kids
Looking for more fun ways to keep the kids playing together? Try these game ideas!
Tag is a kid favorite. Make it even more fun with these 10 Fun and Unusual Ways to Play Tag.
Put a fun spin on Simon Says too with this If-Then Coding Game for Kids.
How to Use Creativity and Learning for Team Building
Think back to the times you’ve been on a team. I’m guessing that you had some challenges to face (like getting a ball to the goal or a project display board finished). You probably had to learn something together and figure out a way to think creatively to be successful. Working towards a common goal can bring people together. That’s why we like STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math). It gets kids thinking bigger about the world around them. It gives them a framework for unleashing creative thinking. And when kids do STEAM together, it can be magical.
Looking for some more STEAM inspiration that you can use right now? Instant gratification style? Check out STEAM Explorers!! The coolest creative experience for kids is here! It's a digital book of the month club filled with tons of fun stuff for the kids to do and learn. All engineer, teacher, and mom-approved. And most definitely KID APPROVED!
What’s included?
- A monthly digital magazine with cool themes that are fun to read
- Hands-on, exciting projects the kids will love.
- Science, tech, engineering, art, and math learning YOU’LL love.
- Delicious recipes the kids can make.
- Fun printables and games
Join us as we make some music in March!! All in the name of having fun with STEAM, of course. We’re exploring sound waves and animal ears and of course, music through hands-on projects the kids will love. The kids will love creating their own rhythms, testing sound with spoons, seeing sound waves with salt, amping up their ear power with paper, and so much more! You’ll love the helpful standards-based learning, printables, and tools that make STEAM exploration easy!
We’ve split the issue into four weekly themes:
- This issue has four weekly themes to inspire your kiddos:
- WEEK 1: MAKING NOISE
- WEEK 2: SEEING SOUND
- WEEK 3: HEARING NATURE
- WEEK 4: CREATING MUSIC
FREE! TEAM BUILDING
ACTIVITIES AND GAMES
INSTRUCTIONS