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Team-building activity
The practice of developing ties between members of a group in order to more efficiently achieve the group’s goals is known as team building. Team-building activities can be as informal and casual as a shared dinner or as regimented as a session conducted by a facilitator.
Team building isn’t only for the office; it can also be utilized in the classroom to foster teamwork, problem-solving, and decision-making. It also doesn’t have to entail unpleasant activities like a “trust fall.” Students can be energized and learning can be taken to a new level with engaging, meaningful team-building exercises. Students learn to listen, trust, and support one another while learning life skills such as communication and collaboration, which cannot be learned from any textbook, interactive or not. For example, getting along with your classmates isn’t something you can learn by memorizing. The well-being of students has a direct bearing on their academic performance. As a result, happy kids learn more effectively.
Examples Of Team Building Activities For Kids
Over the electric fence
It is a very good team-building activity. Consider two chairs that are connected by a 1m-high wire. Assume it’s an electric fence. You’ll die if you touch it. Even worse, everyone is dead because all of the students are connected, and exactly like an electric fence, if one person touches it, the electric shock travels through all of the people until it reaches the last one. It’s a good thing it doesn’t have a lot of power. The objective is to cross the fence while holding hands. It’s a difficult obstacle to overcome because not everyone can just hop over it. To succeed, you’ll need to work as a team.
The human knot
Another popular game for team building. Allow your kids to form a circle and exchange hands. Students must now tangle by walking in between students in front of them, over or under linked hands. They can also get between the legs of other students. They must tie a knot while keeping their hands clasped together. Now it’s up to two more pupils to work together and give the human knot instructions. They need to figure out how to disentangle it.
Bob, the builder
This game is all about collaborating to create something amazing. It allows students to collaborate and create amazing things while also teaching them to think critically and learn from their mistakes and accomplishments.
Storytime
Gather kids in a circle and distribute a picture of an animal, object, place, etc. to each student. You might even assign a specific emoji to each pupil, such as a snail, a church, skis, a dancer, or a baby.
Classrooms are shrinking
Students must organize themselves in order to fit into a classroom that is continuously shrinking. Make two groups in your classroom. These two organizations are rivals. They are both in a defined space. The teacher uses a rope or small traffic cones to reduce the standing space. The pupils must find a method to fit all of their belongings into the limited space. You keep pushing their limits as a teacher by lowering the area. The team that can fit into the tiniest “classroom” is the winner.
Take a seat in the chair
Students must be flexible and balanced in order to participate in this classroom team-building activity. Every student should have a chair. All of the seats should be arranged in a single row. Each pupil takes a seat in a chair. The teacher now instructs them to line up in a specific order. The kids get to know each other better through this dynamic team-building activity.
College students can participate in team-building initiatives
Games of improvisation
20 pupils per group (minimum)
Improv games inspire kids to think quickly and move outside of their comfort zones in order to interact with their friends. Listed below are a few examples: Students should be paired up and asked to think of the most unexpected things they have in common (this can also be done online in breakout rooms). Alternatively, have your pupils count to 20 as a group, with one person speaking each number—but no one is given a number, and if two individuals speak at the same moment, everyone begins over at one.
There are plenty of in-school activities for college students that can be employed in the classroom, and you can even ask students to come up with their own. By incorporating group activities into your plan, you’ll be able to save time and money.
Socratic seminar
20 pupils per group (minimum)
Type of course: In-person Request that students prepare for a discussion by rereading a course reading or a selection of texts and developing a few higher-order discussion questions regarding the text. Pose an initial, open-ended inquiry in class. Students then continue the discussion by challenging one another to back up their arguments with evidence from previous course concepts or books. Students are encouraged to respectfully share the floor with their peers and do not need to speak in any specific order.
This or that
Number of students in a group: 5–10
Online (synchronous or asynchronous) or in-person courses are available.
Students can use this game to see where their friends stand on a number of topics and situations. Before class, instructors should give students a list of provocative phrases to read ahead of time. Then, using an online discussion thread or a Google Doc, they can ask students to indicate whether they agree, disagree, or are neutral on the topic in advance. Use a separate discussion thread or live chat in class to allow students with opposing viewpoints to express themselves. Encourage one or two members of each group to defend their argument in front of a new group of pupils after a few minutes. Students should go through this process multiple times.
Circular concentric circles
20 pupils per group (maximum)
Type of course: In-person. Two circles are formed by the students: an inner circle and an outer circle. Each inside student is matched with an outside student and they face each other. Pose a question to the entire class, and then have pairs debate their responses. Students in the outside circle should move one space to the right every three to five minutes, so they are standing in front of the next student. Pose a new question, and the process is repeated, exposing kids to all of their team’s viewpoints.
Absurd questions
Group size: 5 students per group
Online (synchronous or asynchronous), mixed, or in-person courses are available.
To the entire group, make an imaginative, extravagant, or imaginary statement. Statements can be adjusted to your discipline, such as “what if everyone lived to be 150 years old” for a developmental lesson or “what if evolution didn’t exist” for a biology lecture. Students are required to come up with as many different responses to the topic as possible, taking into account all political, social, economic, and psychological factors. They can then share their responses aloud or on a discussion board if you’re teaching remotely, which is also a good choice for introverts.
Also read: Online Classes vs. Traditional Classroom Learning
FAQs
What are team-building activities?
The practice of developing ties between members of a group in order to more efficiently achieve the group's goals is known as team building. Team-building activities can be as informal and casual as a shared dinner or as regimented as a session conducted by a facilitator.
What are team-building activities for kids?
Over the electric fence, The human knot, Take a seat in the chair, etc.
What are team-building activities for college students?
Games of improvisation, Socratic seminar, Circular concentric circles, etc.
