Team Building Activities
Snapping Game:
1.
Have the members either sit in a circle or in a
series of 3 to 4 rows.
2. Tell the members that one person is going to
snap, and as soon as that person snaps, the next
person is going to snap.
3. Start the snapping sequence and continue until
it moves around the entire circle. If rows are
used, make sure the members know the correct
direction of the path.
4. Repeat with a timer.
5. Have the chapter brainstorm ways to quicken
the process.
6. Repeat the process four times
Results:
In the beginning there will be people who
aren’t paying attention or who are just
moving too slow. As the process repeats
itself, the members should discover that they
don’t have to wait for the person ahead of
them to finish snapping if they want it to go
quickly. When it is really flying, it will
reach 5 people in less than 2 seconds.
7.
Ask, “Now, why didn’t we do it this way
the first time?”
Lesson:
Too many times we approach tasks head on without
thinking them through. If all of the
members have their minds set at the opening of a
task, things will go a lot faster and
smoother. Everyone is an important part of
the process. But to be a strong part of the
process, one can’t just sit there waiting
for the person before them to move into
action!
Tag: (requires a
somewhat large performance area with no obstacles
in the way)
1.
Have everyone pick a partner. (If someone
doesn’t have a partner, be their
partner!”
2. Have the teams decide which person will be
chased first (player A).
3. Give player-A a ten-second head start.
4. Tell them that once they are tagged they then
must close their eyes, spin around 3 times, and
open them to try and tag the other person! Plus,
there can be no true running, only fast walking,
and you can not leave the designated area
(otherwise someone could get hurt!).
5. Repeat the tagging and spinning sequence for 2
minutes.
6. Have the partners link arms, and then find
another set of partners.
7. For the next two minutes, repeat the above
process as teams. It is important for all
teams to remain linked at all times while the
chase is in session!
Results:
Although there are only 2 people, the team
members will have trouble deciding which way to
run. If they are about to be tagged, they
may start to panic and run in separate
directions. Prior to spinning, they will
also have trouble deciding which direction to
spin.
8.
Now, have the two sets of parts link arms, and
find another set of four people.
9. Do you see where this is going?
10. Continue the process until everyone has
joined into one big group.
Results:
Once it turns into teams of 8 or more people, the
true challenge begins. One or two
individual per set will take charge of the
team. Some of the end people will kind of
get whipped around, especially while spinning in
circles! Eventually, someone will realize that if
the two ends connect, they can form a circle
while spinning with their eyes closed. All
of a sudden, the game will start to move much,
much faster.
The
Lesson: How to work with other people.
There will be those who make it happen, watch it
happen, and wonder “what
happened?” It will also show, that
mass confusion can result when additional people
are added into a given challenge. Everyone
needs to be aware of the concerns of the people
on their team and figure out a way they can
successfully reach their goal together.
Trust Sit: (No
interactive discussion should take place between
the members- non-verbal cues only!)
1.
Have members stand in a circle so that each
person is facing another person’s
head.
2. Tell them to make sure their toes are actually
touching the heels of the person in front of
them.
3. Slowly have them sit down over a period of
three counts
4. If they succeed in supporting each other,
congratulate them, if not, ask them what factors
may have contributed to the collapse of the
circle.
5. Keep trying until each member of the circle
remains supported by the person behind
them.
6. After they have successfully sat down for
about 10 seconds, have them stand back up in
unison.
7. Repeat this process three times: once with
their eyes shut, once with their hands in the
air, and once with their eyes shut and their
hands in the air.
The
Results: At first everyone will try to scoot
forward, toward the person in front of them, in
order to reduce the space. As the circle
will remain the same size, the space will only be
redistributed. Only when people move
inward, towards the center of the circle, will
the extra space actually be removed. During
the actual sitting process, members will have to
sit down at the same time and speed for the
process to work. However, items such as
size and height may play a factor in the
project’s success. Encourage the
membership to consider these items and react
accordingly as the activity progresses.
The
Lesson: This exercise not only teaches trust, but
that things can get done without talking.
It teaches members that the obvious method of
solving a problem, may not always be the best
method. And finally, as everyone in the
circle is a key point-everyone must pull his or
her own weight. Likewise, everyone in the
chapter must pull their own weight and learn to
work with others as well.
The Twisted Chain:
1.
Have members for a circle of no more than 15-20
individuals.
2. Have them join their right hands with the left
hand of someone whom is across the circle.
3. Have them join their left hand with the right
hand of someone different that is also across the
circle. This will form a big knot.
4. Tell them to untwist without letting go of
anyone’s hand.
5. Make announcements of the amount of time that
has progressed.
6. If mass confusion breaks out, yell,
“Freeze.” Then ask them why there
is so much confusion.
7. Once they have successfully untwisted, have
them repeat the process silently.
The
Results: At first, everyone will just kind of
stare at one another. Then there will be
about 15 people trying and saying different
things. Some people may even drop arms in
frustration or because they just don’t
care. If mass confusion does occur, it will
be because there are to many chiefs and not
enough Indians. People will need to learn
to listen as well as give instructions.
The
Lesson: Again it will show that there are three
different types of people in the world: those
that make it happen (leaders that listen and give
advice), those that watch it happen (those that
have ideas but are scared to speak up – the
leaders should encourage participation from
everyone), and those that wonder what'’
happened (those who give up because it is
“stupid” or “too hard.”
Ask them what kind of member they would like to
become.
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