Laying the Foundation

Team Building

Ice Breakers | Team Contract Guidelines | Trust Activities | Group Challenges | Debriefing Tips | Resources

"Eggspeediencey"

Set Up: You will need five items that people can catch and throw (non-breakable). You will also need a few raw eggs.

Play: Form a large circle. Throw your first object (a ball) to someone in the circle. She will throw the ball to someone else, that person must throw the ball to someone else …until every individual in the group has had an opportunity to catch and throw the ball once. To complete the cycle the ball will be thrown to you once again.

Ask players to remember who they threw the ball to and repeat the same pattern except this time add a second object. Eventually, incorporate all five objects into the mix. Once you've practiced a couple of times, time the group.

Once the group has reached the goal of "warpspeed" (usually half the initial time), offer them a higher level of challenge and risk. Ask the group if they want to consider a greater challenge before presenting this task. If they agree, substitute one or more raw eggs as the object(s) to be tossed around the circle.

Take notes on how they worked together for the debriefing.

"Mergers"

Set Up: You will need ropes of varying lengths. Ask each participant to take one and tie it into a loop. Have participants lay their loop anywhere on the ground and then stand inside it with both feet. Explain that people are safe only when they have both feet inside a loop. The loops cannot be moved from their present location and ropes cannot be retied into larger loops.

Play: When you give the command "Change!" everyone must find a new loop to occupy. After two or three changes, pretend to sneak one of the loops away (be sure you are seen) while the participants are making the next change.

Allow the group to concoct a plan to include the person who is left out. One may notice some hesitation before a volunteer offers to share a loop.

Once everyone is safe, give the next "Change!" command and take another loop. You can continue to remove one loop at a time, or go wild and remove a few at once. The final goal is for the group to try to include everyone safely inside the final loop.

Note: One rope loop will need to be large enough to fit all of the participants' feet but keep in mind that the group can fit into a smaller loop than they imagine -so don't make it too easy for them! Challenge in this case translates into fun!!

"Moonball"

Set up: You will need a volleyball and hoola hoops organized in a circular pattern with about 5-10 feet between the hoops. Once a player has put a foot inside a hoop she cannot change hoops until the next round.

Play: Any player with a foot in a hoop may set the ball, but two players from the same hoop may not set the ball consecutively or the score returns to zero. The objective of the game is for the group to record the largest number of hits before the ball hits the ground (hitting the ground renders the score zero). If s player steps out of her hoop, the score will also become zero.

Each playing round is two minutes. In between each playing round the group has one minute to strategize and discuss. During these strategy/breaks, players can move the hoops, rearrange the number of people in a hoop, redistribute players to different hoops, and devise whatever plans they think will help to achieve a higher point total.