The classroom is the main site of development for young children and teenagers. It is during their school years that they learn key interpersonal skills, problem solving skills and social skills that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. It is these skills that will set them up for university and later, a career.
An important skill which is vital to foster in students from a young age is teamwork. Students are going to have to work alongside other individuals throughout their entire academic career and will later continue to work with others when they get a job so it is integral for them to master this skill. In this article, we share great team building activities you can do at school.
What is team building in the classroom?
Team building in the classroom involves getting students to work together by promoting communication between groups and developing a variety of interpersonal skills. Depending on the age of the students in your class, team building can manifest in a variety of different ways.
For example, a younger class that is getting its first ever taste of team building might simply be asked to play a game of tug-of-war, while older students who are more experienced with team work might be tasked with putting together a group presentation on a subject they are currently learning about. Regardless of the form that team building in the classroom takes, the underlying lessons and goals are the same. It is a great way to develop important and essential life skills.
Why is team building important in the classroom?
Team building is important in the classroom because it teaches students important skills, which set them up for life. Young children apply the lessons they learn in school in the outside world. By teaching teamwork and organizing team building activities in the classroom, teachers give students the tools they need to develop healthy relationships, solve problems, accept different opinions and improve their communication skills.
What are some team building activities for school?
Now that you understand how important team building is within the classroom, it’s time to start thinking of team building games and activities for students. To help you along the way, we created a list of fun team building activities to get you started, but feel free to get creative with your ideas and adapt the activities to the age group of your class.
1. Scavenger hunt
A scavenger hunt involves a little bit of planning and organization but it pays off thanks to the endless amount of fun that children have while participating in this team building activity. For this activity, you will need to split your class into teams of about three or four students per group, and give them clues that will lead them to a prize at the end. The students will have to use their communication skills and come up with collaborative ideas.
One of the best parts about organizing a scavenger hunt to introduce team building is that you can incorporate your syllabus into the game. You can choose a subject that you are currently teaching in your class, and center the questions around that subject, forcing them to leverage social, strategic and academic skills simultaneously.
2. Line-ups
If you don’t want to put in the work required to organize a scavenger hunt but still want to begin teaching kids about teamwork, a line-up may be the way to go. It is extremely easy and completely customizable. All you need to do is ask your students to arrange themselves in some sort of order. It could be by order of birthday, order of names, or order of height.
This activity will get your students to talk to each other and work together to arrange themselves in the correct order. It also promotes organizational skills, as they have to arrange themselves in a specific way, with no room for error. If you try this out and your students are really good at it, you can make it harder by telling them that they cannot speak. This will force them to solve problems by reverting to other methods of communication.
3. Throw a party
While most student group activities take the form of a fun game or a puzzle to solve, throwing a party is a great way to incorporate a real life team building scenario into the classroom. This is one of those kids’ activities that should be done around the end of the school year to coincide with end-of-year parties.
All you need to do is task your students with throwing the party. How you do this is completely up to you and what you think your kids can handle. You can split students into teams to give them more of a targeted focus, or you can leave it completely up to them and see what they come up with.
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4. Three-legged race
The three-legged race is a classic outdoor activity that is usually held on sports day. It is a great activity to teach kids about teamwork. In this activity, two students form a team. Each student ties one of his leg to the other person’s leg. In this state, they have to reach the finish line. If they fail to work as team members who have a plan and who understand each other, they will get nowhere and will lose the race. However, if they can coordinate with each other, they will fly past their opponents and win.
Virtual team building activities
5. Youth Experience
At Kronos Experience, we specialize in the creation of unique team building activities for young children. Our youth experience showcases a futuristic parallel universe that is filled with captivating characters in order to promote healthy lifestyle habits among 5 to 12-year-olds.
In a future not so far away, humanity is facing serious problems. Unhealthy lifestyles and physical inactivity are compromising human health as well as the survival of our kind. Thankfully, the efforts of the space-time agency Kronos are improving the situation at hand. If you are a dynamic school, your students are charismatic and your teachers are committed then this team building activity is for you!
Learn more about this team building activity
Want to organize a classroom team building activity?
If you don’t have the time to organize a team building activity on your own but don’t want your students to miss out such an opportunity, Kronos Experience is your best ally. We organize unique youth team building experiences and school shows, which are immersive and educational, creating the perfect combination for school students.
We design unforgettable and enriching participative experiences to entertain and unite groups of all sizes and ages, regardless of distance. Our team takes care of your satisfaction before/during/after the team building experience. We make sure to promote communication, participation and cohesion in a pleasant, healthy and respectful environment. We are passionate about what we do and the positive effects that our experiences have on students.
We can help you run a series of workshops designed to engage your students’ imagination while getting them to work together to come up with solutions. We then host a live TV show where the activities from the workshops are showcased, allowing your students to see how teamwork paid off. We then provide students with a souvenir video, so that they can remember the experience.
This is the ultimate way to incorporate team building into your classroom agenda. We make sure that the kids have lots of fun, while also teaching them about communication and collaborative skills and providing them with important lessons about leading a healthy lifestyle.