Fun Team Building Activities for Kids

It's easy to get good players. Getting them to play together, that's the hard part. - Casey Stengel.

The motto behind designing fun team building activities in schools, offices, sports teams are the same. It helps the group in their performance by improving their communication and problem solving skills. None of us are born perfect and none of us are alike. Yes, this is the reality of life. Though we learn to adjust to many situations as we grow older, it is during our formative years that we do the maximum adjustment. This is the reason why we need team building for kids.

Many kids react to a similar situation in different ways and have problems in getting along with other kids in the classroom. It is not their fault as their reaction depends on the kind of teachings and models they follow. So team building activities help them polish their social skills by teaching them to be confident, comfortable and assertive. And there is no better way to teach kids the importance of teamwork and learning than with fun activities.

Top 5 Reasons for Introducing Team Building Activities for Children

• To create a rapport among students.
• To improve communication with each other.
• Teach the importance of teamwork.
• Improve problem solving skills and confidence.
• Avoid monotony by combining learning and fun.

Fun Activities in the Classroom

Teacher plays an important role in creating a caring classroom. Along with classroom management, they need to create an atmosphere where kids can trust each other and cooperate. These are two of my favorite indoor team activities in the classroom:

Animal Kingdom
This activity promotes sharing and communication among kids. Write down the names of about 15 animals on the chalkboard. The kids need to introduce themselves and name the animal they most identify with. Then make separate groups of kids like birds, mammals, reptiles, etc. as per the animals they named. Now these small groups need to answer the three questions together: One thing everyone in the group believes in?, One thing everyone in the group is afraid of? And one thing everyone in the group has experienced and others have not?

Sit Down If....
Considered one of the best among indoor team building activities for kids, it is a humorous game and a quick refresher from the classroom monotony. Prepare a list of things starting with, Sit down if...

• you have brushed your teeth today.
• you are wearing yellow.
• you are hungry.
• you like chocolates.
• you hate ice-creams.
• You are born in December.
• you are the eldest child.
• you can speak two languages.
• you have blue eyes.
• you have black hair.

Make the whole class stand. Read out these lines one by one. The last student standing is the winner.

Fun Team Building Games for Kids

There are innumerable team building ideas for kids. Remember, facilitator plays a major role in team building. A bad facilitator can make fun group activities seem boring, whereas a good facilitator can make a simple activity fun and interesting. It is all about you passion and interest in conducting these fun activities.

Construction Pals
This is a fun outdoor team bonding activity that encourages kids to collaborate and cooperate with one another. Take a sandbox and create a huge mound of sand in the middle. Divide the students in groups of four. Challenge each group to move the mound using only sand play tools like sandbox trucks, sand play vehicles, steam shovels, etc.

Tell Three Things
A great game to encourage healthy competition and team spirit. Divide the kids in two groups. Hand them a piece of paper each and tell them to write 3 things about themselves. Among these three things, one thing has to be untrue. Make the opponent group guess the item that is untrue. A correct guess gives them one point. So the group that accumulates maximum points is the winner.

Teaching is an honorable profession, and it is called so because apart from immediate family they create the foundation for the kids. These fun team building exercises not only create a bonding between the kids, but also create a bond between them and the teacher. It is through these creative team building activities that they break personal walls and learn to trust and respect each other, irrespective of their differences.