Team Building Activities

Jump Rope Activity

Materials:
A long piece of rope used for jumping rope
Timer
Objective: To encourage teamwork, realization of using strengths & weaknesses in a group, and
improvisation in action planning to achieve a goal.
Note: Use the timer to record their time if they achieve their goal.
Directions:
The rope should be laying down on the ground with the team all standing on one side of the rope. Ask the
group for a hypothetical goal that they would like to see happen in the community. For example, they
might want to end world hunger. Now, tell them to look across the rope to the other side. Tell them to
envision that the other side is a world where their goal is realized and getting everyone in the group to the
other side of the rope represents achieving GOAL (whatever they might choose). The more people you get
across the rope, the closer you are to your goal.
Although the purpose of this activity is to get everyone to the other side of the rope, you must follow these
rules:

Every individual must jump through the rope at least once

There is no limit to how many people are jumping at once
There must be one person jumping each time the rope goes around
Members of the group must also be controlling the jump rope, but may alternate who is
moving the jump rope.

(Field questions about rules)

Now, remember the rules and good luck achieving your goal.
Note: Most groups will try many different methods of getting everyone to the other side & take time in
realizing strong vs. weak jumpers, and reaching the goal. It is possible that the group may never achieve
the final goal, but put the emphasis of discussion on the process of reaching a goal. If the group
completes the task before the 40 minute time, state their time of completion and ask the
group if they would like to try it again for a better time. Some people may be too tired to
keep going.
Discussion:
1- How did you go about achieving this goal?
2- At any time did you feel that it was not possible?
3- What were the Strengths & Weaknesses in your group?

Mafia Game
There are three different characters in the Game.
- The Civilians,
- The Mafia,
- A Medic
The characters are assigned to the students by the facilitator, who will tap people on the shoulder as they
sit in a circle on the ground with their eyes closed. One tap means mafia, two taps means medic.
The students who were not tapped are civilians. If you have a large group (20+) then you should have 4
members of the Mafia, if you have less than that you should have 2 or 3 members. The facilitator serves as
master of the game and will be responsible for letting everyone know who the mafia killed each round

Planning a Retreat & Ideas for Developmental Activities

Team Building Activities

and how (be creative!). The game is played in three turns: Universal Round, Mafia Round, and Medic
Round. Once you have been through all the three different rounds, you restart at the Universal Round.
The Universal round:
All players converse with each other normally but try to keep their true identity a secret. After a short
time, 1-2 minutes you must quiet the group down and get them to decide on one person who they think is
a member of the Mafia, you must then walk around the room and place your hand on each persons
shoulder as you go round. Anyone who thinks that that person is a member of the Mafia must raise their
hand. Each person can only vote once. The person with the most votes gets a short time to defend
themselves, you then revote that person, if they still have a majority vote they are jailed and have to reveal
their true identity. They then move away from the group and are out of the game. That is the end of the
Universal Round and everyone must shut their eyes.
The Mafia Round:
You then say 'Mafia only open your eyes'. The members of the mafia open their eyes and silently they
nominate one member of the group to be assassinated. Once you are sure of their decision you get them to
close their eyes and that is the end of the Mafia round.
They then close their eyes.
The Medic Round:
Then you say 'Medic only open your eyes'. They then get to silently choose one member of the group. If
they have chosen the person who the Mafia has chosen that person is saved from death. The medic closes
their eyes and that is the end of that round.
After the Medic closes their eyes, you then say 'everyone open your eyes' and if the Medic has not saved
the Mafia target you then tell that person that they have been killed, making up some creative story about
their death. The deceased must leave the circle.
You continue on with the game back at the beginning until all the Mafia have been caught or there are
only 2 or 3 people left and the Mafia outnumber the Civilians and there is no way of the Civilians winning.
If the Medic gets killed then you miss out their turns from the sequence.

Balloon Tower
Materials:
100 balloons
2-3 rolls of masking tape
Objective: To allow for observation of team interaction while exploring communication skills,
cooperation, planning and having fun.
Instructions:
The group (can split into smaller groups) is to build the tallest, freestanding structure they can in 20
minutes using only the balloons and the tape.
Process Questions:
1) What worked in the process? What hindered the process?
2) How did you plan your structure?
3) Was leadership displayed? Who took charge?
4) What role did you personally play in the exercise? Why?
5) What did you learn about yourself? Others?
6) Did you feel like everyone had an active role? Did you feel as if your ideas were heard and considered?
Alternative:
You can break the group into two groups with 50 balloons each, using the same general instructions. Do
not tell them that it is a contest; however they will assume that it is. It is often interesting to see if they
decide to work together or not-for there is no rule that they cannot. This opens a lot of conversation on
collaboration and separate units working together for a common goal.

Planning a Retreat & Ideas for Developmental Activities

Team Building Activities

Mine Field
Materials:
Many soft objects (balls, cones, blankets, etc)
Blind folds (optional)
Markers to indicate boundaries (50 yard rectangular field)
Objective: To foster trust among organization members and help increase communication.
Determine the playing field and distribute mimes around the playing field. Establish an atmosphere of
trust and safety among participants. Participants can try to cross the field by themselves. In the second
round, participants can then ask someone else to help them cross the field by talking them through the
field. Participants select a partner (or assign) and one person is blind-folded and cannot talk. The other
person can see and talk, but cannot enter the field or touch the person. Decide the penalty for hitting a
mine. It could be a restart or time penalty or simply a count.
The activity could be conducted one pair at a time or as a group. As the facilitator, you can control the
level of difficulty by introducing new items or removing items. Also be sure to help coach participants with
communication methods if they are struggling.
Process questions:
1) How much did you trust your partner at the start? At the end?
2) What was the difference between being along and being guided by another?
3) What did your partner do to help you feel safe and secure?
4) What communication strategies worked the best?

For more information on team building activities visit:

http://www.teambuildingportal.com/games/
http://cub.wsu.edu/Lead/library/resources/
http://wilderdom.com/games/InitiativeGames.html

Planning a Retreat & Ideas for Developmental Activities