Hey everyone!
It's that time of year where the kids are comfortable with each other and the tattling and bickering is picking up again. Well it seems that way to me the last few weeks. I cannot stand tattling. Especially over the little things. How can you stop it? Remind the kids that they are a class and the class is like a family. And one way that can help make them more family again, are team building activities.
Here are some ideas I've used or have seen used.
-Build it! Students get into teams and they all have the same materials like paper, pipe cleaners, blocks, etc. The goal is to construct something that a certain height. Or maybe you have them build something and be the fastest. You can tell them what to create, or how tall, or how fast.
-Fast Writing: All the students start off with a story, but only has 30 seconds (or a minute, depending on your kids) to write. They pass their paper to the next student.The next student continues the story going off of the previous part. At the end, their story should have been written by all their classmates. Funny stories are sure to happen!
-SOS: Students in groups are given a notecard saying they are stranded somewhere. They have to create a list of only 10 things that they can bring off the boat with them. Students have to create a plan of how they would work to get rescued together.
-Human Knot: Everyone stands in a circle and puts their right hand into the middle. They clasp hands with someone across the circle. Then, everyone puts their left hand into the middle of the
circle and clasps the hand of a different person. The group is now in a “knot”. The
object is for the group to untangle itself without releasing anyone’s hand.
-Lilypad Danger: Well I don't know the actual name, but this is what we called it in high school when we did link crew. You have only a certain amount of lilypads aka rubber spots to cross to the other side of the gym, but everyone has to get across, not touch anything besides the rubber marker, and once it's been touched, it gets removed.
For other team building activities in the classroom, you should check out
Team Building Activities For Kids Central. They have team building activities for all age groups, by time allotment, and for small/large teams. It's a really great resource!
What I love about their website, is that it breaks down each activity into the ages, how long, prep, benefits, and tips. From the Ha-ha game, treasure hunting, to "Get A Little Loud With All Aboard!", there's an activity for your classroom!
