A team that plays together stays together — that’s what we believe. That’s why last week the Bonkers Beat team headed off on our latest Staff Retreat. We’ve done a lot of different things together, from delicious meals and hot springs to wineries and laughter sessions. One thing we always include are some team building games to strengthen bonds and add to the fun!
For the latest Bonkers Beat Staff Retreat, we went sailing! You can see all the fun we had in this Facebook album. Of course, sailing was a relaxing and enjoyable experience, but we had to add some team build activities in too.
While some of them are just for fun, others help us to get to know each other a little better. Some games are even designed to help teams learn to work together effectively and solve problems.
To help you plan your next staff event or even just to add something fun to your next staff meeting, we’ve gathered three fun team building activities that we know your team will love.
1. Observation
Similar to spot the difference, this exercise has everyone stand in two lines facing each other. One team begins and should be instructed to observe the other team for around 1 minute or any preferred time allocation. Then they must turn around and face the other way. The other line (who was being observed) is given 30 seconds or one minute to change a designated number of things about themselves. This could be rolling up sleeves, removing a bracelet, swapping shoes — anything!
Once the time is up the other line turns around so the lines are facing one another again. They must then pick the designated number of changes that have taken place. Once they pick them all, the teams swap.
This game is fun, stress-free and encourages teams to work together.
2. A case of need
This game requires a large number of one item. It could be a big bowl of paper clips, coins, rocks – anything. The team is instructed: ‘Take as many as you think you will need”. They don’t know anything else about the game. Once they have each taken their chosen amount of the item, the team is instructed that they must now share one fact about themselves per item they took. For example, if five items were taken, five facts must be shared!
This is a quirky way of encouraging team members to share things about themselves and helps everyone get to know each other better.
3. Game of possibilities
An effective team building game, Game of Possibilities can also be hilarious. You’ll need a few random objects for this one and should break into small groups or participate as individuals. Give the first participant one of the random objects. They then have to stand in front of the group and silently demonstrate a use of the object. Get creative and aim to be original. The rest of the team needs to guess what the player is demonstrating.
At any childcare service, your team is your greatest asset. Creating opportunities for your team to bond, grow and thrive together is vital to their success and can improve the culture within your centre.
To see our amazing photos from our Staff Retreat this year, click here.
Do you have any favourite team building games? Share with us on Facebook.
