These ideas all require cooperation and team work so are ideal for team building sessions for staff, or groups.
Stepping Stones
Each team needs a piece of newspaper, an upturned bucket or a paper plate for each team member plus one extra. The first team member holds all of the pieces of paper and lays them down in turn like stepping stones and walks across them, followed by the other team members. Only one team member can stand on each piece of paper at a time. Once all of the pieces of paper have been laid down, the last team member picks up the last piece of paper and passes it to the front of their team for the leader to lay down and stand on. Each player then moves up one space, leaving another spare piece of paper at the back of the line which is then passed to the front to allow the team to move further down the course. By co-operating quickly, the winning team will reach the end of the course first.
Team Walker
A team walker consists of two planks of wood threaded with string or rope with handles for each player to hold. Team members stand with one leg on each plank of wood and hold the handles. The challenge is to coordinate moving all players left feet at the same time followed by everyone's right feet at the same time to lift and move the wooden planks in turn and progress along the course.
Blanket Carry
This game needs teams of 5 members. Each team needs a blanket.One team member sits on the centre of the blanket and each other team member takes one corner of the blanket and lifts it off the ground. They then carry the blanket down a course and round some cones and back to the beginning. All team members then move round one place and carry the next team member around the course. The race ends once all members of the team have had a turn being carried around the course.
Blindfolded Ball Collect
This game is played with teams of 3 to 6 players.Each team has a bucket containing 5 balls. The first team member is blindfolded and the bucket is placed about 6 metres in front of them and the balls tipped out of the bucket. The other team members then direct their player to pick up 3 balls and put them into their bucket. Once they have managed to collect their 3 balls, they can remove the blindfold, tie it onto the next team member and the balls are tipped back out of the bucket for the next player to collect their 3 balls.
If a player puts a ball into another team's bucket, it counts towards that team's total. The
blindfolded player can pick up any ball, but only put it into their own bucket for it to count as part of their score.
Top Tip The trick is for only one team member to give directions to the blind folded player to avoid confusion. All other team members should keep quiet. This needs patience and trust and cooperation amongst the team. The winning team is the one whose players have all put 3 balls in their bucket first.
Walk the Plank
Each team has three upturned buckets and two planks of wood long enough for all team members to stand on. The aim is for the team to move across a course using the buckets and planks without anything other than the buckets touching the ground. You can also use tyres or crates instead of buckets.The team needs to work together to complete the challenge. They need to get one of the planks balanced on two of the buckets and move all team members onto the plank. They then need to place the third bucket in front of the first plank and pass the second plank along the line and rest it on the second and third bucket. All team members then need to move onto the second plank. They then need to pick up the first plank and bucket and pass them to the front of the line for the leader to place down to allow them to move forwards.
This one is a real test of communication and coordination.
Obstacle Course
Set up a course using anything you can get your hands on to form obstacles: Slalom Poles, A Crawl Net, Hula Hoops to step in, a Beam to run across, Sacks to jump in or Space Hoppers to bounce on. Team members take turns to run through the obstacle course and back to their waiting team members to tag the next racer.This one can require a lot of equipment as you need two of everything, so may be best for a school.. You could combine several of the ideas from the earlier races into one race using the equipment in our Party Sports Day Set
