Free Team Building Game

Time:            

• Approximately one hour  (more, based on number of participants and length of debrief desired)

Participants:

• Ideal maximum = 4 groups of 3-4 individuals each group

Materials: 

• A variety of materials such as: paper towel tubes, balls, string, tape, popsicle sticks, plastic spoons, paper clips, pencils, fabric scraps, plastic wrap, sand, buckets, marbles, straws, cups, small toy cars, tin foil ... use your imagination.

Purpose: 

• Demonstrate importance of teamwork, communication and creative problem solving

Preparation and Notes for Facilitator:

• Divide the group into teams of at least two people each. Provide the teams with the pile of materials that you have gathered.

Start the activity :

• Each group tries to make a “machine” that, once set into motion, will set other things into motion and so on down the line till the end. The challenge is to make the machine that stays in motion for the longest amount of time once it is started without any human intervention along the way.

• For example, a marble rolls and hits the spoons which tips the cup, which dumps the sand, which moves the straw, etc.

• You may divide the supplies up among teams yourself or you may allow the teams to take turns selecting items to use.

Debrief questions:

1. Were you happy with what your group made? Why or why not?

2. Did everyone contribute to your team’s project? How did you feel about this?

3. What was the process that your team went through when creating your

machine?

4. What process do successful teams go through when working on building

something together?

 

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