6 team building activities without materials that don’t suck

In-person games with no materials

Jumping straight into our list of fun team building games with no materials for in-person teams to play in the office.

3. Conducted story

Best for: Encouraging communication and collaboration

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At the top of our list of team building activities that require no materials is ‘conducted story’. This game is one of our favorites because it helps players sharpen their communication skills by encouraging them to listen and pay attention.

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To play,

• Have all players sit in a circle. Begin the story with the phrase, “Once upon a time…”
• Have the person seated next to you continue the story by adding at least one sentence. For example, “…there was a man named Sam who went to the supermarket’.
• The next person continues the story by contributing another sentence.
• Go around the circle a few times, each person adding a sentence until an interesting story has developed.

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The goal of this activity is for players to create a seamless story with a sensible and continuous plot. At the end of the game, you can lead a conversation on the importance of communication and working together as a team to achieve a common goal.

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4. Tea and coffee

Best for: Testing out listening and memory retention skills

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This quick team building game without materials is effective at teaching teammates how to listen and pay attention more. If not that, at least they’ll leave the game knowing how their teammates prefer their teas/coffees.

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To play, get everyone to sit in a circle. Have the first person start by stating their preference for tea or coffee and how they like to take it (black, with cream, with sugar, or both). For example, “I prefer coffee, and I like mine with cream only”.

The person sitting next to them must then recall the first person’s preference and state their own. For example, “Kate prefers coffee, and she likes it with cream only. I prefer tea, and I take mine with cream and sugar”.

Go around the circle, with each person recalling the preference of the person before them, alongside stating their own.

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5. Group lineup

Best for: Fostering creativity and better communication

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This activity is great because it works as a ‘get-to-know-you’ game for new teams or a communication improvement game for established teams.

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To play,

• Gather your teammates and instruct them to line up in the correct order of a chosen criteria. For example, you could have them line up in order of their shoe sizes, heights, or birthdays.
• Let them know that they are not to speak to each other or write anything down, then give them 5 minutes to come up with a non-verbal/written mode of communication.
• Set a timer for 30-minutes and have them begin.

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The goal is for them to figure out a creative means of communication to help them arrange themselves in the correct order and quickly complete the task.

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6. Awareness circle

Best for: New teams

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This game helps teammates recognize any differences or similarities between themselves.

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To play, you’ll need to come up with a list of statements. For example, “I’m an only child”, “I consider myself adventurous”, “I can play an instrument”, etc.

Gather everyone in a circle and read through each statement. If it’s true for any teammates, they should step forward. Once everyone has seen who’s stepped forward, have them return to their original position and call out the next statement.

At the end of the game, encourage teammates to discuss some of their differences and similarities.

Source: https://gardencourte.com
Categories: Outdoor