Try These Team Building Activities for Kids this Summer

The Best Team Building Activities for Kids

Team building activities are a great way to teach kids valuable life skills, such as communication, leadership, and problem-solving. If your child is shy and struggles to make friends, team building can help them break out of their shell and interact with other kids. At Empower Leadership, we are passionate about team building and leadership training. Here, we discuss a few simple team building activities you can try with your kids.

Minefield

Minefield is one of the most popular team building activities for kids. The game involves the kids leading each other through an obstacle course and is designed to teach cooperation and communication. To get started, set up an obstacle course in your house or yard. Divide the children up into pairs and blindfold one of the children. The other child must then navigate their blindfolded partner through the course using only verbal communication. Through this simple activity, children learn about verbal communication, listening, and helping others when faced with adversity.

Human Knot

Designed to challenge people to use their problem-solving skills, the human knot is one of the most famous and popular team building activities. Although it is featured a lot in corporate team building programs, it can also be played with children. To play the game, place the children in a circle, facing inward, and instruct them to place their arms in the circle. Next, instruct the children to hold onto the wrist or arm of one of the other children at random. Once children’s arms are piled into a “knot,” challenge them to disentangle themselves.

Don’t Wake the Dragon

This activity requires some imagination, making it perfect for younger children. The premise of the game is that the children are in a village under attack by a fire-breathing dragon. To save the village, the children must line up from tallest to shortest without speaking. Speaking will, of course, wake the dragon. Once the children are lined up, they shout “boo” to scare away the dragon. Although the game may seem simple, it is a great way to teach young children to work together and use non-verbal communication.

Cross the River

Cross the River is always a crowd-pleaser with children. In this game, the children must work together to cross an imaginary river. The river can be drawn outside with chalk or made on a floor with masking tape. Each team is given a piece of cardboard to serve as their “raft.” Now, the children must come up with a way to cross the river using only the cardboard. To make the game more challenging, impose some rules. For example, if the raft has more than two feet and one hand on it, it will sink. By completing this challenge, children develop critical thinking skills, communication skills, and problem-solving skills.