Quick Team

Building

All Aboard
The entire team must fit inside a circle. After each success, the circle will shrink
and gradually get smaller and smaller until the team have to rely heavily on
support and teamwork to complete the challenge.

Equipment Required: Rope for platform, tarpaulin, shoe laces or carpet

Space Required: Small. Indoors or outdoors.
Group Size: 8-15 people depending on the size of the area used.
Total Time: 20 minutes

 5 minutes to brief and set up

 10 minutes to achieve outcome
 5 minutes to review
Suggested Learning Outcomes
 Cooperation
 Communication
 Goal setting
 Leadership
 Problem solving

Back-to-Back Drawing
Working in pairs, one person must describe a shape without naming it, whilst
their partner must try to draw the shape they are describing to try and get as
close the original shape as possible. This activity focusses heavily on verbal
communication and listening skills.

Resources: Various shapes printed, paper and pencils

Space Required: Small. Indoors or outdoors.
Group Size: 6 to 16 ideally (If you have an odd number allow for a trio)
Total Time: 20 minutes

 5 minutes to brief and set up

 2 x 5 minutes to achieve outcome
 5 minutes to review and debrief
Back to Back Drawing Challenge Brief
Divide your team into pairs, and have each pair organise their chairs so they are sitting back to back. Give
one person out of each pair a picture of a shape, and give the other person some paper and a pencil. The
person who is holding the pictures is now required to give verbal instructions to their partners on how to
draw the shape – they are not allowed to tell their partner the name of the shape and can only describe
the picture. Allow three to five minutes to complete the picture and after, compare the shape with the
actual drawing.

Next get them to discuss the exercise and review the following questions:

 How well did the first person describe the shape to their partner?
 How well did the second person understand the instructions and how close were they to duplicating the
actual shape of the picture?
 Did they discover any problems with the sending or receiving parts of communication and how did they
overcome this?

Birthday Line Up
A quick and simple team building challenge to deliver. Participants line up in a
straight line side-by-side. Ask them now to get in order of their birthdays (month
and day, year isn’t necessary). The challenge is the group cannot talk at all.
You’ll find they resort to sign language, nudges, someone might try to start
leading. Love this activity, especially when used with a bench.

Equipment Required: None
Space Required: Minimal. Indoors or outdoors.
Group Size: 8 to 12 ideally.

Total Time: 10 minutes

 1 minute to brief and set up

 7 minutes to achieve outcome
 2 minutes to review
Brief/Challenge Instructions
1. Get the group to stand in a straight line (side-by-side).
2. Brief them that they will need to get in order by Birthday (by month and day).
3. The rule is that they can no longer talk. If they do start to talk then they need to start again.
4. To make the challenge difficult, try blindfolding a couple of the participants.
Suggested Learning Outcomes
 Communication
 Cooperation
 Problem Solving
 Leadership

Bus Stop
Group members make choices (express their opinions) in front of other people by
getting on and off an imaginary bus. What follows is a number of word pairs,
where individuals have to make the decision which one they agree with and why.
This can be used as both a team building exercise and a fun icebreaker.

Equipment Required: Two ropes

Space Required: Small. Indoors or outdoors.
Group Size: 6 to 30 (maximum of 50)

Total Time: 20-25 minutes

 3 minutes to brief and set up

 10-15 minutes to achieve outcome
 7 minutes to review
Bus Stop Exercise Instructions
1. Create an imaginary bus by laying the two ropes on the ground and in a parallel formation. The
ropes should be about 10 –
15 feet apart.
2. Ask the group to stand between the ropes and face you.
3. As the facilitator, you will be the bus driver for this task and standing at the front of the bus facing the
group (your passengers).
4. Word pairs are read out by the bus driver (refer to the list below) and as the driver reads them, points to one
side and the other. The passengers get off the bus on the side they most associate with at that time. For
example; the bus driver says, “talk” (pointing to the left side) and “listen” (points to the right side).
5. Group members walk to the side of the bus (rope) they associate with or even a statement they agree on.
6. Pause and allow the two groups to see who chose what. This is a perfect time to discuss the choices with
the team.
7. Then the bus driver says “Back on the bus!” and everyone steps back on – standing in between the ropes
again.
8. The next word pair is given and the passengers make their selections. The process is repeated several times.
Example Word Pairings
Day/Night
Spend/Save
Shark/Dolphin
Cat/Dog
PC/Mac
Run/Walk
Listen/Talk
Triangle/Square
Read/TV
Comedy/Thriller
Sun/Rain

Suggested Learning Outcomes
 Decision making
 Listening skills
 Discussion
Useful Tips
When working with young people, try to make it fun to begin, use word pairs such as, ‘milk chocolate’ or
‘white chocolate’

For older groups, use it as an engagement exercise that links to teamwork or team development in
general. This is a great get-to-know-you exercise, which is brilliant as an ice breaker – don’t be afraid to
discuss choices with the group.

Fly in the Glass

This is a quick initiative exercise using lateral thinking. Before you begin, use the
sticks to create the shape of a wine glass with a fly placed in it (see below).
Introduce the challenge and explain that they must recreate the wine glass
without the fly in it. To complete the challenge, they are only allowed to move just
two sticks. The remaining sticks and the fly must not move.

Resources required: Each team needs four sticks of equal length (use can also use matchsticks if space
is limited) and one fly-like object e.g. a cone or a bean bag
Space Required: Small. Indoors or outdoors.
Group Size: 5 to 12 at max. For larger groups split into smaller teams.
Total Time: 10 minutes

 2 minutes to brief and set up

 5 minutes to complete fly in the glass challenge
 3 minutes to review and debrief

Problem Solution

Suggested Learning Outcomes
 Problem Solving
 Cooperation
  Communication
 Leadership
Useful Tips

This challenge requires teams to working together to find a solution. This is a great opportunity to
introduce theproblem solving model to the team.
If a team member is dominating the discussion and talking over others, silence the individual for 2
minutes to allow an opportunity for others to speak – remember to use this as a review point at the end of
the challenge. Try to balance the exercise so everyone is actively involved and engaged.

When working with large teams, split them into smaller sub-teams. You can then setup this challenge as a
race. Working in smaller teams also allow for more inclusion and better group discussion.

Questions to use for review:

How well did you feel you worked as a team?

Did you feel you planned well? How did you come up with your strategy for the task?
How important was it to discuss and share ideas?
When your plan wasn’t working, how did you respond?
Why is it important to review your approach? Did you adapt at any point?
Was everyone included in the activity?

Group Juggle
The group stand in an inward facing circle and are asked to throw juggling balls
amongst the group in a specific order. As the activity develops more juggling
balls are introduced and the pressure to work well as a group increases.  This
works as a great ice breaker during the forming stage of a team.

Equipment Required: Juggling balls, bean bags (or even a rolled up sock).
Space Required: Small. Delivered either indoors or outdoors.
Group Size: 8 to 14 ideally (however is still works with slightly larger or smaller groups).

Total Time: 20-30 minutes

 5 minutes to brief and set up

 10 minutes for challenge
 5 minutes to review
Group Juggle Ice Breaker Instructions
 Organise the group into a circle, and set up a juggling system that processes juggling balls by throwing
them across the circle of team members from one person to the next.
 When a ball is thrown the thrower must shout the name of the recipient
 They catch it and throw to another group member.
 This continues until each group member has caught & thrown the ball just once. (it should have eventually
ended back at the start point).
 Ask each group member to identify who they received the ball from and who they threw it to.
 Test this out by throwing the ball in the same original order until it arrives back at the start point.
 The next stage is to introduce more balls and see how many you can get moving round the circle in the
original order. As many balls as people is extremely difficult. You can also add another ball to be sent in
reverse order to add a bit confusion to the mix.
Learning Targets
 Goal setting
 Cooperation
 Continuous development
 Communication
Hole Tarp
The objective of this challenge is for the team to work together to navigate a ball
around a tarpaulin for as long as possible without the ball falling through a hole or
off the tarp completely.

Equipment Required:  One tarpaulin with randomly cut holes and 1-3 tennis balls per group.
Space Required: Medium. Indoors or outdoors.
Group Size: 8 to 16 ideally per tarpaulin.
Total Time: 30 minutes

 5 minute to brief and set up

 20 minutes for challenge
 5 minutes to review and debrief
Suggested Learning Outcomes
 Communication
 Cooperation
 Problem solving
 Reviewing and reflection

Human Knot
Starting in a circle, participants connect hands with two others people in the
group to form the human knot. As a team they must then try to unravel the
“human knot” by untangling themselves without breaking the chain of hands.

Equipment Required: None
Space Required: Small. Indoors or outdoors.
Group Size: 8 to 12 ideally. You must have at least 4 participants to play.

Total Time: 20-30 minutes

 5 minutes to brief and set up

 10-20 minutes to achieve outcome
 5 minutes to review and debrief
Human Knot Team Building Instructions
1. Get the group to form a circle.
2. Tell them to put their right hand up in the air, and then grab the hand of someone across the circle from
them.
3. Then repeat this with the left hand, ensuring they grab a different persons hand.
4. Check to make sure that everyone is holding the hands of two different people and  they are not holding
hands with someone either side of them.
5.  That they must now try to untangle themselves to form a circle without breaking the chain of hands.
Allocate a specific time to complete this challenge (generally ten to twenty minutes)
6. Get participants to take their time in order to limit injuries. Ask the group not to tug or pull on each other
and spot participants as they pass over other participants. Monitor throughout the challenge and stop them if
you need to.
7. If the chain of hands is broken at any point, they must then start over again.
Link to Human Knot Video Tutorial
Suggested Learning Outcomes
 Leadership
 Cooperation
 Time management

Human Shapes
Working together as a team, the group have to use their bodies to form letters
and words. This challenge is simple to deliver and can be done with no
equipment.

Equipment Required: None
Space Required: Small. Indoors or outdoors.
Group Size: 8 to 12 ideally.
Total Time: 20-30 minutes

 5 minutes to brief and set up

 10-20 minutes to achieve outcome
 5 minutes to review and debrief
Human Shapes Team Challenge Instructions
1. Find an area free of obstacles and ask participants to spread out
2. Start out by asking the participants to make several letters of the alphabet with their body e.g. B, C, D and
E.
3. Next up, get them to form the words you say e.g. with groups of four people you would do words that have
3 or 4 letters i.e. dog, bird, cat, step and groups of five people words that 4,5 or even 6 letters.
4. Finally use a sentence or phrase that allows everyone to be involved.
5. You can also split the team into smaller groups and get them to compete against each other.
6. Try to make this activity fast paced, so they don’t think too much and are kept energised.
Suggested Learning Outcomes
 Creative thinking
 Cooperation
 Support and trust
 Planning
Infinite Loops Solution – Rope Handcuffs
Pairs are connected using the infinite loops, their challenge is to become
disconnected from their partner, without removing their hands from the loops or
untying the knots. This will get people working closely together and you’ll usually
hear lots of laughter as people try to solve this fun and challenging puzzle.

Equipment Required: 2 x single length short ropes with knots tied to each end of rope per pair
Space Required: Small. Indoors or outdoors.
Group Size: 4 to 120. Practice in pairs.
Total Time: 15 minutes

 2 minutes to brief and set up

 10 minutes to achieve outcome
 3 minutes to review
Infinite Loops Challenge Instructions
1. Tie a loop at both ends of the length of rope. Ensure you have enough ropes for one per person and have a
few spare (just in case the knots become loose during task). Note, that the loop needs to be just large enough
for someone to stick their hand through.
2. Participants will be working in pairs during this challenge (if you have an odd number put them into a
group of three). One participant places their wrists in the loops,the other then places one of their hands in
one loop, takes the other end of the rope and intertwines once with the partner’s rope before placing the
other wrist in their loop. You will want to physically show people how to do this to make the process easier
for all.
3. Once the partners are connected, the ropes must remain, at all times, on the wrists they started on. The
objective is to get everyone free from their partner.
Rules
 Your wrist loops must stay on your wrists throughout the entire activity.
 The shoestring may not be cut (in any manner).
 The knots must remain tied as they are and you cannot physically alter the ropes or knots or partners.
 If partners get tangled up it’s allowable to take hands out of the wrist loops and start all over again.
Suggested Learning Outcomes
 Communication
 Problem solving
 Reviewing performance
 Persistence
Useful Tips
Completing the challenge involves one person looping the middle of the rope and passing it through one
of their partners handcuff or loop. Potentially when separating, the ropes will wrap twice around each
other – this happened because you sent the rope to the wrong wrist. Remember to practice and become
a master of this challenge.

A variation of this challenge is to put the group together in one large circle (so participants arms
are interlocked with those standing next to them). This makes the task more challenging and allows you
to facilitate the task so everyone is involved and a greater team bond can be promoted.

This is a great activity for mobile delivery as it’s so small and easy to pack away in a facilitation bag. The
task can also be completed whilst sitting on the bus or even the train! Endless possibilities for engaging
learners in all environments.
Loop-De-Loop
The team stand in a circle and hold hands. Start one hula-hoop hanging (or
bungee) over one pair of joined hands. Each person in the circle must pass the
hoop/loop over him/herself and on to the next person without letting go.

Equipment Required: hula hoop or bungee cord

Space Required: Small. Indoors or outdoors.
Group Size: 6 to 15

Total Time: 10-15 minutes

 2 minutes to brief and set up

 5-10 minutes to achieve outcome
 3 minutes to review
Suggested Learning Outcomes
 Leadership
 Cooperation
 Support and trust
 Planning
Magic Cane/Helium Stick
Teams are given a magic cane (also known as helium stick) which they must
lower to the ground, using just their index fingers. All participants must remain in
contact with it at all times – what seems like a simple task, can become incredibly
frustrating and funny for all involved.

Equipment Required: 1 thin, light-weight, bamboo cane (can be purchased from a garden store) or tent
pole
Space Required: Minimal. Delivered either indoors or outdoors.
Group Size: 8 to 12 but can be done with 6 to 14
Total Time: 20 minutes

 5 minutes to brief and set up

 10-15 minutes to achieve outcome
 5 minutes to review and debrief
Helium Stick Team Challenge Instructions
 Split the group into two and line them up in two rows facing each other.

 Introduce the cane to the group.

 Ask participants to hold their arms out in front of them and  point their index fingers.
 Lay the cane down on their fingers.  Get the group to adjust their finger heights until the cane is horizontal
and everyone’s index fingers are in contact with the stick.
 Explain that the challenge is to lower the cane to the ground.
 The rule: Everybody’s index fingers must remain in contact with the cane at all times. Pinching or grabbing
is not permitted – it must rest on top of fingers only.
 Reiterate to the group that if anyone’s finger is caught not touching the cane, the challenge will be
restarted.
Link to Magic Cane Video Tutorial
Suggested Learning Outcomes
 Problem Solving
 Leadership
  Communication
 Cooperation

 Move Tennis Balls

The team race against the clock to retrieve and move as many tennis balls from
one bucket to another, without using their hands or arms.

Time: 15 minutes

 2 minutes for task Introduction

 3 minutes to discuss and plan
 5 minutes to move tennis balls
 5 minutes to reviewing and debrief
Space required: Medium. Either Indoors or Outdoors

Resources:

 1 roll of masking tape (or use cones)

 1 metre stick
 1 bucket of tennis balls
 1 empty bucket
Team Building Challenge Set Up
Tape a start line on the floor. Tape and finish line on the floor about 3 metres (10ft) away. Place the
bucket of balls at the start line and assemble the team near the bucket. Set the empty bucket across the
finish line.
Challenge Instructions
Near the starting point is a bucket of tennis balls. The Team have five minutes to move as many of the
balls as possible from the bucket into the empty bucket across the finish line. Teams must designate one
person who can touch the tennis balls. The chosen person may not cross the start line at any time during
the challenge.

The remaining team members must move the tennis balls to the finish line without touching the balls with
their hands or arms at any time. Team members – other than the person assigned the job – who touch a
tennis ball with their hands or arms once you have started the challenge must leave the game and watch
from the side.

Scoring
Award the team one point for every tennis ball that is moved and placed in the empty bucket. If all balls
are moved from the start bucket to the finish bucket in the allotted time, award an additional 10 bonus
points.

Suggested Learning Objectives:

  Communication
 Cooperation
 Problem Solving
 Leadership
Questions for Review:

 Why was it important you planned before attempting the challenge?

 How did you discuss different ideas? Did everyone have opportunity to share their ideas?
 How difficult did you find it without using your hands and arms? Did this obstacle force you to think
differently?
 Did you support each other during the challenge?
 How well do you feel you worked as a team? What could you improve?
 Did you designate a leader for the challenge? What determines a good leader?
 Did you plan work? If not, why not? How did you respond to this?
 How do you ensure that everyone understands the team strategy?
 What would you do differently next time?
 Looking back on the challenge, what is the one thing you can take away from it?
Pair and Group Stand
Pairs sit back-to-back, arms linked and have to stand up together. When
successful make a 4 and do the same. To make the exercise more difficult
increase the numbers in the group or add a blindfold to the mix.

Equipment Required: None
Space Required: Small. Indoors or outdoors.
Group Size: 8 to 12 ideally. You must have at least 4 participants to play.
Total Time: 10 minutes

 1 minute to brief and set up

 7 minutes to achieve outcome
 2 minutes to review
Suggested Learning Outcomes
 Cooperation
 Support and trust
 Communication
Photo Finish
The aim of the challenge is for the whole group to step across the line at exactly
the same time. If one person is out of sync, then they must start over again. This
activity involves planning, communication, timing and resilience.

Equipment Required: Straight line floor marking (can use cones or rope).

Space Required: Small. Indoors or outdoors.
Group Size: 8 to 12 ideally, but can be done with up to 20.
Total Time: 20 minutes

 5 minutes to brief the group, allow planning and set up

 10 minutes to achieve outcome
 5 minutes to review and debrief
Suggested Learning Outcomes
 Communication
 Cooperation
 Goal setting
 Leadership
 Problem Solving
Through the Loop

Space Required: Small. Indoors or outdoors.

Group Size: 8 to 12 ideally. Minimum of 6 participants – Maximum of 20.
Total Time: 20-30 minutes

 1 minute to brief and set up

 3 minutes planning time
 15 minutes to achieve outcome
 5 minutes to review
Suggested Learning Outcomes
 Planning
 Cooperation
 Leadership
 Goal setting and progressive development
Trust Circle and Ladder

Ask the group to form a tight inward facing circle. One person is selected and
stands in the centre of the circle. They allow themselves to relax, and fall
backwards, safe in the knowledge that their team will catch them and then
‘bounce’ them gently round the circle. The tighter the circle, the less risk of
accidents. Remain vigilant and monitor the safety of participants at all times. Give
everyone that wants to try the challenge an opportunity to do so.

Trust Ladder
Line the group up into two parallel lines facing each other, standing close together. One person
volunteers to go first and stands at one end of the parallel lines and fall forward (crowd surfing style). The
group lifts them and passes them down their double line, gently depositing them at the end. They then
take their place in the ladder and the next person has a go.

Equipment Required: None
Space Required: Small. Indoors or outdoors.
Group Size: 10 to 16 (if you have more than this split into smaller groups)

Total Time: 20 minutes

 2 minutes to brief and set up

 15 minutes to achieve outcome
 3 minutes to Review
Suggested Learning Outcomes
 Active listening
 Team Communication
 Trust
 Support
Willow in the Wind
One person in the team is selected to be ‘the willow’ and stands in an upright and
rigid position in the center of a circle. On your instruction, the person in the centre
of the circle (the willow) is gently passed around the circle in any direction by the
spotters. The willow must keep their feet absolutely still at all times and put their
trust in the rest of the team.

The objective of this exercise is to develop trust and improve teamwork through cooperation and support.
It is important that you monitor safety closely throughout the exercise. Only use this activity when working
with calm and supportive teams.

Resources required: None
Space Required: Small. Indoors or outdoors.
Group Size: 5 to 12 max. For larger groups split into smaller teams (just ensure you have an additional
person to observe safety).

Total Time: 25 minutes

 5 minutes to brief and set up

 15 minutes to complete exercise (rotate between participants)
 5 minutes to review and debrief
Willow in the Wind Team Exercise Instructions
 Before you start, teach the proper spotting technique and explain the the importance of maintaining this
throughout the exercise.  Spotting technique: one foot in front of another in a t-shape position, arms
outstretched, elbows locked, ready and alert.
 You must then demonstrate the willow position: feet together, arms crossed with hands on shoulders, body
straight and eyes closed.
 Aim for between eight to twelve participants in each group (if you have a larger group then split into
smaller sub-groups for this exercise).
 Organise the group into an inward facing circle and spread large and small participants evenly to avoid any
weak points in the circle.
 Select one person to be the “willow” and get them to stand in the middle of the circle.
 Ensure spotters are close together, should-to-shoulder and maintaining the correct spotting positions. At
this stage, the circle should be quite tight, with spotters hands almost touching the participant in the middle.
 The willow should then allow themselves to be passed around the circle by the spotters.
  Once they feel more comfortable and have got over the initial fear of falling, spotters should then gradually
ease back to allow a longer lean.
 Allow a minute or two per willow then rotate between team members, ensuring everyone has an
opportunity to participate.
Learning Targets

 Cooperation
 Communication
 Trust and support
Useful tips and guidance

The focus of the review should be on how they felt during the exercise and whether they trusted the rest
of the group to support them.  Get them to individually rate out of 10 whether they felt supported by the
group and discuss what they could do support each other more. This will allow you to facilitate the review
better and draw out the importance of trust and support when working with others.

Suggested questions for review

How did you feel when you were initially briefed on the exercise? Why did you feel this way?
Do you feel you were taken out of your comfort zone during the exercise?
How did you feel when you were first passed around the circle?
How important was it to support others in the the team?
What is a risk? Do you feel you were at risk during the activity?
Why did we do this exercise? How does this link to work you do everyday?
Can you give an example of when you have gone into a situation blind and have had to rely on others to
support and help you?