Team building games and activities are great ways to help groups develop cooperation, decision making, leadership and communication skills. Check out the team building games over on Grahame’s blog Insight. They include lots of fun challenges as well as a couple of classic ‘pen and paper’ survival games. Here’s a challenge to get you started.

AFRICAN RIVER CROSSING

Create an imaginary river by marking two river banks with rope or masking tape. Make it wide enough (20-25’) to be a challenge for your group to get from one side to the other. Distribute squares of cardboard (1’x1’ squares) to half of the group. Alternatively, you can use sheets of standard letter sized paper.

The aim is to get all of the group (or teams if you have a large group) safely across the river. However, they cannot touch the ‘water’ and must use the rafts (cardboard squares) to cross. Rafts must be in contact with a human at all times or they will be swept away with the current.

Once the crossing has begun, the leader must remove any cardboard squares that are swept away by the current. Unfortunately the ‘river’ is also filled with crocodiles and if any team member touches the water they incur a crocodile penalty i.e. ‘lose a leg’ and they must complete the river crossing hopping on one foot.

The first attempt at crossing is usually hilarious to watch. Let the teams go a second time to build on lessons learned from the first crossing.  Who will survive? Here are a few variations to try as well,

• Cardboard squares can only go forward. They cannot move backwards.

• No one can finish the crossing until everyone has left the starting “bank” of the river.

Remember to discuss – What worked? What didn’t work? Who provided leadership? Did the group support one another? How did you work together as a team? Was communication good or not? How could it be improved?

More free team builders, icebreakers, discussion starters and eBooks over at Insight.

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