5 Great Team Building Activities for Teenagers

Teenagers in school are often wrapped up in many social activities. Between friend groups, cliques, and extra-curricular activities, it can be difficult for some students to manage their social wellness in class. That’s why using team building activities can be a great way to unite classrooms and help break the ice, leading to more collaborative relationships, more successful group projects, and sometimes even more motivated students. 

Here are five highly-effective team building activities for teenagers that you can implement in your classroom.

Team Building Activities for Teenagers

1. Dragon’s Tower 

Dragon’s Tower is a competitive game that is perfect for team-building teenagers. This game consists of four groups of three members each and a coordinator (usually the teacher). It is excellent for developing teamwork among classmates while keeping the mood light and fun.

To begin, the coordinator introduces the storyline: “Once upon a time, there was a king who had four daughters. Then, a frightful dragon came and took the king’s daughters and locked them up in a tower.” The task of each of the four teams is to bring their princess back home.

Each team member has a different role. The silent one can look but can’t talk, the talker, who can speak but can’t look, and the tracker, who is blindfolded and must be led by the other two. 

The coordinator uses a deck of cards to assign princesses to each team and attaches the cards to a designated wall in the classroom, and only the silent ones are permitted to see where the cards are located. 

All team members stand on one the opposite side of the room of the princess cards and must work together to re-capture their princess. The winner of the game is the first team who leads their tracker to their princess successfully.

2. Photo Scavenger Hunt 

In this team building activity, classes are split up into equal groups and given the task of taking pictures of designated items. To begin, the teacher hands out a list of items that must be captured along with a time limit that teams must turn their pictures in by. Each group may only have one camera, and the team must work together to find the objects on the list. 

The items on the list can be specific, such as a paperclip, or more broadly, such as something green or something that you use on a test. The best photo scavenger hunt lists consist of easy-to-find and more challenging objects that will keep the teams on their toes and engaged throughout the process. 

The winner is either the first team to get all the pictures on their list OR the team that has the most photos at the end of the allotted timeframe.

3. Spot the Difference 

Spot the difference is a team-building activity for teenagers that consists of two different teams, Team A and Team B. After splitting the class up into two groups, each of them should line up facing one another. The teacher allows an amount of time, usually fifteen or thirty seconds, for Team A to memorize everything they can about Team B. Then, Team A is dismissed out to the hallway. 

Team B r then has the same amount of time allotted to change something about their appearance. The only rule is that the change they make must be visible. After the given time is up, Team A re-enters the room and lines back up facing Team B, and names as many differences as they can find. When this is done, the teams switch roles.

There are two ways to determine a winner, depending on how much time you dedicate to team-building in class. If you are restricted on time, set a time limit for how long each team has to name differences. The team who correctly calls the most differences within the allotted amount of time wins. If you have an unlimited amount of time to allow each team to name as many differences as possible, the winner would be the team that calls the most differences overall.

4. Trust Game 

The trust team building game for teenagers is best played with groups of five or more, making it a perfect option for classrooms. To begin, each participant stands in a circle and joins hands, and one participant in the center, blindfolded.

The students creating the circle have to protect the student in the middle from harm as he explores the space around him. They can do this by shouting verbal cues or making other noises, but they must never release their hands. Each student playing should have a chance to be in both roles.

There are no winners in this game, but rather this is an opportunity for students to learn about the importance of interdependence and what it means to trust other people with their own wellbeing. This can be an essential lesson for many about the importance of trust when it comes to teamwork, as well.

5. Driveway Olympics

Driveway Olympics is a collection of many different team-building activities all rolled into one. This is an excellent option for teachers with large class numbers or classes comprised of students with radically different interests. Here are a few ideas for activities that work well for driveway Olympics:

  • Piggyback races
  • Egg tosses
  • Cup stacking
  • Three-legged races
  • Water bottle bowling

Driveway Olympics can be used as a fun team-building activity used for blowing off steam, or it can be made more competitive. If you want a more competitive environment, offering incentives like free homework passes, medals, or trophies can be a great way to up to ante.

Team Building Activities for Teenagers

Team building activities for teenagers are a great way to get students engaged with their classmates in a fun and exciting way. They help students get to know each other, learn how to work together, communicate best, and use their strengths to complement their classmates’ weaknesses. These skills are not only crucial to their school careers but also their lives beyond graduation.

About Jessica Phillips
Previous

How To Write a Lesson Plan – Fully Explained

Six Effective Teaching Strategies to Use with Kids

Next