Sometimes it can be a challenge to figure out how to work together to accomplish a goal, but it is so important to their well-being and growth.
Thankfully there are some great team building activities for teens to encourage working together as well as develop social skills.
Benefits of Team Building
There are so many benefits as we teach teens to work together as a team.
- Helps build trust.
- Improves awareness of others and their feelings
- Builds relationships
- Improves communications skills
- Helps with Problem Solving
- Helps Kids work together through their differences with others
- Helps develop leadership skills
Team Building Activities for Teens
Silent Line-up
Silent line up teaches kids to work together without talking.
To do this activity you will have the teens line up from the smallest shoe size to the largest. But the catch is they cannot speak.
You will see the teens work together to accomplish this goal by finding interesting and unique ways to determine who has the smallest feet and who has the largest.
Build a Story
In this activity, the teens will be given the task to create a book for kids. Each teen will have to write and illustrate a different part of the story.
In this activity teens will have to collaborate with one another to create a story idea and then divide it up among each other to create a story.
This teen building activity will teach them to work together in a common goal.
Cross the Line
In this challenge, the teens will think it will be so easy, but will soon realize just how hard it is!
Place a line of blue tape on the ground and have all the players stand on one side of the line.
When you say go, the goal is to get all the teens to cross the line at the same time.
This activity will take creativity, teamwork, and other problem-solving skills to cross the line together.
Karaoke Routine
Whoever thought that Karaoke could be a team building activity for teens? But it can!
Depending on the size of the group divide the teens into smaller teams. Make sure there are at least 3-4 members in each group.
Next, give them their task to pick any song they want, learn the words, and then create a routine around the song. You could have dancers, drummers, singers, etc.
This activity is all about creating relationships and working together and having fun with their peers.
Escape Rooms
If you have a small group of teens then an escape room is a great idea to help them build leadership skills. While in the escape room they will have to work together to find clues, solve problems, and figure out how to move on to the next room. If the teens can figure out how to do this and delegate tasks to one another by trusting each other they will escape in no time.
Murder Mystery
Alright whether teens admit it or not they love Murder Mystery parties. Pick a theme for your murder mystery party and assign characters to each of the kids. Encourage them to dress up as their character to make it even more fun.
Once all the guests have arrived a “murder” occurs and it is up to the teens to figure out just who did it. Of course, this will take them working together through communication and problem solving skills to solve the mystery.
The Human Knot
This is a fun game that you can do at the last minute for something to help bond kids. Have the teens stand in a circle and close their eyes. Once their eyes are closed have them all put their hands in the middle of the circle and grab one with each hands.
After everyone has two hands then have them open their eyes, but keep holding onto the hands. They now have to figure out how to untangle themselves without letting go of their hands. This will require teamwork, leadership skills, and creativity as they unwind, step over, and untangle themselves.
Hands
Divide the kids up into groups of three. Once the kids are divided up have the members of the group hold up a 1, a 2, or a 3 (one per group).
All the 1s will become the narrator, 2 will be the body, and the 3s are the hands.
Have teen number 2 stand there and blindfold them and then have person number 3 stand behind him and have them stick their arms in between the body and arms of person number 2. Then the narrator begins telling an elaborate story and play number 2 must act out the story with their hands.
This is a really creative way to get teens to interact with one another.
Drawing Challenge
For this teen building activity divide the group into partners. Have them sit back to back and hand one of them a blank piece of paper and a pen. Then hand the other person a simple drawing such as a house.
The person with the simple drawing will then have to give their teammate simple instructions to draw the other object without saying what the object is.
For instance, if the drawing was a house they would say, “draw a box that is about two-thirds of the page.” “On top of the box, draw a triangle.” “Add vertical lines to the triangle that are equal distance apart.”
This activity will really test the teen’s communication skills with one another and teach them to work as a team to create something together.
Obstacle Course Relay
There is no better teen building activity for teens than an obstacle course relay. Here you can set up team type activities that force the teens to communicate, work together, and cheer each other on to get across the finish line. The catch of this obstacle course is that all the teens on the team must finish at the same time. It really teaches kids the value of teamwork and working to help others accomplish a common goal.
Thankful Challenge
This activity is good for teens that know each other. It would be perfect for a school sports team or leadership class. To prepare put numbers in a bag for kids to draw. You will want 2 of each number in the bag.
Once to the teens that you will be having a gratitude challenge. Have the teen draw numbers out of the bag and partner up with their number pair. Announce to them that they will have 3 minutes to locate a gift for their partner and somehow wrap it up.
Set a timer and watch them run wild trying to find gifts for one another. When the timer goes off have them come to the front of the room and give each other their gifts. Have the receiver express appreciation for that gym sock that their partner gives them.
This teaches teens to be grateful even in uncomfortable situations. The teens will have a blast doing this activity with one another.
No matter what team building activities you choose for your teens they will be able to develop a whole bunch of amazing skills to be better leaders, teachers, and communicators in the future.
What activities would you add to the list? Share in the comments!