Back to school: 5 team building activities to help break down boundaries

Anna Roslaniec
Anna Roslaniec
A group of children sat in a park high fiving each other

At the beginning of term adolescent learners are often shy, embarrassed and awkward. They are reluctant to speak English in front of their peers or show enthusiasm in class, often suffering from social pressure and lack of self-confidence. It can take weeks or months for students to get to know each other and form bonds. However, don’t despair if your teen learners are like this. There are plenty of team-building games and activities you can do to help students build relationships that will allow them to feel comfortable and relaxed in the classroom.

Team building activities to help break down boundaries
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Why use team-building activities in the classroom?

Team building activities can help:

  • Break down boundaries
  • Teens get to know each other
  • Build trust and teamwork
  • Bring 21st-century skills - collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills - to life

Team-building games can also be a lot of fun. They require students to work together to reach a common goaland sometimes include a competitive element, which can encourage teenage learners to get really involved.

There is a wealth of different team-building games and activities suitable for older children and teens, but here we have chosen five that we think your teenage learners will love.

1) Human knot

In this funphysical activity, teamwork is essential.Students form a human knot, which they have to work together to untangle. It will also give you an idea of which students show leadership qualities.

Materials needed: none

How to play:

  • Have students stand in a circle, making sure they are close together. If you have a large class, having students play in two or more groups may be better. The larger the group, the more complicated the puzzle will be.
  • Tell students to reach across the circle with each arm and hold the hands of two other students. They can't choose the people standing on either side of them. Make sure students hold a left hand with their left hand, and vice versa. Now the human knot is formed.
  • Tell students that they have to try to untangle the knot without dropping the hands they are holding. When they have successfully untangled the knot, students will be standing in a regular circle holding hands.
  • Students will need to bend, twist, and move under or step over other students' arms.

Tip: If one student is reluctant to play, give them the role of "director". This student can walk around the outside of the knot, giving instructions to help the group solve the problem.

If you are doing this in groups, have them race against each other. The team to solve the problem first - wins.

2) Magic carpet

In this game, teams stand on a "magic carpet" which they have to turn over while still standing on it. Teams must decide on a strategy together and carry it out — if they try to do it individually, someone will inevitably fall off.

Materials needed: rugs, towels, or large pieces of cardboard (one per team)

How to play:

  • Give each team their magic carpet and have them stand on it. Tell students they are on a magic flying carpet high in the sky, but there's a problem — the carpet is upside down. They need to turn the carpet over without anyone falling off.
  • They need to devise a strategy for turning the carpet over without anyone touching the floor.
  • Teams can work individually, or they can collaborate to help each other.
  • The activity can be set up as a race to see which team flips their carpet first.

Tip: Encourage students to rethink their strategy if it doesn't appear to be working.Evaluating your decisions and adapting your plan is a useful 21st-century skill that students can use throughout the school year.

3) Build it

Teenage students love a practical challenge; in this activity, the element of competition will undoubtedly get them involved. With just basic materials, students have to work together to build the tallest freestanding tower within a time limit.

Materials needed: balloons (one pack per team), sticky tape, a tape measure, balloon pumps (optional)

How to play:

  • Have students form teams of four and hand out the materials.
  • Tell students to build the tallest freestanding tower using just balloons and sticky tape in ten minutes. Explain that after ten minutes, you will check and measure the structures. If it falls over, that team is eliminated from the challenge.
  • Tell students how much time is left after five minutes and again two minutes before the time ends.
  • Have teams stand back from their towers. Inspect each tower, measure it, and record the results. You may wish to give the winning team a prize.

Tip: Increase the challenge by giving students mixed bags of different-shaped balloons, including modeling balloons.

4) My eyes, your eyes

Students will have lots of fun guiding each other or being guided through anobstacle courseby their teammates. This activity testscommunication skillsandbuilds trustbetween pairs of students.

Materials needed: blindfolds or scarves (one per pair) and obstacles, e.g., chairs and boxes.

Preparation: Before the activity, set up the obstacle course by placing furniture and other items around the classroom. Decide where the route students take will begin and end, marking the finish line.

How to play:

  • Put students in pairs. If possible, have them work with a student they don't know very well. Have one student in each pair cover their eyes with a blindfold. This student is a blinded person and their partner will be their eyes.
  • The guide stands behind their blind partner and places their hands on their partner's shoulders. Their job is to quietly give instructions to guide their partner towards the finish line, navigating the obstacles.
  • The first pair to finish wins.
  • Have students swap roles. Move some of the obstacles. Then repeat the activity.

Tip: If possible, play the game in the playground or in the school gym. The larger the space, the more complex you can make the route.

5) Scavenger hunt

This is a longer activity that requires slightly more planning than the others. Teams will complete a set of tasks and challenges as a race. Choose a mixture of fun challenges and serious tasks to turn this activity into a fun diagnostic test to determine students' English levels.

Materials needed: Worksheet containing a list of tasks and challenges (one per team). Tasks can be both language-related and practical.

Download our Scavenger Hunt sample worksheet

How to play:

  • Put students into teams. This activity is ideal for students with different skills and abilities, so try to ensure teams are mixed-ability.
  • Tell students that they are going to race to complete a series of tasks that they will find on their worksheet. The fastest team to complete all tasks correctly wins. Some tasks can be completed by one student.
  • Explain that students don't need to complete the tasks in order. Point out that you will monitor them closely to ensure there is no cheating.
  • Remind students that they must use English at all times. You can choose to penalize students by having them repeat or do an extra task if they use L1.

Tip: If you think students might try to cheat, before you set the teams nominate students to be team monitors (one per team). They will have the worksheet and make sure that the team fulfills each task. Alternatively, if students have mobile phones or tablets, have them take pictures and videos of their team members completing the task.

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    Five ways to promote friendship in your English language classroom

    By Joanna Wiseman

    There is a strong link between well-being and friendship, which is just as accurate for children as it is for adults. that children with stable friendships are happier, more able to cope with stress, and have higher self-esteem. Moreover, too, and children who experience friendship adjust more easily to school and perform better academically. School friendships are also a valuable way of learning social skills like sharing, resolving conflict, and engaging with peers positively.

    Having friends is an important part of school life, and teachers can play a significant role in creating a positive classroom culture and helping children and young people to form friendships. How can you promote friendships between your students? Here are some ideas:

    1. Make friendship a central theme in your classes

    If there is an example of a good friendship in a book you are reading with students or in your lesson materials, draw your students’ attention to it. For instance, The Jungle Book is an excellent example of a story about friendship. Encourage your students to think critically about the friendships that they read about. You can ask questions like:

    • What are some things a good friend does?
    • What are the qualities of a good friend?
    • What words do you associate with friendship?

    By discussing friendship regularly in the classroom, your students will learn about the behavior and characteristics of being a good friend.

    2. Create opportunities for interaction

    You can create lots of opportunities for students to build friendships with one another during class time. Design activities that call for pair or group work, and include at least one or two in every lesson. Focusing on a common goal or problem is a great way to encourage your students to bond with one another.As a bonus, this collaborative way of working promotes important 21st century skills like communication and problem-solving.

    Another way of promoting friendships between different groups of students is moving them around. Adjust your seating plan regularly to ensure that all your students interact with and work alongside different classmates, to promote positive, friendly classroom vibes.

    3. Discuss and model good behavior

    Friendship is a social skill that children need to learn – and you can help by teaching them. Be explicit about exactly what you expect from them. Saying, “Be kind” is an abstract, vague concept that children might struggle to put into practice. Instead, give them concrete examples of behavior, such as:

    • take turns when playing
    • speak respectfully
    • share pens or other resources

    When you see a student engaging in these behaviors, draw attention to them and praise them.

    But to really convey the importance of school friendships and kind behavior, it’s not enough to tell them. As the teacher, you must model the behavior you’d like to see in your students. Be consistently positive and upbeat in your interactions with students, thank your learners when they offer help with something, and try to refrain from sounding impatient (even when you are!). All these steps will help to build a positive classroom culture where students feel secure, supported and happy.

    4. Help to navigate difficult situations

    Conflict is an inevitable part of school life, but you can help students to navigate arguments and other difficult situations in the classroom. If two students argue, you can help them to resolve it with the following steps:

    • Separate the students to give them time to calm down.
    • Have a conversation with them. Ask for their perspective on the conflict, and find out how their day has been in general. Sometimes, you can better understand a student’s reaction when you look at the bigger picture. Ask them how they feel, and how they could resolve the situation.
    • Bring the students together again to discuss things and find a resolution together. Reconciliation is the goal.

    Following these simple steps teaches children a framework for resolving conflict and gives them the tools to process strong emotions.

    5. Do some friendship-focused activities

    An excellent way to promote a positive classroom culture is to do friendship-focused activities with your students:

    You could do a Venn diagram activity, where students work in pairs to discuss and write down things they have in common and areas of difference. It’s good to pair students who don’t spend much time together for this activity.

    Another positive activity is a 'Honey Roast'. Give students enough squares of paper to have one for each of their classmates. Get them to write their classmates’ names on the paper, and then, on the other side, write down a compliment or something they like about that person, for example, “I like your handwriting”, or “You always use kind words”. Collect the pieces of paper and read out some nice examples to the class. Alternatively, give them directly to the students to read to themselves.