#bondingactivities

Did you know that family bonding is crucial for strong relationships and mental health? Dive in to learn activities and tips for quality time with your loved ones!

Discover the importance of family bonding and activities that promote quality time with loved ones. Learn tips for stronger relationships and better mental health Introduction: In today’s fast-paced world, taking the time to engage in activities that promote family bonding is more important than ever. Spending quality time with your loved ones not only strengthens relationships but also…

Life Highlights Game Time Required: 30 minutes

Begin by asking each participant to close their eyes for one minute and consider the best moments of their lives. This can include moments they’ve had alone, they’ve shared with family or friends; these moments can pertain to professional successes, personal revelations, or exciting life adventures. After the participants have had a moment to run through highlights of their lives, inform them that their search for highlights is about to be narrowed. Keeping their eyes closed, ask each participant to take a moment to decide what 30 seconds of their life they would want to relive if they only had thirty seconds left in their life. The first part of the activity enables participants to reflect back on their lives, while the second part (which we’ll discuss in a moment) enables them to get to know their coworkers on a more intimate level. The second portion of the game is the “review” section. The leader of the activity will ask each and every participant what their 30 seconds entailed and why they chose it, which will allow participants to get a feel for each other’s passions, loves, and personalities.

Coin Logo Time Required: 5-10 minutes

Begin by asking all participants to empty their pockets, purses, and wallets of any coins they may have and place them on the table in front of them. If someone doesn’t have any coins or only has very few, others in the room can share their coins with them. Instruct each person to create their own personal logo using the coins in front of them in just one minute. Other materials they may have on them, such as pens, notebooks, wallets, etc. can also be used in creation of the logo. If there is a particularly large group, people can be broken up into teams of 3-6 people and instructed to create a logo that represents them as a team or the whole room can gather to use the coins to create a logo for the organization/group/department/etc. Each solitary participant can explain their logo to the group or if the room was split into groups, the leader can have each group discuss what led to the team logo and what it says about them. Not only does this activity promote self and mutual awareness, but it also enables participants to get to know each other on a more personal level.

The One Question Activity Time Required: 15-20 minutes

It’s quite simple: the leader gets to decide the situation the question will pertain to. Example situations include babysitting, leading the company, or being married. After pairing participants into teams, the leader will pose this question: If you could ask just one question to discover a person’s suitability for (insert topic here), what would your question be? Say the leader chose to go with a marriage situation. That means each person in a two-person team would come up with one question that would help them discover whether or not their partner was suitable to be married to them. If the topic was babysitting, each team member would have to come up with just one question whose answer would help them determine whether or not the person was suitable to babysit their child. This icebreaking activity can also get mixed up by issuing one situation for the entire group or allocating a different situation to each team member or pair to work on. Depending on the situation chosen, the activity can be very fun, but it can also demonstrate that crucial questions should be developed properly.

Kemps

Kemps is a card game that works in pairs. Each pair must make up an either verbal or non verbal method of communication so that the other teams will not understand them. The goal of the game is for one person to get 4 cards that are the same regardless of suit. When a pair has the four cards they must yell Kemps. If another pair suspects that someone has 4 cards, they may yell Counter-Kemps and then they will win instead. If a team yells Counter-Kemps and no one has 4 identical cards regardless of suit that are disqualified.  At the beginning of the game, each person is given 4 cards and then four cards are placed face side up in the middle of the game area. Players are allowed to swap for any of the cards at any given time but must only hold 4 cards at a time. When no other cards can be swapped, the four face side up cards are removed and replaced from the remaining cards in the deck. 

This exercise builds teamwork within each pair and within the whole group because each pair must work together in order to win. The pairs must also work within the group if they want to win since they can win by recognizing another pairs method of communication. Another way it builds a team is by pairs recognizing what card a particular player is collecting in order to sabotage them or allow them to collect all 4 only to yell Counter-Kemps and win the round.

Indian Chief

Indian Chief is a game that works best with larger groups but can definitely be adapted for smaller ones. The goal of the game for the group is to seamlessly follow the leader’s (who is referred to as The Indian Chief) movements without giving away his identity. One player is separated from the group and must be wait somewhere out of earshot for at least 30 seconds.  During those 30 seconds, the rest of the group must agree on 1 person to be the Indian Chief and may continue to discuss possible strategies to protect the chief’s identity. Some possible strategies include appointing a fake chief that everyone will pretend is the chief or possible distractions for the guesser. After 30 seconds, the guesser must return to the group whether the group has finished discussing or not. The chief should start a pattern using their hands/arms before the guesser returns. Once the guesser returns, the game starts and at any moment the guesser may guess the chief’s identity. The chief’s role is to change the pattern while not being discovered but the chief’s efforts may go in vain if the group does not cooperate as a whole. The guesser gets traditionally 3 tries but in small groups that number varies from either 2 tries or 1. If the chief and the group are successful then the guesser will have used up all their tries without suspecting the real chief. If they are not successful, the guesser will be able to identify the real chief.

This activity forces a group to act like a team. They all share the same goal and can only achieve that goal by working together. The time limit on the group forces the team to act quickly and effectively so that the game can progress in a timely manner. The success of the team is codependent on each individual player. It is each player’s role to protect the chief and it is the chief’s role to protect the group by protecting themselves.

    Pencil Drop

Pencil Drop is a short and quick game that can encourages a pair of people to solve a seemingly simple problem with the help of the group. The goal of the game is to drop a pencil into a bottle. Simple right? The twist is that the pencil has two strings attached to it and each of those strings is attached to a different wrist in each pair. Not so simple anymore right? Oh and did I forget to mention that each pair is blindfolded? Each pair is blindfolded as they attempt to lower the pencil into a bottle (a 2 liter bottle works best). The group helps direct them but is not allowed to assist them physically.

RULES OF THE ACTIVITY:

1. The first person says their name and does some sort of symbol or sign with their hands

2. The second person copies the symbol and name, makes their own, and the third follows saying preceding group memebers' names and symbols and so on until the group is done.

3. Once all of the group goes, everyone must go through and say everyones name and symbol until everyone gets it right

Our Experience with the Activity:

Team "Building" Excercise

Purpose:

-Have fun

-Build trust/teamwork skills

-Create a friendly and competetive environment

Challenge 1 

 With an even number of toothpicks and marshmallows you and a partner will form a team with the goal of creating a structure taller than the other team. Since there are five group members there will be a judge each time and two teams of two. Each round will last for five minutes and the game ends when everyone has had a chacnce to play ,which means that everyone has been a judge. Winners will be each given a point at the end of the round and the group memeber with the most points at the end of the game wins a prize.

Challenge 2

With the same regulations as above this time an object will be chosen and whichever team can build the tallest structure and the one that can hold the object for more than 15 seconds without toppling over will win. Prizes will aslo be given for this round.

#2

Ping Pong in groups

play up to twelve, everytime the team loses a round they will have the winning side say some facts about them and should they lose again theyre asked to recite those facts along with the new ones or risk losing a player. The team with the most players at the end wins, if there is an even amount there is a sudden death, and if a team wins before twelve then they recieve the difference of rounds they didnt play added to twelve. After mixing and matching teams for 5 rounds or more if youre having fun the winner recieves a prize to honor their awesome memory.

#3

A game of telephone, 

start out with a fact and see what it becomes at the end of three rounds.

#4 Beer Pong .....just kidding 

Note: The key to team building is not to get arrested

(Note: A Sudden Team Building Exercise involved throwing Alex a B'Day party)

For those of you that require instructions on how to celebrate a Birthday

1. Purchase Cake

2. Get people

3.Sing Happy Birthday, if the birthday girl/boy does not blush you're doing it wrong

4. Eat cake