Elementary Matters: team building games

Elementary Matters is an educational blog focused on Elementary grades 1-3. These posts will make an elementary teacher's life easier by sharing information about how the brain learns best. It includes time savers, suggestions for classroom management, hints on effective teaching of reading, writing, and math, and several ideas for squeezing Science and Social Studies into daily instruction. These posts include links to several videos, articles, resources, and plenty of free materials.

Showing posts with label team building games. Show all posts

Me, Too! Not a Movement, But a Team Building Game!

Me, Too!

I know what you're thinking... wasn't there a "Me, too" movement a couple of years ago?

I never really thought about that term being used in the classroom until I saw this on Twitter!

This game is great for the beginning of the school year, but it's also great for those times when a child is feeling a little too "different" and feels he doesn't belong.

It's also a great Morning Meeting activity!

It all starts with one child saying something they like. It can be an activity, or a food, or a toy, or even a subject in school.

Those students who also like that interest call out "Me, too!" and walk over to form a group of all those who like that item.

After a few rounds, children will be joining with a variety of groups and agreeing with a variety of interests.

Soon they'll be learning about the interests of their classmates.

They'll be learning they have things in common with classmates they never realized they'd have anything in common with!

After a few times, they'll realize, even though there are some interests they don't share with classmates, there are plenty of interests that they do share!

Most important, they will develop that feeling of belonging!

We all know that feeling like they're part of the team is the very beginning of the learning process! Acceptance matters!

Looking for more Team Building ideas?

Try these posts:

Or try this resource: 60 Team Building Games and Activities to Build Classroom Community

How do you help your students feel like they belong?

Why Encourage Team Building in the Elementary Classroom?

Why should we encourage Teamwork in the Elementary Classroom?

I've encouraged children to work as a team in my classroom for many years. Although they're not necessarily going to score better on those high-stakes tests, working as a team helps children develop many important skills!

This post tells some benefits of Team Building activities in the classroom and some ideas for including these class bonding activities with your students.

Here are some of the skills children learn from team-building activities:

communication
collaboration
listening
time management
problem-solving
putting others first
conflict management

Interesting, some might say these are "life skills!" Yes, these are skills that children need to develop to be successful in life, which I feel is far more important than being successful on tests!

These are some activities to encourage teamwork in the classroom:

morning meeting activities
shared stories
project-based learning
STEM or STEAM projects
put on a class play
relay races
team trivia
partner work
plan a class party
scavenger hunts
educational games, played as teams

I'm sure you can think of plenty more, including activities connected to your curriculum! Make sure to mention that the goal is to "work as a team," and "look out for the others!"

Most important, motivate them to encourage others! Make sure these words are used often!

Good job!
You can do it!
Awesome job!
You are incredible!
You figured it out!
You're on the right track!
You make it look easy!
That's the way!
You've got this!
I can see you're really trying!

Here's an idea: let them make a list of more encouraging words, and display them for children to use as a reference. Be sure to model using encouraging words for your whole class team!

Here are some helpful resources:

Here are some links for more information about Team Building in the classroom:

Space Balls: Build Community and Team Building as Well as Imagination and Concentration!

Space Balls:

It sounds like something odd, but it really is as simple as can be!

Space Balls are balls that are made up of nothing but space!

Space Balls: Here's a quick game that children love, that develops team work, concentration, and imagination. Plus, it doesn't require any materials!

Space Balls is a great game for team building, but also works on focus, concentration, and imagination! It works well in morning meeting, or any time of day they need a break.

To start, establish what a space ball actually is: a ball made of space! Since you can't see the ball, it's important to show the size, shape, and weight of the ball by the way you hold the ball.

Then, slowly pass the space ball around the circle.

Students should watch to see that the ball maintains its size and shape.

For many students, that's enough for the first time.

Later, or on another day, introduce a "new" space ball, and review the concept by passing the ball around the circle again. Make the new space ball somewhat different from the first one. (smaller, heavier, etc.)

When the ball completes the circle, it's a good time to break the group into groups of 2 or 3 to play catch with the space balls. (Have some fun passing out space balls to each small group! Encourage their creativity by asking what sort of ball they want, then slowly taking that ball out of your "box" for them to see!)

Another option is to toss the space ball to someone across the circle. (See photo at top.) In these cases, remind the children to show the size and shape of the ball, remembering to maintain the size and shape.

On another day, introduce the idea of changing the space ball. Model squishing the space into a very small ball, or stretching it into a very large ball. The space can also become quite heavy (grunting is encouraged) or it can become quite light like a balloon. The students' hands and body language should always show the size, shape, and weight of the space ball, so their partner can follow.

Now it's time to let the children be creative: pass a space ball around the circle, letting children change the space ball any way they want to. The students should be very clear in taking the space ball from the previous person, maintaining its shape, then showing the group how they are changing the space ball.

I'll bet you (or your students) can think of more variations of "Space Balls!"

Can you think of a way to include curriculum concepts?
Please share these variations in the comments!

You might even see them playing it at recess time!

Looking for some other team building games?

60 Team Building Games and Activities

Looking for something that can be used for socially distant or remote learning?

20 Socially Distant Team Building Games

Side note: the teacher in the photo above is my daughter playing space balls with her students at summer music camp! She has her own blog, Me vs Rent!

A Few Summer Dollar Deals!

Ah, summer! Isn't it a wonderful time of year?

Summer is the time of year most people enjoy going to the beach, going camping, or maybe just hanging out with friends. It's a great time to be outside!

A Few Summer Dollar Deals! This post shares 8 dollar deals and 2 freebies that can be used at the end of the school year, during summer school, or in the early days of autumn!

If you're still in school or working with kids during the summer, you're probably looking for things to do with the kids that also allow you to enjoy the summer!

Well, I've got a few resources for you, and guess what... they're all dollar deals or free!

This Boom Learning resource is totally free! Plus, it can be used any time of year for building general knowledge! (July birthdays love it!)

Boom Learning July General Knowledge Trivia

These helpful tools are perfect for those students who need hands-on reference tools!

Tools for Learning Sampler

This resource helps children learn about their learning!

I Can Stretch My Brain!

Another totally free resource for July! Thinking questions and/ or writing prompts for every day of the month!

Daily Questions for July

These questions are perfect to get students talking about the books they read or listen to! They work for any book!

Reading Celebration Sample

This game is a favorite! They can play over and over, and practice adding 3 addends!

Par 3 Sampler

If you're teaching at all during the summer months, I'm hoping these resources help make your life easier!

These deals give you a little more time to enjoy the summer weather and make your teacher life easier!

The Bulgaria Game: A Team Building Game for Imaginative Children

Brain research tells us that getting students engaged physically will help learning happen!

This game is a great "filler" that will get the kiddos thinking about communication without words.

The Bulgaria Game: This game is a great filler that will get the kiddos thinking of communication without words. Plus, you can connect it to the curriculum, too!

The game's title only works well if you don't have anyone in your group that speaks Bulgarian. If you do have someone who speaks Bulgarian, you'll have to change the name of the game to some language that no one knows, since the game depends on broken lines of communication.

Here's the scenario: you happen to be traveling through Bulgaria. You need something, so you pull over into a convenience store.

Unfortunately, the people working in the store only speak Bulgarian, which you don't speak.

Therefore, you have to "act out" what you'll need!

There are a couple of ways to proceed once they know the story:

1. Let individuals think of things to act out.

2. Let groups think of things to act out.

3. Have slips written up with things to act out.

Of course, #3 can be done with individuals or teams.

If you go with #3, you can find ways to use content vocabulary and make it count as academic!

Yes, it's not very likely that they'll have to pull into a convenience store in Bulgaria for landforms or geometric shapes, but they are usually having so much fun acting out vocabulary words, they don't mind!

A word of caution: some children are VERY competitive, and try to make it difficult for others to guess their word. Or, they're disappointed if their audience figures it out right away.

I have to remind them that the goal of the game is to communicate enough information so that their audience understands what they're acting out. If the audience gets it right away, they have communicated successfully!

I know, it's kind of a silly scenario just to get children to act things out, but it's a fun story, and the children enjoy it!

Looking for more team-building games? Try these:

60 Team Building Games and Activities to Promote Classroom Community

After all, if it motivates the students to engage, it's successful!

Five Team Building Activities for Back to School

As a second-grade teacher, I get many students who struggle with social skills and working with others. I like to start the beginning of the school year with plenty of activities to build those important skills.

Back to School - Here are five easy "get to know you" activities that can be used at any time to encourage working together.

Here are 5 ideas for Back to School Team Building Activities!

1. Musical Shoes - While sitting in a circle, have everyone take of their left shoe. As the music plays, they pass the shoe to the right while taking the shoe being passed from the left. As the shoes dance their way around the circle, stop the music randomly. Whatever shoe they are holding, they need to find the owner and make sure they know that person's name. They also have to find their own shoe, so there should be a good deal of chatter and giggles as they hobble on one shoeless foot. Teachers can choose for the kids to exchange different information such as their favorite book, number of children in their family, or their birthday month.

2. Silly Songs - There are plenty of silly songs out there. You can find them on Youtube (like My Aunt Came Back above - guaranteed giggles and requests for repeats) or on CDs, or perhaps you know some from summer camp! Here are some I've had success with:

John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt

There's a Hole in the Bucket

On Top of Spaghetti

Going on a Bear Hunt

Madalina Catilina

The More We Get Together

Found a Peanut

The Hokey Pokey

This Land is Your Land

Make New Friends

I've Been Working on the Railroad

Even if you don't consider yourself a singer, the kids will always remember these songs. Plus, there are even more advantages to group singing: There have been studies that show when people sing together, their hearts start to beat to the same rhythm.

3. Introductions - Children should work in pairs to learn 3 things about each other. After some practice, they come back together to do formal introductions of each other. It might sound like this: "This is my new friend Mary. She likes gymnastics, reading, and the color pink."

4. Cooperative Musical Chairs - This is like the traditional Musical Chairs, but with a twist. The game starts with one less chair than children. When the music stops, they all find a chair, but when there's someone left, someone must make room for this student. Remove chairs each time, so the students will keep having to find a way to include everyone in the group. Beware: Giggles will follow!

5. Who Am I? - Make up cards with famous names on them that the kids will be sure to know. (Book characters are fine!) Each child wears a card on their back so that others know who is Children have to ask questions of the other children to try to figure out the name of the character they're wearing. (With my little ones, I give loads of hints, and sometimes show them all the cards ahead of time to narrow it down. We want them to be successful!)

For more ideas on Team Building, see the post HERE.

Looking for more ideas? Check out this video or see: 60 Team Building Games and Activities.

What Team Building Activities do you use in your classroom?

Team Building Activities for Back to School - Here are five easy "get to know you" activities that can be used at any time to encourage working together.