Classroom Teamwork Activities Bring Students Together

Classroom teamwork activities can overcome the stale feeling school can create as students make their way through the semester. But more importantly, it can help students learn to relate and support one another to achieve a common goal.

Things like peer interaction, applied concepts, and team building are pushed to the way side for the more traditional power point guided “chalk and talk” style of teaching. This educational style is still vital for the school experience, but teachers need to make sure that students are engaging with one another in meaningful ways and not necessarily just with their friends.

Odyssey Teams if often asked to facilitate teamwork activities in schools and universities, and many academic institutions order our DIY kits to do philanthropic give-back activities with students.

If you want to know more about Odyssey Teams’ programs, please reach out to us at learn@odysseyteams.com

Classroom Teamwork activities Are The Best Way To Build Interpersonal Communication

Breaking students up into groups and having them work together towards a common goal gives each student a chance to be heard. Without teacher involvement they solve the challenge by discussing various strategies, communicating their ideas, and putting their plans into action. This kind of team work is where students come to understand each other better and communicate interpersonally.

Classroom teamwork activities get students working together to make decisions based on creative thinking, communication, and collaboration. Here are three of these activities to get your classroom working together towards the common goal of teamwork.

  1. If You Build It…

This is the most flexible of the classroom teamwork activities. After you have broken the students into groups you give each one the same set of materials such as blocks, pipe cleaner, marshmallows, dried spaghetti, glue or tape. The goal is to work together in order to build. The end goal and parameters are both variables. Teachers can have everyone build a sturdy building or castle. See which team can replicate a famous statue, or build the tallest, most stable, structure. A variation on this game would be to have a community pile of materials for all the teams to use. There are several kits to use for this activity such as Odyssey Teams Helping Hands, or

. This game encourages communication and problem-solving.

  1. Minefield

Classrooms are generally smaller than your average corporate give back activity. So, you can employ games that require quiet and concentration. This game works in pairs. Teachers place various obstacles across an open area. (You may have to move some desks.) Then blindfold one student and the other student guides the blindfolded student through the minefield using just their voice. Don’t maintain time. The objective is cooperation and not competition. This activity incorporates communication and trust building.

  1. It’s A Mystery

This is one of the most enjoyable classroom teamwork activities for all ages. Teachers create a mystery and a set of numbered mystery clues. Give each student a set of clues that they can’t let each other read. They must present and then discuss their clues to one another. You can either imagine your own mystery or use these examples >Murder Mystery or Bank Robbery Mystery. This team building activity builds problem solving and communication.

Each one of these classroom teamwork activities requires no timer and one shouldn’t be used. Nor should you give out any prizes for fastest or strongest. Instead, the focus of the discussion should be on HOW the teams solved each problem. Take the time to highlight how each team went about its creative process in order to accomplish the goal. By pointing out these positive ideas students begin to flourish from the inside out.

If you want to know more about  classroom teamwork activities or if you want to bring Odyssey Teams to your school, please reach out to us at learn@odysseyteams.com

17 team building activities for Students

Team building activities can be a fun and engaging way to teach students communication, collaboration, creativity, and problem-solving skills. It is also a great way to start the school year. Here are seventeen team-building activities for students that you can do in the classroom:

Meme It: Students love memes; you can ask them to create memes to unleash their creativity and use humor for team building.

Common Thread: This activity is a great way to teach kids communication skills. Make groups of four students and give them five minutes to chat and find something common among themselves.

Fingertip Hula-Hoop: Ask students to stand in a circle and raise their arms with index fingers extended. Place a hula-hoop on the tip of your fingers and ask them to lower to the ground without losing contact. It is a fun activity. 

Human Knot: This one is a classic, which requires students to work together to untangle themselves from a knot. 

Blindfolded Obstacle Course: It is an activity that will test students’ communication and coordination skills. You can use chairs, cones, and ropes to set up obstacle courses for students. 

Marshmallow Tower: This activity challenges the creativity and engineering skills of students. Give each student 20 spaghetti sticks, tape, string, and marshmallows. Ask them to create a tower-like structure that supports a marshmallow for 18 minutes. 

Scavenger Hunt: Another classic and fun activity that teaches students to work together as a team. 

Escape Room: Based on the popular game, this activity enhances students’ problem-solving skills. 

Pictionary: A great activity to test students’ creativity in the most fun way possible. You can incorporate online tools to make things more fun.

Charades: Another classic, which every student would family with. It helps students be more expressive and open. 

Two Truths and a Lie: A great way to help students learn things about each other. It will enhance their social and communication skills.

Balloon Tower:  This one will challenge your students’ teamwork and problem-solving skills. 

Newspaper Fashion Show: It is a great way to unleash students’ creativity and fashion sense. Provide students with newspaper, scissors, tape, and accessories and ask them to design an outfit. 

Egg Drop: This activity will test students’ scientific and engineering skills. Give them a task to build a device that protects the egg from breaking when dropped. 

Human Bingo: This one is a fun way to break the ice and learn more about your students at the start of the school year.

Zoom In Zoom Out: This will stimulate the observation and inference skills of students. 

Would You Rather: This one will definitely spark curiosity in students and enhance their discussion skills. 

Try these 17 activities to teach your students much-needed skills and make them more comfortable with each other and their teachers.

What are the benefits of team-building activities for Students?

There are many benefits of team-building activities for students, which makes them a must for every teacher. Here are a list of a few benefits:

  • They improve communication skills and help them be active listeners, clear speakers, and more expressive. 
  • They teach students to be more collaborative and how to work as a team.
  • They enhance students’ creativity and engineering skills and teach them how to think out of the box. 
  • Team building activities strengthen the student-teacher relationship and help them be more upfront with questions and express their curiosity. 
  • They boost students’ problem-solving skills and help them develop creative solutions to problems.
  • They make students more confident in a social setting and increase their motivation. 
  • These activities help students contribute meaningfully, interact positively, and raise a willingness to learn in them.