Outdoor team building activities are a great way of developing leadership, teamwork skills and finding out how well you work as part of a team. This is just a brief introduction to outdoor team building. For a complete guide, I have set up a website dedicated to team building. You can find over ideas for outdoor team building activities and free guides for team building activities for kids , teens and adults. The most popular team building activities tend to focus around team coordination, trust, leadership, communication and team bonding.
Outdoor team building activities and games are designed to create a challenge that enables you to show how you work in a team. You can discover whether you are more comfortable as a team leader or as a team player. Doing team building activities outdoor enables everyone t get away from the normal work or educational environment and discover more aobut themselves on neutral ground.
Taking part in outdoor team building activities and working as part of a team helps you to develop personal skills, leadership skills, team skills, communication skills and problem solving skills.
Part of the team building challenge is to actually get on and work out how to solve the problem given to you. In the early stages, it helps to encourage all members of your team to come up with ideas on how to solve the task given to you. If you pay attention and listen to what they say, you will be able to work out what strengths each member of the team has. Life is full of challenges, and one the biggest challenges is to work with others in society. To get the best from your working life, you will need to work out how to work in a team.
The team building challenge should have a clearly defined goal to strive for. To be worth doing, the goal should be challenging but achievable. If the goal seems too impossible, it stops being challenging and becomes demoralising. There needs to be some motivation for undertaking the challenge. Give the teams a reward, prize, the thrill of doing it fun stuff and adventure , or the satisfaction from achievement and winning. Fun should be a primary factor in all team building activities for teens and adults.
These free fun team building ideas are proven to develop teamwork. Some team building courses focus on taking people out of their comfort zone to see how they perform under stress. The human knot is a classic team building game that works well in outdoor settings.
To do the exercise, ask participants to stand in the circle, and grab the hands of two different team members on the opposite side of the circle. Next, participants must untangle themselves without breaking their grip. The exercise is over when the group becomes a ring with no hands remaining in the center. Horseback riding is a good option for teams that enjoy animals and scenic views.
You and your team can head to a nearby stable, saddle up, and take a group ride. Team members do not need to have experience riding horses, since an experienced guide typically leads these tours and the horses walk at a slow pace. During the ride, team members can chat with each other. Plus, your employees get a dose of creature comfort, and the exercise may help shyer team members to open up. Relay races are games that emphasize teamwork. To run the race, teams will need a baton to pass off to teammates.
Before the run begins, outline a series of handoff points along the route, and position teammates in these spots. The relay can be a straight run, an obstacle race, or a triathlon with different exercises for each stress of the race. The first team to complete all parts of the race and cross the finish line wins.
Volleyball is one of the best outdoor team building sports. A net and a volleyball or beach ball are the only supplies needed to play the game. You can set up your match in the parking lot, a beach, or a field. The main rule is to not let the ball hit the ground or go out of bounds, and the other rules are easy to understand. Not to mention, unlike net games like badminton or tennis many team members can play at once.
These challenges consist of a series of common playground and recess games. Simply divide the group into teams, then play games and keep score.
For this activity, you should provide each team with a big box of colored chalk and a section of sidewalk or asphalt to use as a canvas. Then, give teams 30 minutes to an hour to make their masterpiece.
You can assign a theme for the piece, such as mandelas, Saturday morning cartoons, or animals, or leave the contest open-ended and let employees draw whatever they want. At the end of the activity, have a judge or panel of judges view the pictures and pick a winner. Pro tip: Snap pictures of the finished projects so that you can enjoy the artwork long after the rain washes the murals away. Bubble blowing is an outside activity that adds an element of playfulness to the workday and helps teams to blow off steam.
To blow giant bubbles, fill a kiddie pool with soap and water. Next, ask a teammate to stand in the center of a pool. Finally, have other team members lift the hula hoop so that the teammate is at the center of a giant bubble. Be sure to take pictures before the bubble pops! Pro tip: You can also turn the activity into a race or see which team can blow the biggest or longest-lasting bubble.
Cornhole is a popular picnic game that makes a great outdoor team building exercise. The goal of the game is to throw a hacky sack into the hole on a board. To play cornhole, all you need is a wooden board with a hole and a couple of sacks. Simply split the group into teams and keep score of how many points each team gets.
Pro tip: For a two-in-one team building experience, have each team decorate their cornhole board before the game starts. Truth or Dare is a question game that becomes even more engaging when played outside. Playing the game outdoors means that participants can involve strangers in the dares. You can use this truth or dare generator to come up with prompts.
Bubble soccer is a fun twist on the traditional team game. In this version of the sport, players wear giant inflatable balls while trying to kick a ball towards a goal. Participants can crash into each other without getting hurt, for a high-energy, low impact, and low energy game.
To host a game of bubble soccer, simply rent out the equipment from an inflatable soccer company, find a large field to play in, split the group into teams, and let loose!
Roller skating is an ideal team activity for sunny days. You can rent different sizes of roller skates or encourage team members to bring their own pairs. Then, rope off a section of parking lot or sidewalk where teammates can skate together.
If your employees are capable skaters, then you can set up ramps and other obstacles. If your staff is novice skaters, then you can take roller skating lessons together. Volunteering is one of the more rewarding outdoor activities for teams.
You and your staff can soak up the sunshine while doing good for the community. In case doing community service outdoors is not an option, here are some virtual volunteering ideas. Typically, museums are an indoor activity.
However there are ways to tour museums outside as well. Some museums have outdoor components such as sculpture gardens or botanical gardens. There are also touring outdoor exhibits that visit cities, like the traveling Vietnam memorial, or permanent outside exhibits such as the East Side Gallery in Berlin. You can also make your own outdoor museum by working with a local nonprofit to set up a gallery in an outside courtyard for the afternoon.
Or, ask employees to build exhibits outside the building, and display the pieces throughout the summer. Check out these online museum tours for inspiration. Photo challenges are outdoor scavenger hunts that task teammates with taking pictures of specific objects. To play this game, split the group into teams, give each team a list of clues, and give players a time limit to snap as many pictures as possible. You can give teams a time limit of one or two hours to take as many photos as possible, or spread the challenge over the course of a week or month by issuing a new prompt every day.
Participants can submit the photos via form, social media, or upload the shots to a shared photo album. Or, players can present the pictures in a team photo slideshow. Community gardens are outdoor activities for teams with green thumbs. The first steps to launching a garden are to decide what to grow and map out the layout.
Throughout the seasons, teammates take turns caring for fruits, vegetables, and flowers by planting, weeding, and watering the plants. The best part of this activity is that the experience is on-going instead of one-off, and the team building aspects stretch over the course of many months. At the end of the season, team members can harvest the crops and either make a team meal, or donate the produce to food-insecure individuals.
Graffiti is one of the more unique outside team building ideas. To do this activity, first get a canvas, such as a wall that can be painted over or one that will soon be demolished, a car on its way to the junkyard, a piece of sheetrock or sheet metal, or a freestanding brick wall. Then, give your teams several cans of spray paint and free reign to tag the canvas.
Making stencils is a good idea, however if your team is artistic then employees can also freehand the design. This exercise is exciting because graffiti is typically taboo, not to mention the activity helps team members express themselves creatively. The team can work together to create a single design, or can work together to cover the space with a collage of unique designs.
Tie Dye is an art best done outdoors. To do this activity, supply your staff with while fabric like T-shirts, tote bags, and bandanas to dye. You can also encourage team members to bring their own clothing or accessories. Be sure to set up stations with materials such as rubber bands and dyes.
For less mess, you can also get ties that have dye already in them. Team members tie and dye the chosen fabric and soak the shirts or other apparel in water for the amount of time on the dye instructions, typically a couple of hours. Employees should wash and let the fabric dry before wearing. Pro tip: Coordinate a team picture with your colorful duds or plan a team tie-dye day where team members can show off the creations. For more craft inspiration, check out this list of online art classes.
Paintball is a more extreme outdoor team building activity. In this game, the group splits into teams and tries to hit opponents with colored balls of pain.
The last team with players in the game wins. You and your team can either head to a paintball range, or simply get paintball guns and play in a designated area. Pro tip: Be sure to use protective equipment like goggles and padding, and consider having teammates sign a waiver and watch a short safety tutorial before playing. Go-kart racing is an outside activity that helps teammates live out racecar driver fantasies. Simply head to an outdoor driving range and compete to get the fastest track times.
You can either race as individuals, or split into groups and average the team times. Pro tip: For extra fun, have the team dress up as favorite Mario characters to reenact Mario Kart. Soap Box Derbies are equal parts teamwork exercise, creative project, and problem solving game. These contests involve teams building cars from scratch and racing the creations.
Traditionally, these cars do not have motors. Teams must work together to design the vehicles and can cheer on the car from the sidelines during the race. This activity requires several hours, preferably at least half a day if not a full day. We recommend providing materials such as plywood, crates, and wheels, asking teams to bring their own supplies, or doing a mix of both approaches. Playing giant cooperative board games is one of the most fun outdoor activities for teams.
In this exercise, employees act as game pieces and move around a giant board. You can use sheets, cardboard boxes, paper, or foam blocks to make your outdoor game board in a courtyard, parking lot, or field. Check out more great board games to play with teams. Rage rooms are experiences where participants get to break random objects with a hammer or baseball bat. However, you do not need to have a room to enjoy a rage room. You could also set up your own personal demolition derby outdoors.
Simply find a wide, open area such as a remote corner of the parking lot or a courtyard, then gather breakable objects like plates, glasses, and old electronics. Flea markets, thrift stores, and garage sales are inexpensive places to purchase breakables. You could even use old equipment bound for the dumpster, as long as executives give you the ok.
This activity helps teammates release tension and frustration, and makes for a fun and unexpected team outing. Minute To Win It games are short physical challenges that must be completed within a minute. It is extra fun to play these games outdoors, especially since the challenges can get messy or require room.
Check out our list of online minute to win it game s for more inspiration. Each team is tasked with finding random objects to use as instruments to play a song. For example, trash can lids cymbals, shopping cart xylophones, and bucket drums.
You can assign the teams a song to play, and then give groups ten minutes to find the instruments, and ten more minutes to practice. Then, give each group the chance to perform their number.
Once all acts have gone, then name a winner. The Amazing Race is a game where teams compete in destination-based challenges. To play the game, first come up with a route and mark the path so that participants know where to go.
Next, place challenges and roadblocks along the way, for instance having to translate a message, locate coordinates on a map, find and try exotic food, or travel via unusual methods such as wheelbarrow. Pedal tours are a unique team outing. The vehicles typically have a table in the center and pedals along both sides. Passengers help the cart move by pedaling together. With your colleagues, decorate terracotta pots and plant some seasonal flowers in them.
Then, deliver and donate the flower pots to a local nursing home. Recommended Outdoor Venue: This activity can take place in any open outdoor space. Head down to a local beach and spend the day picking up garbage and debris from the shoreline. Make sure to take all the recyclable stuff that you collect to a recycling depot afterwards. Prepare care packages filled with items like sandwiches, juice boxes, and fruit, and head out into your community to hand the packages out to those in need.
Our Outback team recently put together lunch kits to give out and it was an extremely rewarding experience. Recommended Outdoor Venue: Go out into your community and offer care packages to those in need. Split into teams and create a cardboard boat made out of just the materials provided — cardboard and tape. Team members will have to work together to engineer a functional boat that will float and sail across water without sinking. Once teams have finished making their boats, they will create a presentation to explain why their boat is the best, before putting their boats to the test.
The final challenge will have teams racing their boats across the water! Recommended Outdoor Venue: This activity can take place at any outdoor location that has a safe body of water to swim in.
Outdoor pools are ideal but ponds, lakes, and even calmer ocean waters can be perfect for this challenge. Break your team out into separate groups.
Each group will be given a raw egg and supplies to build a protective contraption around the egg. Teams will design their contraptions with one objective in mind — to protect the egg from large falls.
Supplies can include things like:. Allow teams minutes to build their protective contraption. When time runs out, teams will put their contraptions to the test by dropping them all, at the same time, from a high ledge. Ideally, feet high. If more than one egg survives the fall, have a tie breaker by increasing the height until one egg remains! You could even do it in your office parking lot.
In order to survive, your team must use ropes and metal or plastic poles to build a structure that holds them all above the ground at once. Split into teams and, using materials such as popsicle sticks, rubber bands, and milk bottle caps, design and build your own catapult launchers — in 30 minutes or less. Then, line up side-by-side and see which team can launch items like oranges, water balloons, and eggs the furthest!
Recommended Outdoor Venue: This activity can take place in a park or any open outdoor space. With City Chase, your team will embark on a fun, fast-paced, and high-energy downtown scavenger hunt adventure. Teams will compete to complete 12 rounds of photo, video, trivia, and text message-response challenges focused on famous locations and landmarks in your city. Recommended Outdoor Venue: On the streets of your hometown—or any city you happen to be visiting with your team!
Inspired by the popular reality TV show The Amazing Race — on which teams race around the world, with each leg of the competition requiring the groups to solve puzzles, interact with locals, and complete challenges — this interactive scavenger hunt has teams following clues around their city and taking on physical and mental challenges to move on to the next destination.
This is one of our most popular activities because people get the chance to bond with one another while exploring their location. Recommended Outdoor Venue: This activity can take place in any city. Head to a local beach, set up some nets most beaches have nets and balls available to rent for a day — or bring your own , split up into teams, and… spike!
To make things a little sillier — and a little less competitive — consider using a giant beach volleyball! Recommended Outdoor Venue: This activity can take place at any beach or park — just make sure to be considerate of your surroundings at busier locations.
Pick a local trail to explore, gather your coworkers, and enjoy an invigorating day out in nature. You could even start a hike club. Recommended Outdoor Venue: Any local hiking trail. Depending on your group, you may want to consider choosing easier or harder hikes to generate more interest. Use a tool like AllTrails to help you find a good spot.
Some examples of challenges in this activity include:. Organize a fun-filled day of sports! Split up into a variety of teams and participate in a wide variety of different events running throughout the day. Some of the events that are great to do at a Sports Day include:.
This unique sport combines elements of combat-type games like dodgeball with archery. Players take aim at each other with non-lethal arrows to score points or eliminate opposing team members. Feel like a kid again with this nostalgic physical outdoor activity. Recommended Outdoor Venue: This activity is ideal for open parks and fields. In this challenging outdoor activity, teams compete against each other to try to retrieve an object — while blindfolded and in 5 minutes or less!
One person is blindfolded on each team and, using only directions and simple commands from their teammates, they must try to find the object before their opponents do. Take turns with each member being blindfolded trying to find an object in a new place. This is a great way for groups to work on communication and leadership skills.
Recommended Outdoor Venue: This activity can take place at any open parks, field, and beach. If your team is filled with adventure seekers, ziplining might be the ideal activity for them! There are ziplining companies all across North America, so check out a site like Zipline Rider to find one near you.
Sometimes, the simplest things can be the most effective.
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