Read through and watch the videos for the following “YELLSy” experiential activity ideas.
Marble Pipeline
Objective: Work as a team to get a series of marbles from one side of the room to the other using only pieces of pipe cut in half
Tic-Tac-Toe Relay
Team Snakes
Team snakes uses non-verbal communication to guide a team through this trust and team-building activity.
The Bigger Picture!
Create a list of 10 – 20 items, areas, and landmarks in and around your space or community to prepare the game. Use images to create the list by snapping your pics of elements of a larger item. Things like a number on a specific clock or a notable decoration on a teacher’s desk will work. Then, send players off to scour the grounds and identify the “bigger picture.” The teams will have their work cut out for them!
Variation: As they find an object, there is an additional task that they must complete before moving to find the next one. Once they complete the task, they collect a piece “of the bigger picture” (a puzzle piece of an image of the YELLS family). Once they return back to the main group, they must complete the puzzle in order to complete the challenge.
Paper Chain Race
Objective: Be the team the makes the longest paper chain
Set Up: Divide Group into 2 teams. Each team has 6 sheets of paper, a roll of tape, and 2 pairs of scissors.
Round 1: Set the timer for two minutes and have each team race to make the longest paper chain.
Round 2: Have each team choose a leader. The facilitator takes the leader out of the room and explains to them that for the next round their team may only use their right hands. (The left hand should be behind their back.) Bring the leaders back to their groups. Tell the groups that they have 30 seconds to talk amongst themselves and plan, then there can be NO talking.
Set the timer for two minutes and have each team race to make the longest paper chain with the new set of rules.
Balloon Towers
Are you looking for a fun and engaging team building activity to do with your group? Look no further than Balloon Tower! We love to do this activity to encourage teamwork and discuss conquering challenges. We would love to hear how you use it, too!
Objective: Use a bag of balloons and roll of masking tape to build the tallest freestanding tower possible in the time allotted.
Time Needed: 20-30 minutes
Group Size: Any, split into teams of 4-6 people
Materials (per team):
- 1 bag of balloons
- 1 roll of masking tape
Directions: If your group is larger than 6, split into smaller teams. Give each team a bag of balloons and a roll of tape. Challenge the teams to make the tallest freestanding tower they can using only the balloons and tape.
Allow four minutes of brainstorming and planning. When you say “Go!” the tower building can begin.
Let the teams build for 10 minutes, giving time announcements at five minutes, two minutes and one minute remaining. At the end, whichever team has the tallest freestanding tower is the winner.
Congratulate all teams for creating such tall towers.
Variations:
You can make it more difficult by allowing the teams to brainstorm and plan for four minutes and then not allowing them to talk while they are building.
Instead of giving the teams balloons to start with, they have to earn them by completing a series of tasks.
Debrief Questions:
- What worked for your group? What didn’t? How did you know?
- What was challenging? How did you deal with those challenges?
- How do you feel about your finished tower?
- How is this activity like working on your project with your team?
