The Art of Collaboration: Team-Building Activities for a Positive Classroom Environment

Every individual seeks a safe haven to belong to, be it at home or at work. We seek for a work space that is positive, where we look forward to being associated with a group of peers that create a healthy work atmosphere. The end goal should be to have colleagues with whom we can grow side by side. Everyone thrives in a positive environment, and so do children; in fact it becomes essential for children to be nurtured in a healthy space. Every parent and teacher aims to create a secure space for children, where they can freely express their emotions, share their thoughts, and just be themselves.      

When a student looks forward to going to school, it means they feel secure in their learning space. And us parents, must thank the teachers, coordinators, and peers for creating a safe haven for our children. But that rarely is the case, wouldn’t you parents and teachers agree?

A healthy learning classroom environment means the children get along, and have a sense of belonging towards each other. When it’s a new class, the teachers can drive a few team-building activities to develop a positive classroom environment.

Let’s look at some outdoor and classroom-based team building activities that promote healthy collaboration among students:

Team building activities are designed for students to trust and support each other. It’s essential they feel a sense of belonging among them. These activities also help develop myriad of interpersonal skills such as social interaction, building relations, and communication skills, among others.

1. Silent Line Up

Get children to line up in ascending or descending order, or in the sequence of their roll number. This classroom activity has the benefit of children getting to know each other well. It could make for a very good conversation starter among children, of course after the game. Besides it being the best team building activity among children, it also benefits the teachers with some much needed quiet.         

2. Scavenger Hunt

Divide the students into 4-5 teams, and provide them with cues to find objects around the play area. Children respond really well to games that involve them having to solve problems, it’s fun and engaging. This activity is designed for children to work as a team, taking assistance from one another. Communication, strategizing skills, and interpersonal skills are at play in this activity.

3. Human Knot

This simple activity requires children to sit in a circle and hold each other’s hands randomly. Once their hands are entangled, the children have to try and release the knot without losing their grip. This activity puts children in an intimate circle, allowing them to interact with their peers and make new friends.

4. Hula Hoop Pass

Children can stand in a line, holding each other’s hands, and have a hula hoop pass through them all. Putting a hula hoop on the arm of the child that stands at the beginning of the line. Aren’t these team-work activities simple and fun?   

5. Build it Challenge 

Here’s another game that enhances problem solving and interpersonal skills among children. Besides, classroom teamwork games can never go wrong! Offer different teams a basket each full supplies, stationeries, and easily accessible objects that can help them build a tower. This teamwork calls for communication, focus, and smoothen the soft skills among children. These are skills that enhance their ability to work with others. And ofcourse, the tallest tower wins!

6. Put a puzzle together

This indoor classroom team building activity is perfect for those rainy days. Take multiple printouts of a cartoon, and cut it into appropriate sizes for children to put it back together. Different teams should have different pieces so the teams trade the right pieces with one another.  This makes for a great collaborative based learning and enhances interpersonal skills.       

7. Design a bulletin Board

Creating bulletin boards together as a team can be an engaging and a fun activity. The ideal way to go about is to divide the students into teams and delegate different subjects for each team. This team work activity will bring children together to create their own design. Right from ideating the concept to designing the entire board, the team collaborates to finish the given task.          

Facilitate team building activities for students at the beginning of the new year so the students can get to know their peers well. These would help break the ice and could be a start of a great friendship.   

The Final Word

The idea of team-based activities in school is for children to get together and conclude a task at hand. The collaboration exudes many skills among children that are essential for building their personal life. One of the biggest benefits of these activities is creating a positive classroom environment, which is essential for children to thrive.