Library of teambuilding games & icebreakers

Your employees will work in teams to build the most durable boat using nothing but cardboard, sticky tape and their creativity. Whose will travel the furthest before it sinks?

Great for: Teamwork, creative thinking

Duration: 1–2 hours

You’ll need: Cardboard, tape, table tennis rackets

How to play:

• Find a suitable location to perform the boat races, i.e. a pond or swimming pool.
• Divide your group into teams of about 5–6 players, then give each team some sheets of cardboard and a few rolls of tape.
• Set a time limit for the build. Once the time is up, ask each team to present their creations and explain why theirs is best.
• Finally, ask each team to delegate a captain (it’s best to choose somebody small and light).
• Hand each captain a pair of table tennis rackets (this will help them to propel their vessel) and ask them to take their boats to the water’s edge.
• When the starting pistol fires, the captains will scramble into their vessels and paddle as fast as they can while their teammates cheer them on. The team to paddle the furthest wins.

You would be surprised how competitive colleagues become over a typing speed race. This game is a great way to kick off the fun.

How to play typing speed race

The best way to play the game is for the competitors to take turns completing a typing test and sharing their screen as they do so. This way, spectators can cheer them on as they type.

Once they’ve completed the test, their scores are entered into a league table. Fancy upping the stakes? Encourage the team to ‘place bets’ on who they think will be the fastest before starting the competition.

How to play Social media shoutout

A social media shoutout on internal workplace channels and public ones (as long as the person getting appreciation is okay with that!) in the workplace is a great way to show gratitude and appreciation for your employees.

A shoutout is a simple yet effective way to boost morale and strengthen the sense of community within your workplace. Make sure when doing a shoutout you are prioritizing using a gratitude-focused message that shows appreciation. This message highlights specific achievements, projects, or team efforts that the company is grateful for. Encourage Engagement with team members and customers if applicable, but always ensure dialogue remains professional.

By publicly acknowledging hard work and dedication in the form of gratitude, organizations can foster a positive and collaborative work environment.

Ever had a tough day and just needed a friend to get it? Empathy brings out the warm fuzzies, letting coworkers connect on an emotional level. When folks get each other's vibes, teamwork gets a boost and bonds grow stronger.

Empathy activity - "Walk in my shoes":

• Prepare several work-related scenarios involving challenges or team conflicts.
• Pair up colleagues and assign each pair a scenario.
• Each pair takes turns playing the roles of the people involved, expressing thoughts, emotions and perspectives.
• After both roles are played, partners discuss their experiences and insights from both sides.
  ‍

This immersive role-play activity fosters a deep sense of empathy and helps colleagues better understand each other's viewpoints.

Squirt gun water races are an exciting alternative to traditional water fights. To play, you’ll need plastic cups (one per team of two people), string, scissors, duct tape, and enough squirt guns for every second person in the group (i.e., 10 people will need at least 5 squirt guns).

How to play Squirt Gun Water Races

Set up for the game by:

• Making a small hole at the bottom of each cup, close to the edge
• Threading a long line of string (e.g., 15 feet long) through each cup
• Use duct tape to suspend the string between two fixed points that are slightly closer together than the length of the string (e.g., a tree and fence about 12 feet away from each other). The cups should be facing the same direction

Play the game by:

• Dividing into pairs and blindfolding one member of each
• Giving the blindfolded members a squirt gun
• Ensuring the cup starts at the end of the string, closest to the teams
• Pitting pairs against each other to see who can squirt water into their cup fastest, pushing it to the other end of the string

The first pair to get their cup to the other end wins. Of course, only one member can see what’s happening! The sighted person must communicate effectively to guide their partner in the right direction.

Squirt gun water races are unique, exciting, and awesome for team-building. Yet another benefit is that they’re accessible to everyone. Unlike other Field Day games for adults that involve physical activity, you only need the ability to fire a water gun!

Every now and then, differences crop up. Conflict management skills are like the superhero toolkit to sort things out, keeping relationships smooth and stress levels low.

Conflict management skills activity - "Resolution theater":

• Prepare several workplace conflict scenarios with varying levels of complexity.
• Divide participants into small groups and assign each group a scenario to act out.
• Instruct groups to perform a role-play where they present the conflict, pause at critical points and discuss potential resolutions.
• After the role-play, encourage groups to share their proposed resolutions and engage in a constructive dialogue.
  ‍

This interactive activity provides a safe space for practicing conflict resolution strategies, sharing insights and learning from different approaches.

How to host Company quiz

Who knows the most about your organization? Come up with a quiz to find out. Put together a fun list of questions based on company mission, values, history, and staff. Grade the quizzes and the employee with the highest score wins. If you want to up the ante, have every team member write a question about themselves to incorporate into the quiz. Have them make it as challenging as possible!

How to play Marketing charades

Charades can be fun and helpful in almost any scenario, and business is no different! For this version, divide the team into two groups. Then have each group get a product, slogan, or promotional tactic to act out, while the other team guesses it.

You can focus on products from your company or overall marketing concepts like social media. Keep in mind: the more vague the idea, the harder it will be to act out! You may want to use a charades generator found online to help come up with unique ideas.

Ready for a fun, 5-minute energizer that’s suitable for groups of all sizes and you can do via video call? This one ticks all the right boxes.

How to play Up, down, left, right

Start the activity by asking everyone on the call to stand up – ensuring they’re still visible on the webcam. Then all you do is say the words “up”, “down”, “left”, and “right” and tell the team to point their heads in the corresponding direction.

Do this for 30 to 60 seconds at a fairly rapid pace. Next, change the rules so that people have to look in the opposite direction to what you say. So when you say “down”, they should point their heads toward the ceiling, and vice versa.

Keep going for another minute, gradually speeding up as you go. The light physical movement and mental challenge involved should invigorate and focus the group before your meeting; the mood should feel brighter too.

How to play Air balloons

Air balloons is an energetic team-building game that encourages teamwork. It’s a fantastic way to build energy in the room and loosen everybody up for the coming activities.

To play air balloons, you’ll need at least one balloon for each team, a paper or plastic fan or a sheet that’s capable of wafting air and a stopwatch. This game is best played with groups of at least 8+ players.

Once the groups have been organised and handed the necessary materials, one person from each group must be designated as the timekeeper and is handed the stopwatch. When the timer starts, the timekeeper from each team tosses their balloon into the air and it’s now the task of the other players to keep their balloon from touching the floor for as long as possible.

But there’s a catch. Players are NOT allowed to touch the ball at any time. Players can only use air to keep the ball afloat. This means they can either waft the balloon or blow at it with their mouths. The moment a team’s balloon touches the floor, the timekeeper stops the watch and makes a note of the time. The team that managed to keep the balloon in the air for the longest is the winner.

Imagine your team deciphering riddles and tackling challenges to uncover hidden city gems - that's the essence of the City Scavenger Hunt. It's like a real-life puzzle where everyone's brainpower combines to crack codes and overcome obstacles. As you explore the city together, you're not only having a blast but also boosting your problem-solving and teamwork skills. It's a chance to unravel mysteries while strengthening bonds among your teammates.

Instructions

• Form teams of players.
• Distribute riddles or clues that lead to hidden city locations.
• Players decipher riddles, solve challenges, and reach each location.
• At each location, complete the challenge to earn points.
• Document progress with photos or videos.
• The team with the most points at the end wins.
• Encourage teamwork, problem-solving, and exploration.
  ‍

Bonus tip: Make sure to choose a city with a lot of history or landmarks- the more the city has, the more options you have to choose from!

Get ready to get soaked! Splash battle royale is basically dodgeball, but with water balloons. Teams face off and try to eliminate opponents by hitting them with balloons—easy enough, but staying dry? Not so much.

It’s a great way to cool off, get competitive, and share a few laughs—especially when that one overly serious teammate gets soaked. Perfect for those hot summer days when the office needs a little outdoor chaos.

How to play:

• Split into teams and arm everyone with water balloons.
• Eliminate opponents by hitting them with balloons.
• Last team standing wins (and stays the driest—maybe)!

If you’re planning more outdoor activities, explore our full list of fun team-building games for even more ideas.

How to play Nerf ball break

If you need a break that’s a little more physical, set up some buckets of nerf balls in an outdoor space at your venue. Have everyone stand in a circle and choose one person to have the ball initially. When they have the ball, they answer the question that you chose for an icebreaker. For example, “What are you excited to do or learn about today?” They answer, and then throw the ball to someone else, who also answers. Once everyone has had a turn to share, you can head back inside.

How to play Giant Connect Four

Instructions: Set up a giant Connect Four board on a stand. Participants take turns dropping their colored discs into the slots, aiming to get four in a row horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. The player who achieves four in a row first wins.

Materials needed: Giant Connect Four board.

Giant Connect Four is a strategic and engaging game that promotes critical thinking, decision-making, and friendly competition. It encourages problem-solving skills and provides an opportunity for participants to interact and strategize with each other in a relaxed setting.

Ever had the fantasy of basking in the glory of a well-deserved standing ovation? Well, guess what – you're about to live it! In this activity, team members take turns stepping into the limelight, imagining they've just knocked it out of the park and achieved something monumental. Remember that celebrating success is not just reserved for the grand finale – it's an integral part of the journey. This activity cultivates a positive and supportive atmosphere motivating participants to conquer their goals.

Tips For Facilitators:

• Remind everyone that this is a space to celebrate successes and lift each other up. High-fives and virtual confetti are totally encouraged!
• Encourage participants to share their achievements. The more specific, the better!

Tight-knit teams need to understand how their colleagues like to work. Who likes to work in silence and who likes to exchange ideas? Who likes to take phone calls and who prefers emails? By creating Personal User Manuals, new and existing employees gain a deeper understanding of their peer’s workplace preferences.

Great for: Onboarding, company culture

Duration: 5 minutes

Players: 4-15

You’ll need: Nothing

How to play Personal User Manuals

Setup: No setup required.

To play: Ask your employees to record a short video of themselves that can be used as a Personal User Manual. In the video, the employee should introduce themselves, tell an interesting fact and discuss their workplace preferences. Once everybody has recorded a video, you can upload them to your company intranet or knowledge hub.

Looking for a classic trust building activity that never fails to bring workmates closer together? Try the “trust walk” – another super straightforward exercise that’s reminiscent of the “minefield” exercise we described earlier.

How to play Trust walk

Start by creating a path for people to follow, complete with obstacles, twists, and turns. Next, divide your team into smaller groups of 2 to 3 people and give one of them a blindfold to wear. The sighted individuals then have to guide whoever’s blindfolded along the path as quickly (and safely) as possible.

When they finish, the blindfold passes to one of the others. Repeat this process until each group member has completed the course. The first group to have each member complete the course wins!

As long as you clear enough space, you can do the trust walk in the office. However, we recommend trying it outside at some point too!

The extra room available adds to the fun. Heck, some teams choose to do this exercise as part of a larger hiking activity – on a team-building retreat, for instance, where the entire experience revolves around boosting camaraderie.

Want a slight variation on the trust walk? You could also do an exercise called “the blind trail”. It’s a similar concept, but this time every person on each team is blindfolded. Have them stand in a line, holding onto a rope.

Their task?

Work together to navigate an obstacle course that you’ve laid out (all while holding onto the rope). They’re allowed to talk and use non-verbal communication – enabling them to help and trust each other as they proceed from A to B.

What you need:

• Blindfolds
• Rope (to make the “path”, or to use in the blind trail exercise)
• Items to use as obstacles

This one probably doesn’t need too much introduction, you’ll probably remember it from school.

How to play show and tell

Show and Tell is a fun way to start the team building session. Before the meeting starts, ask each person to bring a mascot with them. At the beginning of the meeting, each team member will have a turn at introducing their mascot and explaining why they brought that item with them.

Ready for another improv activity that’s a) great for beginners and b) brings colleagues together in a fun, light-hearted way? It’s time for one of our favorites: the 3-Headed Expert. We like this game because it forces people to think creatively and enter the same mindset as their peers, without singling anyone out.

All the game involves is a trio of teammates working together to answer certain questions. Let’s dive into the details…

How to play the 3-headed expert

To play this improv game, start by dividing your team into groups of 3. Each trio is known as a 3-headed expert! The audience (i.e. everyone else in the room) then takes turns to ask this expert random questions, such as:

• “How do I make the perfect sandwich?”
• “Why don’t I sleep well at night?”
• “What’s the best book ever written?”
• “What’s it like to live in space?”
• “How do I sell my house for the most possible money?”

The expert’s job is to answer these questions. However, each “head” can only say one word at a time. When the trio’s satisfied that they’ve answered the question, each member of it has to wave their hands to signal it’s finished. The audience offers rapturous applause, before asking something else.

Each trio should answer around 2 to 3 questions, at which point you move on to the next 3-headed expert. FYI, it’s totally normal for people to struggle in the beginning!

To get them into the swing of talking word by word, tell each “expert” to repeat the question back to the audience first. For example, “The – way – to – make – the – perfect – sandwich – is…” It should help get the ball rolling.

We love Fizz Buzz. A classic energizer game you may remember from your school days, it involves standing in a circle and taking turns to count upward from 1. However, there’s a mathematical twist that complicates proceedings…

How to play Fizz buzz

Every number that’s divisible by 3 is replaced with the word “fizz” and everything divisible by 5 is replaced with “buzz”; numbers divisible by both 3 and 5 are replaced with the words “fizz buzz”. For instance, a typical round would look like this:

“1, 2, Fizz, 4, Buzz, Fizz, 7, 8, Fizz, Buzz, 11, Fizz, 13, 14, Fizz Buzz, 16…”

The idea is to go around the circle as quickly as possible. If someone hesitates or makes a mistake, they’re eliminated. The last person standing is the winner!

This game is a high-speed activity that focuses on prioritization and quick decision-making. The emphasis is less on winning and more on confident decision-making.

Set up:

Start a 2-minute timer and present your teams with a realistic work scenario or small project. Something along the lines of “Plan the first steps for a product launch” or “Outline a strategy for user feedback.” Each team needs to collaboratively brainstorm to create three immediate actions to address the needs of the scenario. Once the timer’s up, let them discuss their choices and how they prioritized their actions. You’ll be helping them develop collaboration and decisiveness.

How to play Consequences

Kicking off our list of letter games is a fun crowd-pleaser called Consequences. This one works best with groups of more than 4 people, and no materials are needed! Each player in the group is going to add a consecutive line to the group’s story. Sitting in a group, the first person writes a sentence on paper, folds and hides the message, then passes it to the next person.

You’ll need to think of some cool lines beforehand, and the amount of lines depends on the number of people. Let’s create 5 lines for a team of 5 people:

1. A man’s name
2. The word “met”, then a female name
3. “He said…”
4. “She said…”
5. “And then…”

How to play Mini Myers-Briggs session

If you work in a progressive environment, then chances are you’ve completed some form of personality assessment before, maybe even the Myers-Briggs version. In this popular personality test, you are assigned a four-letter personality type that gives insight into your behavior in relationships, at work, etc. Have everyone complete the test in advance, and then start your meeting by having everyone discuss the results.

How to play Live “Price is right”

If you’re familiar with the classic show, you know how into it people can get! Try hosting a variation of the show at work. Split everyone into two teams and have everyone guess prices on things from around the office. You can use items ranging from an executive desk to snacks in the kitchen.

Make sure you know the real prices so that you can fairly determine the winners each round. Bonus points for having fun props like large cards to write guesses on, or nameplates to display team names. You’ll have to give some consideration to just where to host this game - the space needs to fit everyone and also have room for bringing in the items.