Outdoor Team Building Activities

First of all, you can’t high-five yourself if you play alone. There’s no point! It just won’t be the same. Imagine the prehistoric human who discovered fire. If there hadn’t been other prehistoric humans with whom he could high-five the joy of his discovery, he would have jumped straight into the same fire he discovered. It’s the camaraderie in a team that makes one’s performance all the more joyous, appreciated, and a driving force. It’s because of being in a team that one at least tries to push oneself to greater limits for the sake of everybody else. It’s a collective effort and it rubs off on each of the member. Rubs off? How? Being in a team with a purpose helps you open yourself up and helps you get acquainted with your strengths and weaknesses; making you improve on your adaptability. Also, you get to know about other members. After fire was discovered, another prehistoric dude must have thought of burning the boar he just killed and made way for another yum-yum high-five. Point being, the motivation became infectious and fostered overall productivity in the team building process. While the prehistorical dudes had hunting as a team building activity, you can go for the following team building activities.

 

It just cannot be ignored. The most lovable and the preferred activity for sure, sports. Divide two teams (or many teams and have a tournament) and let them compete with one another in sports like football, soccer, baseball, cricket, or whatever sport the majority opts for. Nothing ups the adrenalin level more than being a part of nerve-wrecking sports match against the opponents that asks for reliability in your team members and on-spot decision making. A real effective way for team building!

 

Nobody wants to be excluded from such adventurous activity, let alone voluntarily opting out of it. It calls for problem solving skills, reliability in other member’s ability and of course, fun. Plan up a treasure hunt - write up the hints on a piece of paper and get it xeroxed according to the number of teams. Hand out one copy to each team and ask them to decode the hints and make their way to the final destination where the treasure (not literally a pot of gold but anything fantastic as a reward) is hidden. Whichever team will de-bury the treasure will win.

 

Oh fun! Organize a boat race in the quiet waters. Divide the teams and get the boats accordingly. The boat should be a thin long one that can have at least 5 members doing the paddling. It calls for collective strength and individual stamina to be put into the paddling. Each member on the boat will have to manage his weight and stance in such a way that doesn’t turns the boat upside down into the water. Whichever team makes it to the finishing line first is obviously the winner. Wear life jackets if you don’t know how to swim.

 

Now it’s time to get dirty! Set no time limit on this one. Just let the teams bring out the architect in them. Divide the teams, give them a short lesson on building sand castles, and let them dirty themselves. This activity calls for planning, being patient, teamwork, and reliability as each member puts in his design and skill into action. Let their coordinated efforts bring out the best in them. Let them make their way from putting sand together to repairing damages as each team tries to outdo other teams to come up with the best design possible.

 

These outdoor team building activities are a great way to have some refreshing fun as well as building a cohesive unit out of a mere group of individuals. Go team go!