Team building
Back-to-Back Drawing
Partners sit back to back.
By type
Team Building Games for Students
Team-building games give students a shared challenge and a reason to listen to each other. Run one at the start of a group project or whenever your class needs to reconnect.
- π² 31 games
- β Free
- π₯ Board-ready tools
Brain breaks
Balloon Keep It Up
The class works together to keep a balloon in the air, counting every tap.
Review games
Board Relay Race
Teams line up and take turns running to the board to answer one step of a problem, then hand the marker to the next teammate.
Review games
Charades
Students act out a word or phrase without speaking while their team guesses.
Review games
Classroom Escape Room
Teams solve a chain of puzzles built from your unit content to unlock the final "lock" before time runs out.
Review games
Classroom Scavenger Hunt
Students search the room for hidden clues or items, answering questions to unlock the next clue.
Review games
Classroom Taboo
A student describes a vocabulary word to their team without saying the word or any of the "taboo" words listed on the card.
Review games
Connect Four Review
Two teams answer questions to drop a colored token into a grid on the board.
Quiet games
Count to 20
The class counts to 20 one voice at a time without planning who goes next.
Team building
Cup Tower Challenge
Teams stack plastic cups into the tallest tower, or a Christmas tree shape, without touching them with their hands.
Icebreakers
Desert Island
Students choose three items they would bring to a desert island and justify their picks.
Review games
Fact or Fiction
Teams hear surprising statements and decide whether each one is fact or fiction.
Review games
Fly Swatter
Two students race to swat the correct answer on the board with a fly swatter.
Team building
Gingerbread Man Hunt
After reading The Gingerbread Man, students follow clues around the school to find the runaway cookie.
Review games
Hot Seat
One student sits with their back to the board while teammates describe the word written behind them.
Team building
Human Knot
Students hold hands across a circle to make a tangle, then work together to untangle without letting go.
Review games
Jeopardy Review Game
A quiz-show board of categories and point values where teams pick a square and answer the question behind it.
End of year
Mafia (Werewolf)
A secret-role game where the "mafia" tries to eliminate townspeople at night while the town debates and votes by day.
Team building
Marshmallow Challenge
Teams build the tallest freestanding tower from spaghetti, tape and string that can hold a marshmallow on top.
Review games
Math Baseball
Teams "bat" by answering questions: easy for a single, harder for a double, hardest for a home run.
Team building
Minefield
One blindfolded student walks through an obstacle course guided only by a partner's voice.
Brain breaks
Mirror Game
Partners face each other.
Team building
Mummy Wrap Race
Teams race to wrap one teammate head to toe in toilet paper like a mummy.
Team building
Philosophical Chairs
Students physically move to the side of the room that matches their view on a debatable statement, then argue respectfully, moving if they change their mind.
Team building
Silent Line-Up
Students line up in order by birthday, height or name without talking.
No prep
Story Chain
The class builds a story one sentence at a time, each student adding to what came before.
Quiet games
Telephone
A whispered message travels down a line of students and usually comes out hilariously different.
End of year
Telephone Pictionary
A sentence turns into a drawing, then a sentence, then a drawing, as papers pass around a group.
Review games
Tic-Tac-Toe Review
Two teams play tic-tac-toe on the board, but must answer a question correctly to place their X or O.
Review games
Trashketball
Teams answer review questions, and every correct answer earns a shot at the trash can for bonus points.
Brain breaks
Zip Zap Zop
Students pass "zip", "zap" and "zop" around a circle in order, faster and faster.
Quick picks
Top 5 to try first
- βοΈ Back-to-Back DrawingPartners sit back to back.
- π Balloon Keep It UpThe class works together to keep a balloon in the air, counting every tap.
- π Board Relay RaceTeams line up and take turns running to the board to answer one step of a problem, then hand the marker to the next teammate.
- π CharadesStudents act out a word or phrase without speaking while their team guesses.
- π Classroom Escape RoomTeams solve a chain of puzzles built from your unit content to unlock the final "lock" before time runs out.
Play online
Online team building games for the board
Board tools
Free tools for these games
Classroom TimerBig full-screen countdown with presets and an alarm.Open tool βRandom Name PickerPaste your class list and pick students fairly.Open tool βRandom Team GeneratorSplit the class into random groups in one click.Open tool βClassroom ScoreboardKeep team scores on the board for any game.Open tool βJeopardy Review Game MakerBuild a quiz-show review board and play it on the board.Open tool β
Questions teachers ask
Frequently asked questions
What are good team building games for the classroom?
The Marshmallow Challenge, Human Knot, Silent Line-Up and Minefield all require teams to communicate and plan.
Should I debrief after a team-building game?
Yes. Ask what worked, what did not, and what the team would do differently. That is where most of the learning happens.
Explore
More classroom games
π§Έ Kindergarten (Kβ2)π Elementary Studentsπ Middle Schoolπ High Schoolβ Mathπ¬ ESLπ€ Vocabulary and Spelling Gamesπ§ͺ Scienceπ Review gamesβ‘ Brain breaksπ Icebreakersπ€ Team buildingπ No prepπ€« Quiet gamesπ§οΈ Indoor recessπ End of yearπ Back to schoolπ Halloweenπ¦ Thanksgivingπ Christmas & winterπ Valentine's Day