OUTDOOR TEAM BUILDING

1. THE ROPE GAME Two teams compete by taking a rope (thread, yarn, etc.) & feeding it through each other's clothes. The first person puts the rope down their shirt and pants & hands it to the other person. They put the rope up their pants & shirt & hand it on. The first team to finish wins. (Be sure to use something which will not create rope burns)

2. THE QUARTER GAME: Lay everyone down, one next to each other facing the dame direction preferably alternating males and females. If you have enough people to make more than one line, you can have races between the teams much like in the human zipper game. Place a quarter on the chest of the first person in line. The aim is to pass the quarter onto the next person without the use of hands. This means that the second person in line must roll on top of the first person with the quarter, both people roll back over again so the second person is again on the bottom and then the first person must roll off,leaving the quarter on the chest of the second person. In order to keep the quarter between them, the pair must hug each other rather tightly in the rolling process. Should the quarter fall to the ground, they have to start from the beginning again. Then repeat the game going on down the line.

3. HUMAN ZIPPER - HAND: Have people line up one behind the other. Put your left hand through your legs and grab the right hand of the person behind you. Reach your right arm out to grab the left hand of the person in front of you. Then, starting with the very last person in line, everyone must crawl through the legs of the people in front of you.

4. Mother May I (also known as Captain May I) How to Play This game is a simple childhood action game that might be good for reinforcing the use of manners. One person is chosen as the ―mother‖ (or ―captain‖ if it is a male). She or he stands facing away from a line of kids and selects a child at random, or in order. The mother/captain calls out a direction, step type, and number of steps. For example, the mother/captain can say: ―Scott, you may take seven (or any other number)’

baby/normal/giant steps forward/backward.‖ The child then responds with ―Mother may I?‖ (or ―Captain may I?‖ if it is a male player in charge). The mother/captain states ―Yes‖ or ―No‖, depending on her whim, and the child obeys and takes the steps. If the child forgets to ask ―Mother may I?‖ then he/she goes back to the beginning of the line. The first one to touch the Mother/Captain wins and becomes the new Mother/Captain. An alternate version of the game is similar: each child takes turns asking, ―Mother/Captain may I take [x kind of] steps?‖ The child who is mother (or captain) replies yes or no. There are other kinds of steps possible for this game – be creative and come up with your own.

For example, there are:

? Bunny hops: hopping like a bunny.

? Frog hops: going down on all fours and hopping up like a frog.

? Scissors steps: jump while crossing your feet, then jump while uncrossing them was one step.

? Skip steps: steps as though one is skipping.

? Banana step: the child lies down with his or her feet at current spot, noting where the top of his or her head is, and standing up there for the new spot.

5. Treasure hunts There's no better activity for team building than a well-planned 'treasure hunt'. Treasure hunts can be based on solving clues or finding things, or a mixture. Teams have a set amount of time to collect a list of items from the hotel/office complex/local vicinity - eg a restaurant menu with a fish dish on it, a box of matches with a phone number with a seven in it, an acorn, a brochure with a yacht in it, a sports programme with green grass pictured in it, etc etc. This is fantastic fun and a supreme leveller. Obviously ensure participants are warned not to do anything illegal or anti-social. Great for evening exercises for overnight stays. If you are planning a big event for more than twenty people or so, it's essential that the facilitator goes to the location in advance, so that you can sort out the clues and the route and ensure it all works. It's easy when you're there. It's possible to think up a certain amount remotely, but the best clues will be specific local ones - that you must be able to rely on - something of this scale must be planned and tested at the location. Do some basic preparation remotely before you go there (start point, finish venue, rough area and route) and then spend a day there to find/create the specifics, design the whole thing, and be sure that it will all work in practice. Logistics (getting people from A to B) and timings (how long will it take the first and last to complete) are crucial.

Timings are always difficult to predict - be aware that tourist venues are very busy in the Summer, which will affect how quickly people can complete it and the ease with people can all meet up along the way and at the finish. If it's an overnight event, how you design the event will also depend on where you're all staying and what you want to do before and after the treasure hunt. Ideally you don't want to have to worry about bussing people to and from the hunt, so ideally people should be staying where the hunt is and all together. If it's for the evening avoid any necessity for car-driving - it's too risky - on foot is much more fun, people can walk for miles without complaining provided there's not too far between stops for clues - the exercise helps too - maybe have them catch a bus at most, but no driving at night.

The local tourist information office and library are always a useful reference points for ideas about a basic route, best area, plus contact numbers etc. If you're happy with drinking and can trust people not to be daft than basing the treasure hunt on pubs works well - pubs will offer good potential for clues, a route and lots of fun, subject to your view on alcohol playing a part.

Definitely plan an organized gathering for the end of the treasure hunt where you can give prizes and relax as a group, particularly if the treasure hunt is in the evening. The finish venue needs to be reliable and under your control - you don't want everyone to be finally meeting up amongst hundreds of strangers.

For a large group of people it's best to have a few marshals along the route to help the lost and tardy. Teams of four, five, or six at most, work best - the bigger the team the quicker they solve the clues, although teams of seven would be too big and result in one or two being left out. Teams of five sounds are good.

Think about your team building priorities - if it's to improve inter-departmental teamworking then create inter-departmental teams; if you want to build stronger relationships within departments create departmental teams. If you've got gender, race or hierarchy barriers to break down, mix the teams accordingly.

Try to mix the clues so they require different skills and knowledge, which will enable everyone in each team to shine - some clues very cryptic, some require observation, some historical, some technical, some mathematical, some requiring good persuasive or investigative skills, and always preferably with a local location reference/ingredient. Whatever you do, remember planning is vital.