Free Cooperative Team Games

Icebreaker Games

• Icebreaker games help participants learn about each other. For a newly forming group, such as children arriving for the first day of camp, icebreaker games are used to learn names and introduce basic facts about members of the group. For a group that already knows each other, icebreaker games can help members get to know each other at a deeper level.

  An example of a game that helps members of a group learn each other's names while also working cooperatively as a team is Name Juggle. To play, the facilitator begins by holding a soft ball. He states his own name and then says the name of someone else in the group before tossing the ball to the person he named. The person receiving the ball says her own name and then the name of someone else in the group before tossing the ball to the person she named. Play so that every person holds the ball. The game continues with everyone passing the ball in the same pattern, with the facilitator adding more and more balls. Name Juggle can be varied by having the group try to pass the balls as quickly as possible and then improve its time, having the group switch the direction the balls are being tossed, or having the group change the order in which the balls are tossed (such as passing the balls to each member in alphabetical order).

Problem-Solving Initiatives

• Problem-solving initiatives require group members to work together to solve a problem or challenge. Problem-solving initiatives are one of the most powerful types of cooperative team games: they force a group to communicate, to overcome challenges, and to work through differences. They allow leaders to emerge and encourage creativity and different ways of thinking.

  To set up a problem-solving initiative, describe the problem the group must solve and establishes the rules. Problem -olving initiatives are most effective when the rules allow for flexibility during the course of the game. For example, the facilitator may state that if a certain rule is broken, then consequences will be imposed, such as requiring one member of the group to be mute for the rest of the activity. Rules can also be imposed arbitrarily at the beginning of the activity. A skilled facilitator will use these sorts of "handicaps" to adjust the dynamics of the group. For example, the facilitator may require the most outspoken leader of the group to be mute during an activity in order to encourage other members of the group to take initiative.

  An example of a problem solving initiative is Helium Hoop. To play, the facilitator places a Hula hoop on the ground and tells the group to stand in a circle around it. The facilitator tells all members of the group to hold the hoop by placing their index fingers under the hoop and holding it at waist height. The goal of the game is to lower the hoop to the ground without any member ever losing contact with it. If any finger loses contact with the hoop, the hoop must be brought back to waist height and the game begins again. Like most problem-solving initiatives, Helium Hoop is a deceptively simple activity that promotes communication, teamwork and creative thinking skills.

Simulation Games

• Simulation games set up an imaginary scenario that requires the group to accomplish a task or make specific decisions. Most involve imagining a survival situation that requires the group to prioritize what they would choose to keep. Simulation games can involve choosing from a list of items to take in a survival situation, or assigning roles to members of the group and requiring them to choose which members should be chosen to survive. These games require the group to practice consensual decision making, in which all members of the group must agree on the choices made. Simulation games allow groups to practice conflict resolution in high-stake situations.

  An example of a simulation game is Plane Crash, in which the group imagines they were on a plane that crashed in a specific environment (such as a desert). The facilitator gives the group a list of items and asks participants to choose a limited number of items they will take into the desert.

Trust Activities

• Trust activities are cooperative games that require team members to work together. They usually involve one participant depending on others to keep her physically safe. Trust activities require a facilitator who is knowledgeable about safety precautions and standards for cooperative games and who watches closely for any potential danger during the activity. Many trust activities involve potentially risky actions like blindfolding one participant or allowing one participant to deliberately fall so another can catch her.

  An example of a trust activity is the mine field. To play, the facilitator sets up an "obstacle course" of objects scattered on the ground throughout a specified area. Participants divide into pairs and take turns attempting the obstacle course. During a turn, one member of the pair is blindfolded and must try to walk through the obstacle course without stepping on anything. His partner stands on the side and uses verbal directions to guide him through the course. This activity requires the blindfolded partner to trust his guide.