Hobbies And Interests
Mine Field
The mine field activity helps build trust between partners and fosters teamwork. Several items are scattered around the room to create the mines. The more items you place in the playing area, the more difficult the activity. Items such as cones, bean bags, pillows and books work well as the mines. One partner is blindfolded and must navigate through the mine field to the other side without touching any of the mines. The other partner offers verbal cues to help the person avoid the mines. Switch partners so everyone has a chance to go through the mine field.
Common &Unique
This activity helps small teams recognize similarities and differences in one another. Each team has a large piece of paper and marker. They write down the characteristics that everyone has in common within the group. To make the list, it has to be true for everyone. Encourage them to go beyond obvious things to find more significant similarities. Share the lists of commonalities with the entire group.
The groups then reconvene to make a list of unique characteristics about each person. Each person must have two unique qualities that no one else in the group has in common. These lists are also shared within the larger group. This activity helps the participants see that, despite the differences they may have, they also have many shared interests and qualities.
Deserted Island
This activity is based off the classic question, What one item would you bring with you to a deserted island? Each member of the group decides on one item she would bring with her. The participants take turns sharing what they would bring and why. As a group, discuss how each of the individual items could help the group survive. The participants might also find ways that items could be combined to be more useful.
Team Drawing
This team-building activity adds an artistic element. One person begins drawing a picture. He has only 5 seconds to draw. The picture is then passed to the next person who adds to it for 5 seconds. The picture continues around the group with each person adding to it. There is no talking allowed, and the teams can't discuss what they are drawing until the end. The groups then discuss the collaborative pictures and how they felt during the exercise.