Indoor Team Building Activities





A Truth and a Lie Duration: 30 minutes

Materials: Pen and paper

Objective: This game encourages communication between team members

Perfect for: Medium groups

Purpose: Icebreaker

How to: Have your team form a circle. Each person takes turns in introducing themselves to the group, then telling everyone two facts – one true, and one a lie. Everyone will then vote for the statement they believe to be true. Points are awarded for each correct guess, as well as for every team member who believes your own lie.



Awareness Circle Duration: 1 hour

Materials: No materials needed

Objective: A silent exercise that helps your team see the differences and similarities between themselves and other members

Perfect for: Medium groups

Purpose: Icebreaker

How to: Have your team form a circle. The game runner has a list of statements (e.g. ‘I play a musical instrument’, ‘I am an only child’, ‘I am a vegan’) and reads through these statements one at a time. If the statement is true for a team member, they should step forward into the circle. Once the team members have seen who is in the circle and who isn’t, they can step back, and wait for the next statement.



Back-to-Back Drawing Duration: 30 minutes

Materials: Clipboards, paper, pencils, drawing templates

Objective: An activity that helps team members experience giving and receiving directions without visual or other non-verbal clues

Perfect for: Small groups

Purpose: Communication

How to: Divide your team into pairs, and have them sit back-to-back. Give one person the clipboard and pencil, and the other a drawing template – that is, a sheet of paper with a shape or image on it. The person with the template needs to get their partner to draw an exact replica of the image on their sheet, using only verbal instructions. When they’re done, the partners compare the original to the copy.



Beach Ball Toss Duration: 1 hour

Materials: Beach ball, permanent markers

Objective: A great way to break the ice in larger groups

Perfect for: Large groups

Purpose: Icebreaker

How to: Use the marker to write different questions on the beach ball, focusing on questions that help team members get to know each other better. Start tossing the ball around. When someone catches it, they’ll need to answer the question closest to their pinky. Once they’ve answered, they can toss the ball to someone else in the group.



Best and Worst Duration: 1 hour

Materials: No materials needed

Objective: A great option for teams who collaborate online, this exercise helps people get to know their fellow team members better

Perfect for: Medium groups

Purpose: Icebreaker

How to: Each member of the group writes down one ‘best’ question and one ‘worst’ question to ask their fellow team members. (E.g. ‘What’s the best holiday you’ve ever been on?’ or ‘What’s the worst movie you’ve ever seen?’) These questions are collected and put into a hat, so each member can draw two at random. Each group member then takes turns to answer the questions they’ve been drawn, giving a little background information for each.



Birthday Lineup Duration: 30 minutes

Materials: No materials needed

Objective: This simple activity tests your team’s ability to both communicate, and solve problems quickly

Perfect for: Medium groups

Purpose: Communication

How to: Team members will need to line up in order of their birthdays, without talking or writing anything down. Team members will need to figure out a system of communicating their birthdays with each other wordlessly, before commencing the lineup.



Blindfold Rope Square Duration: 30 minutes

Materials: Blindfolds, rope

Objective: A short exercise that helps small groups learn how to communicate without visual cues or being able to monitor progress

Perfect for: Small groups

Purpose: Communication

How to: In a safe, clear space, blindfold all participants, and have them turn around a few times. Place the length of rope on the floor, then tell the team they need to locate the rope, and work together to make a perfect square out of it on the floor.



Classify This Duration: 30 minutes

Materials: A range of random objects you’ve collected (the fewer similarities between them, the better), pens, paper

Objective: A quick, fun activity that encourages teamwork and communication, and highlights that there are many different ways of seeing things

Perfect for: Medium groups

Purpose: Communication

How to: Split your team into small groups, and ask each group to categorise the items you’ve chosen into different families. Have each group write down their categories within a time frame – say, 10 minutes. Once the time has lapsed, have each group present their categories to the rest of the team, explaining the reasons behind their categories.



Concentration Duration: 15 mins

Materials: No materials needed

Objective: A fast, fun game designed to boost energy and concentration

Perfect for: Medium groups

Purpose: Communication

How to: The team forms two even lines, facing each other. Give all participants a minute to study their partner, then have one line turn around. The other line now has 40 seconds to change 10 things about themselves – things like changing hairstyles, tying scarves differently, swapping watches to the other hand. After 40 seconds, the other line turns back around, and has to identify all the changes. Once they’ve all been identified, the teams swap.



Coriolis Effect Duration: 1 hour

Materials: Plastic pipes (one per person), one small ball, timer

Objective: This activity allows your team to understand the different ways in which people work to solve a problem

Perfect for: Small groups

Purpose: Problem solving

How to: The team forms a circle, and each person is given a piece of plastic pipe. Starting from the tallest person, the ball is passed around the circle, clock-wise, via each piece of pipe. To be successful, each of the following rules must be observed: No pipe can be skipped. Pipes cannot touch. Each person’s pinkies must be touching at all times. Team members can only touch their own pipes. The ball cannot be touched as it travels. If the ball falls, the process must start again.



Egg Drop Duration: 2 hours

Materials: Raw eggs, cardboard, duct tape, straws, paper

Objective: Also known as Defend the Egg, the Egg Drop is a classic team building activity that encourages problem solving and communication

Perfect for: Large groups

Purpose: Problem solving

How to: Divide your team into even groups – ideally, no more than 5 people per group. Each team is given an egg, and a limited amount of supplies (the list we’ve given is just an example; you can provide any materials you like). Find a point in your office that’s around 5m off the ground and easy to clean. Teams are tasked with building something that will protect their egg when dropped from a 5m height.



Escape Room Duration: 1 hour

Materials: No materials needed

Objective: A relatively young concept, escape rooms are an immersive, challenging exercise in problem solving and teamwork

Perfect for: Small groups

Purpose: Problem solving

How to: The concept of the escape room is simple – you get locked in a room laden with secrets and puzzles, and you have to use those clues to find your way out within an allocated timeframe. There are any number of them in capital cities across Australia – http://www.escaperoomhunters.com/ has a comprehensive list.



Friendly Flyers Duration: 1 hour

Materials: Pens, paper

Objective: Foster a spirit of healthy competition within your team, while helping them learn more about each other

Perfect for: Medium groups

Purpose: Icebreaker

How to: Split the team into pairs, and ask each pair to construct a paper airplane. After making the plane, each pair needs to write personal characteristics that define them on the plane. Teams then compete to see which plane is able to fly the farthest. The group then reads the characteristics written on that plane, and tries to guess who it belongs to. Repeat with all planes according to distance flown.



Helium Stick Duration: 15 minutes

Materials: A stick

Objective: A quick game that serves as a great icebreaker or energy booster

Perfect for: Medium groups

Purpose: Icebreaker

How to: Get your team to form two even rows, facing each other, and have everyone hold their right hands out at chest-height, index finger extended. Place the ‘helium stick’ on top of the outstretched fingers. The team needs to work together to lower the stick to the ground, without anyone losing contact with the stick.



Human Knot Duration: 15 minutes

Materials: No materials needed

Objective: A quick brain teaser that fosters teamwork and problem solving

Perfect for: Small groups

Purpose: Problem solving

How to: Form a circle, with everyone standing shoulder to shoulder. Everyone raises their right hand in the air, then grabs the hand of someone standing across the circle from them. Repeat the process with left hands, making sure everyone is holding the hands of two different people. Now, the team needs to work together to untangle everyone without letting go of the hands they’re holding. If the chain is broken, the game starts over.



Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes Duration: 1 hour

Materials: ‘Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes’, available from the Steam Store

Objective: Great for remote teams, Keep Talking is a video game that relies on excellent communication skills

Perfect for: Small groups

Purpose: Communication

How to: In Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, one player is trapped in a virtual room with a bomb they must defuse. The other players are the bomb ‘experts’, who must give instructions to defuse the bomb by deciphering information found in the bomb defusal manual.



Lost at Sea Duration: 1 hour

Materials: Lost at Sea toolkit – find it here

Objective: This game not only forces your team to work together and methodically to solve a problem, it also highlights how teamwork can produce far superior results to working alone

Perfect for: Medium groups

Purpose: Collaboration

How to: Lost at Sea asks you to split your team into groups of 3 or 4. Each team is asked to imagine that they have chartered a yacht with your teammates, but have been lost at sea due to a fire in the galley. Each team is able to escape, with 15 items, a lifeboat and a box of matches. Teams are required to rank the 15 items in order of importance, both individually and as a group. These rankings are then compared to the rankings given by the US Coastguard, and scores assigned based on how far the individual and team rankings differ from that of the Coastguard. The lower the score, obviously, the better the result.



Mine Field Duration: 30 minutes

Materials: Bottles, cans, cups or anything else than can be used as a ‘hazard’

Objective: Ideal for smaller groups, this exercise endeavours to improve communication and trust between team members

Perfect for: Small groups

Purpose: Communication

How to: For this activity, you’ll need an empty, open space. You’ll then distribute ‘mines’ throughout that space. Teams will be split into pairs, and one member of each team blindfolded. The blindfolded person will need to make their way from one side of the space to the other without stepping on any ‘mines’, by listening to the instructions of their partner. If a mine is stepped on, they’ll need to start over.



One Question Duration: 15 minutes

Materials: No materials needed

Objective: This is a simple, quick activity that gets your team members talking to each other

Perfect for: Small groups

Purpose: Communication

How to: Come up with some scenarios in which someone is chosen for something specific – for example, let’s say you’re looking for a new babysitter. Each person in your team needs to come up with just one question they can ask in order to determine whether someone is right for this role.



Online Games Duration: Ongoing

Materials: Computers, internet access, access to online games

Objective: For remote teams, online multiplayer battle arena games are a great way to foster communication and problem solving skills

Perfect for: Small groups

Purpose: Collaboration

How to: League of Legends and Heroes of the Storm are multiplayer battle arena games, where teams compete with other teams in order to accomplish an objective or victory. Both of these games are free to play, available on Windows and OSX, and generally considered safe for work. Counter-Strike is an online action game where teams compete complete strategic missions to take down terrorists. It’s more violent than League or Heroes, so you’ll need to assess whether it’s suitable for your workplace.



Salt and Pepper Duration: 15 minutes

Materials: Pen, paper, tape

Objective: A fun, fast game that helps to break the ice and get energy flowing

Perfect for: Medium groups

Purpose: Icebreaker

How to: You first need to think of pairs of things – such as salt and pepper, ham and cheese, lock and key – and write each item on a separate piece of paper. Tape one sheet of paper on each person’s back so they can’t see it. Once everyone has been assigned an item, they’ll need to walk around asking yes or no questions, in order to figure out what word is taped to them. Once they know what they are, they need to find their ‘match’. Once a pair has been matched, they can sit down and share three interesting facts about themselves.



Take What You Need Duration: 1 hour

Materials: Coins, tissues or other easily counted item

Objective: A fun, simple activity that helps team members get to know each other better

Perfect for: Medium groups

Purpose: Icebreakers

How to: Get your team to sit in a circle, then pass around a box of tissues, bag of coins, or similar. Tell everyone to ‘take as much as they need’, without telling them what for. Once everyone has taken what they need, they’ll need to tell the group one interesting fact about themselves for every item they took.



Talking in Circles Duration: 1 hour

Materials: One length of rope or string (you’ll need it to be quite long – assume a minimum of 1 meter per person)

Objective: A challenging activity that gets your team communicating and working together

Perfect for: Medium groups

Purpose: Collaboration

How to: Tie your piece of string together at the ends to form a circle, then have your team form a circle around it. Now get everyone to grab the piece of string with both hands, and hold it at waist height. The team will then need to form different shapes with the string, without letting go. Start easy (a square, a triangle), then move into more complex shapes (figure eight, star, etc).

