TeamworkBetter together

You need: A soft ball

1. Sit on the floor facing each other with your legs open.
2. Roll the ball gently to your child. Say, “Roll it back!” and wait.
3. Cheer whatever they do. If they hold on to the ball, say, “You have it! Now my turn.” and hold out your hands.
4. Add a second adult or child if you like, and roll to each person in turn.

“Your turn. My turn. Your turn!”

You need: A basket and a few large, soft toys

1. Sing a simple tidy-up song while you work. Make up your own tune.
2. Hold the basket and invite your child to drop in a toy. Stay close.
3. Cheer each one: “Thank you! That helped!”
4. When it is done, sit down for a hug and say, “We did it together.”

“We are tidying up together. Thank you for helping!”

You need: Large soft blocks, cardboard boxes or cushions

1. Sit beside your child with a pile of large soft blocks. Keep small pieces away.
2. Build next to each other. Place one block on their tower, and pass them the next one.
3. Say, “Your block. My block. Our tower.”
4. Knock it down together, laugh, and start again.

“Your block, my block, our tower!”

You need: A sheet or blanket and a soft ball or rolled-up socks

1. Everyone holds an edge of the sheet with both hands. Place the soft ball in the middle.
2. Together, lift and lower to make the ball bounce gently. Count: “One, two, three!”
3. Try to keep the ball on the sheet. Cheer when it stays, laugh when it drops.
4. Ask: “What helped us?” Try again with a new idea, such as walking slowly.

“Everyone together. How can we keep it on?”

You need: A big sheet of paper and crayons

1. Place a big sheet on the floor or table. Decide on a theme, such as “our garden” or “our school”.
2. Each child adds one thing, then passes the crayon. Wait for each turn.
3. Ask, “Can I add a sun here next to your tree?” to show how to build on each other’s ideas.
4. Hold the picture up and say together, “We made this!”

“What shall we add? Whose turn is it next?”

You need: Space to move

1. Line up in a row, with hands on the shoulders of the person in front. This is a caterpillar.
2. The first child leads slowly. Everyone follows, up high, down low, around a chair.
3. Swap the leader after a minute. Remind everyone to move gently.
4. At the end, ask, “How did we stay together?”

“Slow and gentle. Can everyone keep up?”

You need: Chairs or pieces of paper on the floor, and music or a clap

1. Place a chair or paper ‘island’ for each player, then play music and move around them.
2. When the music stops, everyone must stand on an island. Take one island away each round.
3. The group must fit everyone on the islands left, helping each other stay on. Nobody is out.
4. Ask, “What did you do to make room?”

“How can we all fit? Who can help?”

You need: Paper and pens

1. Choose a small project together, such as building a fort, tidying the classroom, or planning a picnic.
2. List all the jobs that need doing. Draw them on small slips of paper.
3. Each person chooses a job, with a rule: nobody takes two until everyone has one.
4. Check: does anyone feel the plan is unfair? Change it together. Swap jobs next time.

“Is this plan fair to everyone? What could we change?”

You need: Nothing

1. The group must line up in order of the first letter of their first names, without speaking.
2. They can use gestures, but not words or writing.
3. When they think they have it, check together. Cheer, whatever the result.
4. Ask, “What helped you work together? What was tricky?”

“How did you let each other know? What worked?”

You need: A few sheets of scrap paper, a little tape and a ruler

1. In teams of three or four, build the tallest freestanding tower you can from paper and tape in ten minutes.
2. Before you start, agree on roles. Make sure each person has a job.
3. Build, test and improve. At the end, measure each tower and celebrate all of them. Teams are not competing; they are learning.
4. Debrief: what helped? What got in the way? What would you change?

“What was your job? How did your team make decisions?”

You need: Paper and pens

1. Before a group task, write five promises your team makes to each other, such as “We listen to every idea” and “We say ‘yes, and’ before ‘no, but’.”
2. Everyone signs or draws a small symbol next to it.
3. Put it where the team can see it while working.
4. Check in at the end: which promise did we keep best?

“What does our team need from each person?”

You need: Paper and a coin

1. Pick a simple team decision with two choices, such as a project theme.
2. Each side gets two minutes to explain, and the others listen without interrupting.
3. Ask: what do both choices have in common? Is there a blend? If not, vote or toss a coin and agree to accept it.
4. Discuss: how did it feel to accept a decision you did not choose?

“I hear your idea. Here is what I like about it.”

You need: Paper or a shared document

1. As a group, write down the goal, the deadline and what each person will do.
2. Add how you will check in and how you will talk if someone is stuck or falling behind.
3. Decide how you will make decisions and how you will credit everyone’s work.
4. Review it halfway through the project and update it.

“What does each person need to do their best work?”

You need: Paper and pens

1. Think of a group you are part of, such as a class, a team or a chat.
2. Draw the group as circles. Mark who is near the centre and who is on the edge.
3. Ask: who might feel left out? What could one person do about it?
4. Choose one small action this week, such as a message, an invitation or a seat saved.

“Who might be on the edge here? What could I do?”

You need: Paper and pens

1. After a team task, each person writes three notes: what went well, what was hard, what I would change.
2. Share around the group, one at a time, with no interrupting or defending.
3. Look for themes. What do most people say?
4. Pick one change for next time and write it down.

“What went well? What was hard? What shall we change?”