Team Building Games & Activities for Elementary Students

Source : Charlotte Johnson , ehow.com 

Team building in the elementary school classroom helps to create a positive, cooperative atmosphere. Team building activities can be used as beginning of the year ice breakers as well as regular, periodic events that maintain class unity. These types of activities develop problem-solving skills and promote positive social interactions among students.

"Treasure Hunt!" - A vocabulary class game

 

Divide the students in two teams. Write on the board some words from their vocabulary. Then, in different places in the classroom, hide cards which contain synonyms of these words. The teams have 10’ at their disposal in order to find the right synonyms of the words. The team which will find the most synonyms earns 4 stickers!

"Let’s go shopping!"- A vocabulary class game

Say the utterance; “Let’s go shopping! I will buy a carrot”. 


One of the students not only has to repeat the sentence, but also he/ she has to add something new. For instance, one pupil may say; “Let’s go shopping! I will buy a carrot and some tomatoes”. Another student has to repeat your phrase, his/ her classmate’s utterance and he/ she has to add something new. 

For example; “Let’s go shopping! I will buy a carrot, some tomatoes and some potatoes”.

"Words in the Box" - A vocabulary class game

Preparation.

Get a small box and put in a box some cards with pictures. These pictures may portray objects such as; a book, a desk, clothes like; a hat, a T-shirt, fruits such as; an apple, a banana e. t. c. 

Game in class.

Form small groups with the pupils. Each one of the groups will include 2 pupils. 

Every child of each group has to open the box and with his/ her eyes closed, he/ she picks up a picture. The student who holds the picture says to his/ her partner what the picture depicts by saying; “It is a book”, “It is a hat”, “It is an apple”.

"Become a Teacher" - A comprehension class game

Assign the role of the teacher to one of the pupils. The student who becomes teacher has to order in English his/ her classmates to do things. He/ She will start by saying the phrase; “I am the teacher! Please do what I will say."  Then he / she orders them to do what he/ she desires. For example "Touch your nose!” and  all the others will have to touch their noses or “Close your bags!”, “Open your books!”.  If the student does not begin by saying; “I am the teacher! Please do what I will say”, the others must not obey! Every student who becomes a teacher has to give only 3 orders. The game continues with the next student.

"Dictionay Addict"- A vocabulary class game

Preparation.

For this game you have to bring an English dictionary.

Game in class.

Form small groups of 2 pupils each. One of the groups has to stand in front of the board holding the dictionary. 

The pupils with the dictionary choose a word from it and they write on the board its meaning. Below the meaning, they write 3 words in English related to the hidden word. Only one of these words must correspond to the above meaning! 

The other groups have to guess which one of the 3 is the correct. The group which will find first the correct answer will get 2 stickers. 

"Pencils on Fire" - A vocabulary class game

Divide the classroom into two teams. Write on the board a word denoting categories of objects or things. For example :  “CLOTHES” or “COLORS” or “FOOD”, e. t. c. 

Each team has to write down quickly as many words as they can which belong to that category. The time to complete the game is strictly restricted  to  1 or 2 minutes.  

For each word the team takes 2 points. If one of the teams writes a word which does not belong to that category, then they will lose 1 point! 

The team with the most points wins the game.

"Boom" - A vocabulary class game

Preparation.
In pieces of paper write words which the students already know from their vocabulary courses. 
Fold the papers in half.  Also, add some cards that say; “BOOM!”.

Game in class.
 Form small groups of pupils. Each one will consist at least of 2 students. Each one of the groups picks up cards and if they spell the word correctly, they keep the card and they get 1 point. 

If they draw a “BOOM!” card they yell “BOOM!”, 
they return all the cards and they lose 1 point. 

The team with the most points wins and takes 2 stickers.

"Objection" - A vocabulary class game

Divide the classroom into two teams. Hold in your hands cards which will depict objects from the vocabulary they already know. Give one card to each team.

 The first team has to show the card to the other team.

 The second team has to describe in English what they see in the card without naming the object directly. 

If they do not do so, the first team has to shout “OBJECTION!”. 

Then, the first team gets 1 point. If one of the teams describes the object without naming it, gets 2 points. The team with the most points, takes 3 stickers. The pupils have only 5 minutes to describe the word! 

"The Magic Chair"- A vocabulary class game

Place a chair in front of the board. This will be the  “magic” chair.


Divide the pupils in two teams. One member of the first team sits in the “magic” chair. The pupil in the chair is not allowed to look at the board. The other team tells you secretly a word which you write on the board. The student’s team, who sits in the “magic” chair, tries to help its member guess the written word. His/ her team has to assist him/ her find the word by speaking only in English!

If the pupil in the chair guesses right, then his/ her team will get 2 points. If not, the 2 points will go to the other team. If the pupils do not speak in English, their team will lose 1 point. The team which will gather the most points will get as a reward 2 stickers.