When it comes to skills based learning there are so many fun activities that you can do to be really building up and practicing these skills. There are many activities for collaboration that are hands on, fun and engaging. This is one reason why I am enamored with skills based learning. It is a great thing, not only for my girls but all other children as well.

Team building activities and games for kids help build trust while also promoting communication, problem-solving, and team skills. Businesses know the power of team work. That is why they will spend a lot of money having their people go to team building workshops.

Kids learn teamwork the same way they learn any other skill, which is practice. This is key. Provide opportunities for practice. But also make it fun! When you are having fun, you are learning, using and utilizing skills without fully knowing what you are doing.

MORE ACTIVITIES FOR COLLABORATION

Let’s look at 5 more activities that you can do to teach and practice collaboration. Of course there will be cross-over with other skills as they do not operate in isolation. These are all fun activities – ones which can be done in your family, with friends, as part of a co-op.

HULA HOOP PASS

This one does bring youth camp vibes, but it is a lot of fun.

 Have the children stand side-by-side in a line holding hands. Put a hula hoop on the arm of the first person. The objective of this game is for students to get the hula hoop down the line while still holding hands.

They cannot break hands, and they need to be communicating with each other. How quickly can they get the hula hoop down the line?

LEGO CHALLENGE

For this you need large piles of Lego. You can have this challenge timed or untimed.

Break the children into groups and give each a pile of Lego. Challenge them to create something. It can be fun to have slips of paper or cards with challenges on them. Teams can take it in turns to select a card.

Here are some ideas:

• Build a robot
• Build something that flies
• Build something using only blue and green bricks
• Build a tall tower
• Build a house
• Create a tower with bricks following a color pattern

You could make it harder for older children by having half of the team blindfolded, or make one challenge silent.

OVER THE ELECTRIC FENCE

Don’t worry! No real electric fences are used (though I do have some fun stories involving electric fences).

Create your “electric fence” by using 2 chairs tied together with a rope or string. You want it to be at a height the children will have to “climb” over. For younger children that is about 2 feet, for older children at least 3 feet.

Break the children into groups of about 3-4. Tell them they need to get over the electric fence without touching it. All children have to get from one side to the other.

You can do this timed or untimed.

BUILD A STORY

Writing stories are a lot of fun. This can be done in written or in oral form. The great thing about this activity is that you do need to work together to come up with a cohesive story. You can’t have someone start a story one way and then have everyone else do whatever they feel like. At best that is a mess.

Have the children work together on the story. Each will take a part. Share the stories at the end (if written). If they are oral presentation, then try to record them using a phone or digital recorder.

PAPER CHAIN RACE

This is a fun activity where the individual is definitely part of the whole. You will need strips of paper, staplers and tape.

Divide the children into teams. Provide them with the materials and have them work together to create the longest paper chain they can in a set time. This can be done with a variety of ages. Whoever has the longest chain is the winner! Yay!

Skills based learning is so much fun. It is a blessing to see how children respond to it and the skills they develop through it.

Here are other posts on skills based learning and activities for teaching the skills:

4Cs and Skills based learning – How does it work?
4Cs and Skills based learning – How do you teach it?
Activities for problem solving
8 Activities for communication
Activities for planning
Activities for collaboration
More activities for teaching communication
More activities for teaching problem solving