Party Games As Team Building Exercises

Party games are simple, cost effective and fun.

If you know what to look for you will find that every game has learning that can be drawn out. And by using a slight variant of a game you can bring in the aspect you would like your team to explore. Remember the real learning happens through the generative dialogue and inquiry that can be applied and measured in the workplace. The game is just a tool.

Pin the tail in teams Similar to pin the tail on the donkey. Done in pairs. One partner is blindfolded. The other is the eyes and communicates to her partner where to aim. There are variations of the game.

1. Using normal language.

2. Each team creates a sound equivalent for basic commands like ‘Up’ Down’ ‘Right’ ‘Left’ ‘Hard’ “Slowly’

3. Use body language direction only.

4. The blindfolded person is led from a point in the room so they have no sense of distance between themselves and the donkey.

Possible Outcomes

• Non-verbal communication/ communication

• Co-operation

• Team dynamics, leading and following

• Listening

• Trust

The Balloon

The team has a number of balloons that are held up between each other’s bodies.

Variation 1: The team has an overall goal/ task they need to complete while they keep the balloons from touching the floor.

Variation 2: Music plays during the exercise and stops at intervals. The aim is for each pairs in the tam to not have a balloon between them.

Variation 3: Pass on as many colored balloons as possible requiring individuals to seek out the different colors.

Possible Outcomes

Depending on the variation:

• Breaks barriers and boundaries
• Exploration of personal space and privacy
• Gender, race dynamics
• Achievement of goal: Keeping bigger picture in mind, paying attention to the detail
• Co-operation vs competition
• By any means to get to the end?
• Communication & listening
• Support for each person to achieve personal goal
• Making requests
• Assertiveness

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