13 Team Building Activities for Students to Help Foster Communication

Team building isn’t just for the workplace —team building activities for students can help students collaborate, learn how to problem-solve together,  think laterally, and get to know each other a little better in a fun and informal environment. Over the past couple of years, there has been a shift in how students interact with each other, with more students enrolled in distance learning than ever before, making online team building activities all the more important in to incorporate into the curriculum

Inclusive, engaging, and relevant team building activities for high school and college students can be hard to find, but the right ones can energise your class and take student learning to a new level.

Here are some team building activities for students you should check out.

Why are Team Building Activities for Students Essential ?

1. Promotes Collaboration and Communication

Online team building activities require students to work together towards a common goal, which helps develop communication and collaboration skills. This can be particularly important for students who struggle with social skills or have difficulty working in groups.

2. Builds Trust and Relationships

Team building activities help students develop trust and build relationships with their peers, which can help create a supportive and positive learning environment. When students feel supported and connected, they are more willing to take academic risks. It also helps them engage more in the learning process.

3. Boosts Motivation and Morale

Participating in online team building activities can increase students' motivation and morale, leading to improved academic performance. When students feel a sense of camaraderie and connection with their peers, they may be more likely to approach schoolwork with a positive attitude.

4. Enhances Problem-Solving Skills

Team building activities often involve problem-solving challenges that can help students develop critical thinking and decision-making skills. These skills are important not just in academic settings but in life more broadly and can help students succeed in a range of contexts.

5. Develops Leadership Skills

Students may have opportunities to take on leadership roles during team building activities, which can help them develop leadership skills and self-confidence. This can be particularly important for students who may not have had many opportunities to develop leadership skills in other contexts.

6. Improves Emotional Intelligence

Team building activities for students help them develop emotional intelligence by promoting empathy, active listening, and social awareness. These skills can be valuable not just in academic settings but in personal and professional relationships as well.

7. Fosters Creativity and Innovation

Online team building activities for students that involve creative problem-solving can inspire students to think outside the box and develop innovative solutions. This can help students develop their creative and critical thinking skills, which can be valuable in a range of contexts.

Online Team Building Activities For Students

Icebreaker Games for Team Building 

1. Unpuzzled

Unpuzzled is a great series of icebreaker games that combine team problem-solving and trivia. Each short, Unpuzzled icebreaker game is themed slightly differently, for example, there are Unlikely Achievements, Unusual Facts, and Unconventional Remarks - some are light-hearted and funny, and others that are educational, highlighting great quotes from some modern day thinkers and change makers. 

Each Unpuzzled game is 15 minutes, and students work in groups to solve a series of problem-solving puzzles and then answer the trivia question as quickly as possible. The ideal group size is 3-5 students so they can work together on the problems, and the game is normally played as a competition, so it’s perfect for school and University classrooms. The best thing about Unpuzzled games is the “ah-ha!” moment that the students get when they figure out how the game comes together - a guaranteed hit of dopamine!

Price: You can access all the Unpuzzled games and many more games with a yearly membership on the Loumee platform (ask about the discount for educators).

2. Fibbage 3 

Fibbage 3 from Jackbox games gives people the joyful task of fooling fellow students with clever lies. This makes for one of the more fun additions to our online team building games list.  Players submit their best “truths” to fill in the blank in a piece of obscure trivia. Everyone then votes on which “truth” they think correctly completes the fact. The success of this game does depend a bit on the maturity of the students but can be a light-hearted way for them to get to know each other or do something fun, online together. 

You can split students up into teams to play this game and give them a channel through which they can discuss each of their lies - so they get to decide on an answer collectively. There is also a version of the game that has a more personal touch - where Instead of weird facts about the world you are completing odd facts about the people you’re playing with. Fooling players with lies about yourself earns you major bonus points. 

Price: It is $25 for this game or can be bought in a party pack for $30.

3. The Name Game

The Name Game is a fun and interactive way for students to get to know each other. It's a fairly simple game and allows students to represent themselves in front of their peers in a way that is authentic to them. The main objective of the game is for each student to come up with a unique adjective that describes them, using the first letter of their name.

Start by splitting your students into groups of 3-5 people and assign a team leader to every group. The team leader will start by introducing themselves, using an adjective that starts with the first letter of their name (e.g. "I'm Awesome Amy"). The next person in the team will introduce themselves, using an adjective that starts with the first letter of their name AND the adjective used by the previous person (e.g. "I'm Brave Ben and I'm with Awesome Amy"). The game continues in this manner, with each person adding their adjective to the list of adjectives used by previous team members. If a team member cannot think of an adjective, they can ask their team members for suggestions. It comes to an end when each team member has introduced themselves using an adjective that starts with the first letter of their name and the adjectives used by their team members.

Price: This is one of the completely free virtual team building activities for students

4. Never Have I Ever

Another great addition to the list of online team-building games is Never Have I Ever. The game helps create a space for students to be able to share personal experiences and stories while also building camaraderie and trust within a group. 

The premise of the game is simple, one person from the group will start by saying, "Never have I ever..." followed by a statement that describes something they have never done (e.g. "Never have I ever ridden a roller coaster"). Any team member who has done the activity mentioned in the statement must take a drink or show a thumbs down on the video call, indicating that they have done it. If no one in the group has done it, they can show a thumbs up or take a sip of water. The game continues in this manner and ends when each team member has had a chance to share at least one "Never have I ever" statement.

Price: Free

Communication Games for Team Building 

5. Virtual Charades

This virtual spin on a classic game is a very effective way to help students develop communication skills as players have to work together to guess the word or phrase. It's fun and engaging, and also all you actually need to be able to play this game is a video conferencing platform. No matter what the size of the team, you will be able to play, and the game can be adapted to fit any theme or topic.

To play this game, all you need to do is hop onto a video conferencing platform and divide your students into two groups. Choose a group to go first and select a person to act out the charade while the others try to guess within the set time limit, which is usually about 2-3 minutes. If the team guesses correctly, they get the point; otherwise, they don’t.

Price: Free 

6. Online Pictionary

Who hasn’t played Pictionary? It has practically become a rite of passage at this point. It also remains one of the most popular online team building activities for students and for a good reason. This is a game that everybody can play even in a remote setting. 

You will need an online whiteboard tool, such as Google Jamboard or Sketch.io, to host the game. Start by dividing the students into two teams. The teams will then select a person to draw while the other members of the team guess. The person drawing cannot use any words or numbers, only pictures. The team that correctly guesses the word or phrase within a certain time limit, usually 1-2 minutes, wins a point.

Price: You need a video conferencing platform with a whiteboard to play this game. 

7. Emoji Storytelling

Everyone uses emojis; they are a mainstay of the popular texting culture. But what if you want to use emojis in a storytelling context? That’s where emoji storytelling comes in handy. Emoji storytelling is a form of storytelling that uses emoji as the main characters and the plot.

For this game, you need to group students in teams of 3-5. Use an online chat tool, such as Google Chat or Slack, to host the game. Begin by selecting a random sequence of emojis and sending them to the group. The group then has to use those emojis to create a story, which they then write in the chat. The team that creates the most creative and engaging story wins the game.

Price: You need to do some preparation as a teacher beforehand, but it is free. 

Problem-Solving Games for Team Building 

8. The Puzzle

The Puzzle is perfect for teachers who are looking to do something fun and intellectually stimulating with their students.The name The Puzzle is a metaphor (it’s not an actual jigsaw puzzle) and there are ten individual puzzles for students to solve as well as a ‘master puzzle’ which teams have to work out to win. The way it is designed means that students will feel a sense of achievement even if they can’t make the final lateral logic step to solve the “master puzzle”, which is the meta-problem they need to figure out.

It is played as a time-based competition (normally 40 minutes for the game and 1 hour for the full activity) with the team that can solve it quickest being the winner.  The game is inclusive as there are different types of puzzles - riddles, some basic logic reasoning, etc. and the teams (normally 3-5 students) can split up the 10 puzzles amongst themselves or go through them together as a team. The game is straightforward for teachers to explain and facilitate, as the students just need to open the game page in a web browser and then have a channel to chat to each other, either in the classroom or online (e.g. Zoom, Skype, Hangouts, Facebook Messenger, Twitch, etc.). As a facilitator, you can also provide help to students if they get stuck on the most challenging puzzle pieces but most of them can be solved without any assistance. 

Price: A hosted session costs from $199 and up or the game is available via a platform subscription to Loumee.

9. Quiz game / Trivia activity

A quiz game is a tried and tested classic feature on the list of team building activities for students. This can be based on a certain theme or topic of your choosing and can be made very interactive using tools such as Kahoot. For large groups, you can split students up into teams of 4-5, and get each team to design a mini trivia quiz of 10 questions each. 

Send them away to use to come up with questions that they can then test the other students on. The first half of this session should be idea generation and quiz building with the second half being participation. It can be delivered using a video conferencing platform and some fairly simple directions on how you want them to design the quiz.

Each team gets to present its topic and then asks the other students to log in and play the quiz, which can be done individually or as a team.

Price: It is free as the students will be designing the quiz for their peers 

10. Virtual Escape Room

Virtual escape rooms make for perfect online team building activities for students because they require everyone's participation and communication. These online escape rooms are designed to test your teamwork, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills, while working together to ensure that time does not run out.

Start by choosing a virtual escape room game that fits your group's interests and age range. Our favourite in this category is  The Hunt. Divide students into teams of 3-5 people. Use a video conferencing platform, such as Zoom or Google Meet, to host the game. Share your screen with the students, so they can see the virtual room. The teams must work together to solve puzzles, riddles, and other challenges to unlock the doors and escape the room. The team that completes the escape room first or with the most points wins.

Price: Available on Request.

Creative Games for Team Building 

11. Shark Tank / Presentation activity

Similar to the popular TV show, students work in groups to brainstorm ideas for a new product or service and must pitch their idea to the rest of the class or a designated panel of “sharks” who ask questions about the idea. This activity encourages creative thinking and teamwork, as well as presentation and public speaking skills. 

Each team comes up with a product, brand name, and logo, which you can get them to design using a free software such as Canva, and depending on how much time you want to spend on the activity, potentially a business plan or marketing strategy too.

Encourage feedback from the ‘sharks,’ or other students, in the class, and you can also get students to vote on the best idea if you want to turn it into a competition. Scholastic provides some teaching materials that you can use if you don’t want to create your own, and you can also use this lesson plan.

Price: Free

12. Connect This 

 If you want to conduct an activity that focuses on creative writing then try Connect. This is a great team activity for high school and college students to work on together. The concept is very simple and can lead to some pretty funny and entertaining outcomes.The game is easy to explain and deliver virtually, as all you need is to provide each team with 4 different images, which you can do using slides and ask them to come up with a short story that connects all the objects together. 

There is some pre-work for teachers in this one, as it works best when you think through the images - for example, a person, object, location, etc. that stimulates their creative thinking. On the day, separate the students into groups of 4 people in breakout rooms and assign each of them the photos.You can give them a set amount of time - e.g. 20 minutes, and can also use word limits so that they condense the idea down into something that can be easily presented back to the whole group.

Looking for other creative writing ideas then check out this blog.

Price: Free

13. Virtual Design Challenge

A design challenge is a great way to get your student's creative juices flowing. It consists of asking them to design anything from a sustainable home, an ergonomic chair, or a more captivating logo for your institution, depending on their age and preferences.You can opt to organise the challenge in teams or individually, giving every participant a fair chance to showcase their talents. 

Once everyone has completed their designs, you can facilitate a group discussion to exchange ideas and insights into each other's designs. The group can then vote for the best design concept or choose a winning team based on their creative, practical, and relevant solution to the given design problem.

Price: You just need to develop a design problem making this another free addition to the list of online team-building games.

FAQs 

• What team activities can be done virtually?

Team activities that can be done virtually are The Puzzle, virtual escape room and Online Pictionary 

• What are good remote team building activities to try?

Good remote team building activities to try include Never Have I Ever, Quiz games, and Virtual Charades

• What are some zoom team building activities?

Some zoom team building activities are virtual pictionary, virtual charades, and Storytelling activities.