Fabulous Friday Freebies: Free Team Building Activities for the Beginning of School

After seeing the school supplies start to fill the stores this week when shopping, it reminded me of one thing: back to school time. This was especially depressing to me since I haven't even finished teaching summer school yet and have several weeks left! However, back to school time got me thinking about team building activities and how to create a community atmosphere in your classroom.

Having students that support and encourage each other and work towards a common goal make a happier school year for both you and your students. Team building activities are on of the best ways to build that atmosphere and are perfect for doing at the start of a new school year. At my school we don't stop at the start of the school year, we do weekly team building activities to encourage our students to work together to succeed. Here are some links to fabulous free team building activities.

• Wilderdom has some links to fun team building activities that mostly involve movement to work together. There is a nice sized list of team building activities to choose from and links to other sites with more. The Amoeba Race sounded especially interesting to me, and educational at the same time!

• eThemes by the University of Missouri has a list with an enormous variety of team building activities. Team building activities on the site range from writing activities, discussions, kinesthetic learning, posters, and more. Most of their team building activities focus on elementary students grades 1-6.

• Oak Harbor Cheer also has a list of more than 25 different team building activities. While the activities are described for cheerleaders, they really can apply to a variety of students. There are many kinesthetic and discussion based activities that need little to no prep work.

• For creative students, check out the Insight's list of activities. There is a huge list to choose from including some artististic activities, discussions, and more! It is easily available in a PDF format. There are many unique ideas there that I have never considered. I am definitely keeping this one on the burner for fall.