25 Team Building Activities for Teachers

Building a sense of team unity for teachers is important for growth and moral support as
the school year begins. Get your teaching team and staff together for some bonding
time that will make memories, encourage relationships and buoy spirits throughout the
year. 

1. Attitude of Gratitude Activity - Plant different classroom items around the room:
erasers, dry erase markers, old textbooks, a sack lunch with a mushy PB&J inside,
maybe even some chewed gum in a wrapper. Give each teacher a paper bag and pair
them with someone to give a “gift” to. Sound a buzzer and everyone has 30 seconds to
run around and put an item in their gift bag. When time’s up, the receiver of the gift has
to take it out, show the team and thank the other person by saying something
complimentary about the gift (like its usefulness or lovely color), even if it is chewed
gum! It’s a great way to cultivate thankfulness even for “unlovely” things or things we
take for granted.
2. Mindfulness Scavenger Hunt - Group teachers into teams by grade levels or subject
areas and have them do a scavenger hunt from a student’s perspective, taking pictures
along the way. They can find silly things like, “best hiding place from teachers” or “door
that no one knows where it goes” to sweet things like, “something a student might find
encouraging” or “a great view to see the sky.” Come back together and share the finds.
This is a great activity for collaborating and evaluating spaces and messages your
school is sending to its students.
3. Jump In and Jump Out - This is a fun and physical exercise about following
instructions, which can be trickier than you think — even for educators! Stand in a circle
holding hands. One instructor will give the group four instructions: jump left, jump right,
jump in, jump out. When the instructor calls out a command, the group says what the
instructor said while doing it. For round two, the instructor again calls out a command,
and this time the group must say what the instructor says but do the opposite. For round
three, the instructor calls out a command, and the group must do what the instructor
says but say the opposite (if the instructor says “jump in,” the group must jump in but say
“jump out”).