Overview :

This is an excellent quick ,fun simple activity that shows the value of team work, it will get everybody energized and moving around the room and excited about the training , It can be a great opener for your team building class.

Time :

5 Minutes

Tools/Items required:

Balloons  ( Balloon for each team member) , Pins ( Pin for every team member), Stopwatch

Setup :

Give each person one balloon and one pin then ask participants to blow their balloons. Once all balloons are inflated  and everyone is ready  say the following " You have 1 minute after I say go ,  after the minute is over the person who still has his/her balloon held up intact above his/her head is the winner of this game . Now Go!" 

Rules for the trainer :

For this activity to work , the trainer must not tell the group to actually use the pins and pinch each others balloons. As soon as you say go ..  (Try to prompt them to move without actually telling everyone to start pinching each others balloons using the pins , they will normally start doing this on their own)

Debrief and Discussion :

What will happen is that the group will go wild as soon as you say go , each team member will start pinching the balloons of others while trying to protect his/her balloon. The group will go crazy chasing each other around the room.

Discuss what prompted everyone and motivated them to be the winner? couldn't we all be winners in this game somehow , why did we decide on our own to use the pins and pinch the balloons of the other team?

Tell  the group that we could all have easily became winners in this activity if we all decided to raise our balloons in the air after I Said Go! , I did give you all pins but I did not say anything about pinching your partner's balloon.

What's the point from this activity?

This great activity makes a clear point that  It's human nature that each one of us in the team wants to stand out and be the only winner which was very clear in what happened in this activity. The real team spirit is that everyone works together so we can be all winners and achieve our common team goals.   

Have Fun with this activity!