Team Building for Middle School

What is Team Building?

Wondering what team building for middle school looks like? Team building is the process of getting a group of students to work together effectively. It consists of three things:

Students getting to know each other.
Students working towards a common goal.
Students learning to trust each other.

By introducing scenarios to the groups that relate to one of these three points, you are helping them increase their productivity, cohesiveness, and efficiency.

I talked about one of my favorite “work towards a common goal” team building activities here: Middle School Team Building Activities. But today I am going to be sharing about a “get to know each other” team building activity.

Getting to Know Each Other

I’m going to start off by telling you one of my least favorite “Get to Know You” activities: BINGO. You know the ones I’m talking about where you have to wander the room asking people if they relate to one of the spots on your board. It inevitably goes from “Did you travel more than 50 miles this summer?” to “Which box can you sign for me?”

B. O. R. I. N. G.

I prefer something lower risk and way more fun. Insert “A to Z, Get to Know Me.”

This activity has 26 wacky, serious, and funny questions for students to get to know who their classmates are. Like, letter Q says: Queen of England grants you knighthood. What did you do to deserve it? How fun is that?

How Does It Work?

Students will answer questions based on the letters in their names. Starting with the first letter in their name, students will answer the corresponding question. Then the next person will go. Continue to go around until all the name letters have been shared. Students may use a nickname if they choose to.

I was amazed to see how my students were laughing with each other, bonding, and building that trust that teams need. You can find it here to use with your students!