Baton twirling for most is a team centered activity, having performers work closely with members of their team. Just like the twirling and performances themselves, keeping a strong team together takes time a practice. Team building is important to ensure that team members are cooperating well with each other, as well as build trust among members of the team. When performers build trust with each other, they are more inclined to help each other improve, making the team stronger as a whole. All this leads to a healthier and more enjoyable environment for the team. Below is a list of activities that encourage team building.

•    Egg drop – you may remember this one from middle school, basically the group is split up into teams and must use a few materials to build a carriage to protect an egg from cracking after it is dropped from a great height (both teams should have the exact same number of materials). This is a critical thinking exercise that gets the teams to work together to create a solution to reach a common goal.
•    Sneak a peek – for this game you will need an even number of building blocks to be given to each team and the coordinator. The coordinator of the activity builds a sculpture using his blocks. Once he is finished, each of the teams must replicate the sculpture in order to win. Each team will be standing an equal distance from the main sculpture, and they may each send one team member at a time to view the sculpture up close for 10 seconds. Like the game before, this is a critical thinking exercise focused on communication to reach a common goal.
•    Two truths and a lie – this is a communication game focused on getting team members to talk to each other. Each member will write down three statements on a small piece of paper, two of them true and one of them a lie. Without revealing to anyone else what the statements are, the team members will start to have a normal conversation. At the end of the time allotted, the team will take turns trying to figure out one member’s lie. In addition to increasing communication, it also lets everyone get to know each other a little more.

While these all sound like fun and games, their purpose is important to keeping teams strong. Making them fun is part of making them meaningful, as it will easily pull people in to participate. Remember, practice makes perfect, especially for team building.

Posted: 11/13/2013