Team Bonding = Come out, get up & get moving!

Please contact our Guest Relations Staff to coordinate your Team Bonding activity. We are temporarily suspending online reservations for these activities.

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Team Bonding on the Water

Recharge your company by unplugging from the daily hustle and bustle — join us on our guided Kayak Nature Tour! It’s the perfect way to escape the mundane work day and endless Zoom calls.

Enjoy the calm waters and beautiful trees as our experienced tour guides take you an a relaxing excursion on the Patuxent waters. Smack dab in the middle between Baltimore and Washington, D.C. you’ll feel like you’ve been transported to another world!

Book Your Kayak Nature Tour Bonding Experience

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An exciting alternative to the typical office happy hour, bowling, or escape room outing.

Teams of 8 or more can enjoy a fun-filled afternoon. We mix our exhilarating high ropes elements with engaging (and less strenuous) activities closer to the ground, for all to enjoy!

Looking for a more serious day for your company? Check out our famous Team Building programming!

 

Before You Soar

Key Information Reserve Your Spot: We highly recommend booking online at least two weeks in advance. Check-In: Arrive 15-30 minutes before your Party to Check-In. Requirements & Waivers: Everyone must meet all the minimum age/height/weight requirements for your party and complete a Waiver. Appropriate Clothing: Wear closed toed shoes and dress appropriately to be active in that day’s weather. If it’s cold wear layers! Equipment: Terrapin Adventures provides safety equipment: harness & helmet

Party Booking Choose Your Date | Choose Your Party | Choose Your Start Time Select the Number of Guests & Chaperones We suggest you reserve for the maximum number of expected guests. For Youth Parties, we suggest 1 Adult Chaperone for every 8 Youth Guests Include any Add-Ons | Food, Party Room, Goodie Bags, etc… Pay a 50% Deposit to Reserve Your Party You are only guaranteeing the payment for the minimum amount of participants — which is 8 participants. The remaining balance is due on the day of the event.

Inclement Weather Policy We operate rain or shine. Unsure? Give us a call at 301-725-1313! In the event of inclement weather — such as lightning, thunder, or high winds — we will work with you to reschedule your event. Cancellation Policy When you book a party, we schedule guides, block off resources and commit to vendors to make your event memorable. Cancel more than 30 days before the day of your event = no fee to cancel more than 30 days out. Cancel 30 Days or less from the date of your event = we keep the deposit paid upon booking. This money will be available as a credit towards a future event for the next 6 months. We can reschedule your group at anytime (based on availability), but you may be charged a $50 rescheduling fee.

Directions We recommend that you type “Terrapin Adventures” into Waze or Google Maps, to get to the correct parking lot. Our numerical address takes you to the other side of the Savage Mill

Special Notes

– All pricing is subject to the Maryland Admissions & Amusement Tax and Sales taxes.
– All packages that include alcoholic beverages can be substituted for non-alcoholic beverages.

The name is Bond…Team Bond-ing.

When it comes to building a successful team, camaraderie and teamwork is the name of the game, which all comes down to one thing – building meaningful relationships. “Successful organizations have learned that high performance and sustainable results require attention to the relationships among employee, organization, customer and community,” says David W. Ballard, PsyD, MBA, head of the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Psychologically Healthy Workplace Program.

Team Bonding vs. Team Building

It’s is important to note that there is a big difference between Team Bonding and Team Building activities, despite the fact that many people use the terms interchangeably. Both are incredibly important, but for different reasons. Team bonding activities are a great way to boost morale and camaraderie. Team building activities, meanwhile, are designed to bring employees (and employers) together to not only have fun, but also learn to work together in a constructive way, creating long-term change within an organization.

“[Team building] offers teams the opportunity for growth, reflection, and potential ongoing learning,” write Stephanie Sibille and Paul Cummings, Adventure Park Insider. “While the [team bonding] refers to fun, recreational programs that may involve networking and rapport building.”

Team Building	Team Bonding
Designed for a particular goal or outcome: teamwork, communication, etc. Has a well thought out curriculum. Designed and facilitated by a trained professional. Followed by a reflection or debriefing period to discuss outcomes. Follow-up is encouraged.	Designed for a simple purpose -fun. May follow a schedule, but typically no curriculum is involved. No reflection time is often included. A stand-alone activity.

“Is there value to both types of services?” write Sibille and Cummings. “Absolutely.” But only team building will affect long-lasting change within your team or organization, especially when follow-up sessions are incorporated.

“When team building is coupled with follow-up sessions in which team building commitments are reinforced and renewed, the positive effects of the team building are prolonged,” says researcher R. Wayne Boss.

Terrapin Adventures Takes Team Bonding to the Next Level

“When employees think of business retreats, high-energy sports games and inventive obstacle courses might not be the first things that come to mind,” write Paul Adler, Kayla Dale, and Laurie Yarnell, Westchester Magazine. “That said, it may be time to rethink the concept of corporate teambuilding, as several organizations have begun offering exciting ways to bond with colleagues over a host of challenging fitness events.”

Take Terrapin Adventures, for example. Conveniently located between Baltimore and Washington DC, Terrapin Adventures is able to create a customized team building or team bonding programs (onsite or offsite, indoor or outdoor) to meet the specific needs of your organization. Presented in a fun and creative way, our team building exercises help break down communication barriers to help promote teamwork and collaboration.

“We bring people out here from city schools, office workers, people who don’t really know each other that well but just know they work down the hall,” says Matt Baker, Terrapin Adventures Chief Adventure Officer. “Then when they start working as a team and have to support each other with these challenges, it’s something really cool we’ve developed.”

After each team building exercise, your group will sit down with their facilitator to discuss the lessons behind each activity and how they translate to the business world. This discussion is designed to reinforce these lessons and help ensure that the progress made during your team building outing sticks.

Request a Quote for Your Corporate Team Building Adventure!

Get in touch with a Guest Relations Specialist today and ask about how we can help you plan your team building event.

If you have any questions, please call Terrapin Adventure at 301.725.1313, or email us at info@terrapinadventures.com to learn more.

Works Cited

1. Boss, R. W. “Team Building and the Problem of Regression: The Personal Management Interview as an Intervention.” The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science 19.1 (1983): 67-83. Web.
2. Cummings, Stephanie Sibille and Paul. “Building Team Spirit.” Adventure Park Insider. N.p., 09 Oct. 2015. Web. 15 June 2017.
3. Cutlip, Teresa. “Team building, engagement factor into workplace success.” GSA Business News . N.p., 30 May 2017. Web. 07 June 2017.
4. Kulkarni , Rhucha . “Team Building: A Must for Virtual Teams.” HR Technologists. N.p., 5 June 2017. Web. 7 June 2017.
5. Florio, Mike. “Tomlin scraps OTA on Monday, take players to Dave & Buster’s instead.” ProFootballTalk. NBC Sports, 6 June 2017. Web. 07 June 2017.
6. Varley, Teresa. “Fun and games instead of football .” Pittsburgh Steelers. N.p., 5 June 2017. Web. 07 June 2017.