So what do you have when you combine experiential learning, fun, and competition? Team Building!
No matter the age, no matter the subject being covered, learning can be greatly enhanced with a little fun. This is true for elementary school students just as much as it is true for your employees. We as human beings more easily retain knowledge when it is presented in a fun and creative way. Take Team Building, for example. Finding new and fun ways to teach your staff or group to work together and learn about each other is a great way to solve problems and improve communication and cohesiveness.
Serious Team Building partnered with Serious Fun!
In 1938, John Dewey wrote that “there is an intimate and necessary relation between the processes of actual experience and education.” What he was referring to is experiential learning. Humans learn better by doing. Nowadays, you might here this referred to as the hands-on approach. Now when you couple experiential learning with fun, you are really onto something.
“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” – George Bernard Shaw.
When you are having fun, this boosts your positive emotions, which triggers the learning centers of the brain and thus helps concentration and retention. The same is true for healthy competition. As your happiness levels increase, so too does your performance. Such competition also helps strengthen the bond you have with your teammates.
So what do you have when you combine experiential learning, fun, and competition? Team Building! When presented in a fun and creative way, team building can help fuel your imagination, creativity, problem-solving abilities, and improve your mental health. Oh yea…and then there is that teamwork thing.
Build A Boat: Getting Your Team Across the Pool!
Build a Boat is not your typical team building challenge, and there is a very high likelihood that you will get wet. But it’s all in good fun. Build a Boat challenges your group to break down barriers and work together as a team to build a boat to help one of your team members cross the pool. You’ll laugh, you’ll have a good time, you’ll probably get a little wet, and you will even learn something along the way.
Physical Activity: Medium
Equipment: Boat building materials
Lessons Learned: Build a Boat challenges your team to work together to solve a simple problem – create something (let’s call it a boat) that’s going to float and easily help you get from point A to point B as you race your opponents across the pool. How will your team handle this challenge? Will they work together and build the best boat the world has ever seen or will they struggle to cooperate? Who will take on leadership roles?
Build a Boat is just one example of the many different team building exercises that Terrapin Adventures uses to help your team reach their full potential.
Team Building with Terrapin Adventures
Terrapin Adventures is conveniently located in Howard County, Maryland, between Baltimore and Washington DC. Our experienced staff is able to create a custom team building program – onsite or offsite – that is designed to help your group increase their ability to problem solve, think creatively and collaborate with one another.
We service Maryland and Washington, D.C. and can travel to other states as well.
Get in touch with a Guest Relations Specialist today and ask about how we can help you plan your team building event. Please call Terrapin Adventures at 301.725.1313, or email us at info@terrapinadventures.com. You can also follow Terrapin Adventures on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Google+, and Pinterest for up-to-date information on events, trends, and other fun and exciting outdoor activities.