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Team building can be a lot of things, but one word that may not come immediately to mind when you think of team building is tasty! But there’s a growing trend in corporate events and it’s all about the food. After all, who doesn’t love an incredible home-cooked meal and maybe a nice glass of wine to go with? Below are four wonderful companies in the New York area that specialize in corporate team building with a delicious twist.

1. Pizza A Casa – Pizza is, naturally, this pizza’s school sole focus and what better way to bring together your employees than around a piping hot classic New York pie?

2. Food Fix Kitchen will bring the cooking to you and your team! Teams can choose to work at Food Fix Kitchen’s New Jersey location or the chefs will come straight to your door and set up an unforgettable (and delicious!) team building experience.

3. Rustico Cooking combines two incredible things (Italian food and wine!) and turns them into a wonderful team building experience in New York. In their kitchen set in a loft, Rustico Cooking will have your team laughing, relaxing, and enjoying a wonderful Italian menu paired with special wines and chocolate.

4. Cooking A Cappella takes the already-awesome combination of team building and great food to new heights by mixing in music! Chef Lawrence Rush leads a sing-a-long kitchen cabaret as he takes your team through the process of making a mouth-watering meal.

There you have it! Four amazing team building events in New York that will leave your team happy, relaxed, and satisfied. Check back next week for more ideas on how to host a fun team building activity in New York for your company.

The thought of team building activities typically inspires images of trust falls, shoes tied into a giant knot, or otherwise not-so-exciting tasks that may give you pause when thinking about setting up a team building event for your own company.

The good news is that team building in New York isn’t like that! And with team building activities proven to help boost your employees’ morale and engagement, why not give one of these five fun, unique companies a shot to show just how cool team building can be.

1. TrivWorks – TrivWorks will design a custom trivia night for your employees all with the goal of getting your team talking and bonding! TrivWorks’ magic is in the relaxed, yet competitive atmosphere a fun night out playing a game of trivia creates.

2. Shake Rattle & Roll is a long-running, sold-out, all-request, rock ‘n’ roll party that is the largest piano entertainment company in the Northeast. Shake Rattle & Roll will have your team laughing together all in time to a great beat.

3. Museum Hack – Jump on an incredible scavenger hunt of New York’s best museums with Museum Hack! These completely customized tours of the Met or American Museum of Natural History aren’t your grandma’s museum tour. Your team will spend a couple of hours laughing, learning, and racing each other through museum halls!

4. The Art Studio NY – The Art Studio NY will tap into your team’s creative side with a customized art class and workshop! Your team will end up creating something special to take home – and there may even be the chance for a glass of wine!

5. ICE – Bond over good food and conversation! That’s exactly what ICE hopes your team will get out of one of their over 200 professional cooking classes. Your team will pick up a few culinary tricks, but most importantly, will spend time together whipping up something delicious.

Again, team building in New York doesn’t have to inspire dread amongst your team. We’d almost guarantee that your team members will leave one of these five activities asking when the next company outing will be!

It’s no secret that there’s an engagement problem in today’s workplace. A 2015 Psychometrics Engagement Study found that a whopping 69% of employees believed their company had an engagement problem, while 82% felt it was critical for their organization to address this issue.

It’s also no secret that better engaged employees are better performing employees, and that’s crucial to your success as a company in 2016. Studies have shown almost 80% of employees who considered themselves highly engaged trust their managers, and those employees who feel as though their company values them are 60% more likely to feel motivated to do their absolute best for the business. So why not ring in the new year not only with champagne, but with a renewed commitment to focusing on employee engagement?

Below are three awesome ways to boost your employee morale and help ensure you have a dedicated, committed team.

1) Volunteer together. Paying it forward is never a bad idea, and what better way to inspire feelings of camaraderie than with a team building volunteering event? Spend a day building houses with Habitat for Humanity, serve food at a local soup kitchen, or head down to the animal shelter to get in a little exercise with adorable pooches in need of walks.

2) Have fun together. Team building is a proven strategy for increasing employee engagement and morale, and it doesn’t have to be boring or cheesy. Take Museum Hack’s renegade scavenger hunts of one of the world’s best museums! Museum Hack will have your employees uncovering the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s hidden treasures and hurrying through the museum’s halls in a race to mimic their favorite sculptures. Their incredible tour guides will have your team laughing, competing, and relaxing, all while recharging their batteries as they return to work focused and ready to go.

3) Celebrate success. Always ensure that your employees’ achievements don’t go unnoticed. Celebrating successes, both big and small, can have a hugely positive impact on your workforce – and that’s critical to keeping your employees happy, engaged, and committed to your company in 2016.

The key is to make your employees feel valued. A happy employee is, in all likelihood, an engaged employee, and it’s clear that engaged employees are simply better for all facets of your business.

TeamBonding, one of New York’s premiere team building companies, recently published five New Year’s resolutions for 2016 to make your office run better than ever. The top resolution? Be more engaged around the office. TeamBonding suggests better office engagement is the best way to make the company as a whole better, as the good effort of one employee will rub off on others.

Other tips for success? Commit to maintaining a healthier diet, communicate better and more efficiently, push yourself to go above and beyond, and always try to keep a positive attitude.

Read the full article and TeamBonding’s tips for how to achieve your goals here.

The holidays are upon us and for most, it’s a hectic time of year as we rush to tie up loose ends before looking to a fresh start in 2016. One way to ensure your company has its best year yet is to renew your commitment to focusing on those who make up the backbone of the company – your employees.

Team building is a surefire way to keep your employees refreshed and engaged. We’re not talking about tying shoes together into a giant knot, answering icebreakers, or practicing trust falls.

Team building in New York goes well beyond that! These three companies all offer fun, completely unique, and adventurous ways to refresh your team so they’re ready to rock in 2016.

1) Lock yourselves in a room and throw away the key. Escape the Room NYC will lock up to ten people in a room with just a handful of clues showing how to get out. It’s up to your team to work together, find the clues, put all the puzzle pieces together and free themselves before the hour-long timer runs out. Putting your team in an intense setting like this encourages camaraderie and there’s no doubt your team will escape the room with a stronger bond than before.

2) Race through the American Museum of Natural History or the Metropolitan Museum of Art and explore rarely-seen treasures. Unlock the secrets of some of New York’s best museums with Museum Hack’s scavenger hunts!
Your team will be treated to a completely customized museum hunt designed to focus on connecting your employees and promoting your company’s values. Re-enact famous scenes or mimic portraits with fantastic photo challenges.

3) Battle a herd of zombies. Humans vs. Zombies bring The Walking Dead to life in this adult game of tag. Each fight is customized for your group based on your team-building objectives. Teams will battle against one another in a fast-paced, exhilarating game as they complete missions and launch foam-blasting darts at each other.

Team building doesn’t have to be a day your employees dread. These New York companies make it fun, competitive, and engaging. After experiencing one of these three adventurous team building activities, your employees will be counting down the days until the next group outing. A commitment to team building now will only put your team on the fast track to your company’s best year yet in 2016.

What They Do: Teach your team how to creating their very own masterpieces, while giving you room to party as you see fit.

How They Do it:  Pinot’s Palette encourages you to bring a few bottles of wine to drink while you get inspired by  local artists who will guide your team on how to paint step-by-step through a featured piece of art.

What makes them Special: The events easy to plan, and they have locations clear across the United States. There is a lot of flexibility towards how you plan events with them.

Quote from the Site: 

“It doesn’t get much better than this – we let you bring your own snacks & wine at our BYO locations or purchase libations from select locations with bars – and that’s pretty much all you need to bring. We have the art supplies, wine glasses, ice buckets – and talented instructors that will turn you into Van Gogh before you can say Impressionism.”

Who should you contact:

Pinot’s Palette, 7518 13th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11228

Email: [email protected]

Telephone: 718-491-4386

Visit their site here: http://www.pinotspalette.com/dykerheights

Team building activities are a great way to increase team skills, communication, improve morale and productivity. Employees benefit through experiencing a sense of accomplishment in working as a group to complete a challenging task.

Team building allows employees to return to the office reinvigorated and with a new set of problem-solving skills.

Team building provides a chance for the team to participate together in an experience where everyone starts with an equal level of knowledge about the given task. The novelty requires people to draw on and create team process skills to complete the task successfully.

The challenge of a new experience also requires employees to collaborate and work together in close proximity, which helps to develop relationships quickly.

These games will require a little more prep, like props or space specific requirements. Sometimes it is easier to have a game you can create from nothing, but when you have the space and time, these are great group bonding games.

Group Juggle

A personal favorite.  This is almost a name game, but doesn’t really work as such, it is part ice-breaker, part name game, part team-builder.  Okay, so stand in a circle.  The leader begins the game, tossing a ball to one person and says their name.  That person passes it on to a person who hasn’t gotten the ball yet.  It’s important to remember who you are throwing to!  Once the ball has gotten to all participants, then have them repeat the pattern a little faster.  After that round, start adding another ball.  Between rounds, reflect on how the group is functioning, and see what suggestions people have for the group.  I recommend having ridiculous objects at your disposal, because you can also bring up the topics of distraction and focus to group dynamics.

Opportunity for: communication, focus, laughing together, getting a rhythm as a group

Margic Carpet

A good starter is to have everyone stand around the tarp in a circle and then pick it up with their hands on the edge.  Their goal is to flip the tarp over without anyone’s hands leaving the tarp.  Then, when they’ve completed that challenge, move on to the next challenge: Have a group stand on a tarp that is just big enough for all participants to stand on.  The objective is to have the participants completely flip the tarp over without any body part touching the ground and end up standing on the other side.  There are two basic solutions: 1) have everyone crowd to one side and have someone twist a corner to the opposite side.  One person stands on that turned over bit and twists that part bigger and another person joins.  2) everyone crowds on one side and they bring the opposite corner over, so there’s a triangle of turned-over space that one person stands on, and people have to shuffle to coax this one over.  Topics to discuss – who was the leader?  Who had an idea and didn’t speak up?

Other challenges: silently, blindfolded.

Opportunity to discuss:: communication, leadership, following, creative problem-solving

Human Table

You need 4 milk crates for this one.  Arrange the crates in a 2×2 square, with the solid bottom side on top.  Have 4 participants sit on the crates, so when everyone lays back, their heads are on the lap of someone else, and someone’s head is on their lap, so in all different directions.  Have everyone lay back so their heads are resting on the person’s lap to their left.  Then engage their muscles so they are supporting each other and then you can pull the crates out.  It is a great idea to have them see how long they think they can hold it.

Opportunity to discuss: communication, using your strengths combined with the strengths of others, who surprised you with their strength, goal-setting

Maze of Life

Make a grid pattern with tape or lines drawn in the ground.  Start simple, such as a 3×3 grid with spaces big enough for a person to stand in.  The objective is for the group to start on one side of the grid and to follow a pattern to the other side.  The participants are trying to figure out the pattern the facilitator has thought of.  Participants have to start on the side closest to them and end on the opposite side.  The next step will always be a square touching theirs, side-by-side or diagonally.  They will use every square.  No one attempts twice, until everyone has attempted once, and so on.

Optional rules: 1 person on the grid at a time.

If you are on the grid, you can’t talk

If you are on the grid, you are the only one allowed to talk

No one crosses to the other side of the grid until everyone is on the grid.

Opportunity to discuss decision-making, how we handle making mistakes, peer pressure, paying attention to the mistakes of others, patience, strategic problem-solving

Closed-Eye Rope Shapes

Have everyone stand in a circle around a long piece of rope that is tied together in a circle.  Their hands are now cemented to that part of the rope.  Now, blindfold everyone.  Give them a shape to make and have them let you know when the group has successfully completed that polygon.  You can say they have to make it as perfect as possible.  Or not.  Then have everyone take off their blindfolds and laugh at the hot mess of a polygon they have made.  Start with easy shapes like triangles, and squares, then move up to stars, or octagons or whatever geometry has to offer.  On this plane.

Opportunity to discuss how everyone might have a different idea of “perfect” or “success,” communication, leading and following, group agreement

Crossing the River with pieces of stuff that you have to reuse

Often called the Peanut Butter River or Lily Pads, but I can’t get down with that.  Anyway, the objective for this game is for everyone to pass over a “river” usually marked off with rope, only using some carpet squares or “lily pads”.  Other rules to play with: no one can be on the opposite shore until everyone is off the first shore, if no one is touching a lily pad, then the facilitator takes away that pad, they can choose to start over at any time, and when they do, they get all their lily pads back.

Opportunity to discuss sacrifices (the lily pads), balance, communication, problem solving, the challenge of communicating in a line rather than a circle

Build a tower

This is a City Year goodie.  We were given random assorted office supplies and told to make the tallest tower that we could in 20 minutes with a group.  I believe everyone had different handicaps – one person could see and talk but their hands were tied behind their back, one person could be blindfolded and talk and they had to do the building.  Or you could keep it simple and just say everyone had to be involved in some way.  Then test each tower for height and strength and find something positive about each tower.  Encourage other groups to say something positive and constructive about each tower.

Opportunity to discuss how people achieve the task, how we define success, goal setting

Lighthouse

A favorite with many!  Simple version: Have everyone stand in a shoulder-to-shoulder line.  One person is selected to be blindfolded and find an object in an area where the whole group cansee.  One person is selected to give instructions to the person finding the object.  The instruction-giver can’t see where the object is hidden (by the facilitator), but they can see everyone else in the group.  The people in line cannot move their feet or speak in any way.  The game continues until the blindfolded person has found the object.

Fancy version: There are two lines of mimes, facing each other, two finders, and two instruction-givers.  You can hide two objects or make it a race to find one object.  You can also add a “singer” who stands on the opposite team’s side in a confined space like a hula hoop and “sings” as a distraction to the other team – no words allowed though.

Opportunity to discuss communication, working to people’s strengths, frustration, group goals, disappointment (everyone wants to be blindfolded), patience, agreement on strategy

Pitcher Pass

Have the group stand in a circle.  Give them a pitcher full of water, or if you can’t get messy, then a pitcher of tennis balls.  They are to pass the pitcher around the circle without spilling it.  Now without their hands, not without their arms, now without their feet – get creative on their limitations and creativity will come back to you.  Lots of fun!

Opportunity to discuss creativity, blaming vs. encouragement, teaching, learning, trusting a person not to spill on you

Tank

This is a sneaky team-building game because kids don’t realize they are working together!  Partner students together, one tank-driver and one tank.  The tank is blindfolded and the tank driver cannot touch the tank, only give them verbal instructions.  There are several soft and squishy balls scattered over the playing field.  The tanks are the only ones allowed to pick up the balls and throw them at other teams.  If either member of a team is hit, they are both out.  Play to elimination.

Opportunity to discuss what successful teamwork looks like, encouragement, competition and teamwork, trust

Steal my Chicken

A popular one.  The facilitator has some object at their feet- let’s say it’s a rubber chicken with their back turned to the group.  The group is behind a line about 30-40 feet away to start with.  When you say “Steal my Chicken” the students advance toward you. When you say “Gotcha” you turn around and the group freezes – if someone doesn’t freeze immediately, they go back to the beginning.  They are trying to get the chicken back over the line before you can guess who has it on the way back.  Tell the group to really plot against you and be sneaky.

Opportunity to discuss strategic thinking, planning as a group, agreement on a method, goals

Pipeline

Fun, and requires specialized materials.  People sometimes make pipelines out of PVC pipe cut in half.  When there isn’t that option, I’ve used bowls, pitchers and plates in between.  You also need a marble.  Set up a bucket about 20 feet away from a starting mark.  I often tell the students that a tiny planet (the marble), has been flung out of its galaxy (the bucket) and needs to get back to the planet only touching the special objects you have given them, otherwise the planet will be flung back to the beginning.  Also, it must pass through everyone’s pipeline in order to be protected.  If you successfully complete it, you will be treated to dinner by anyone on the tiny planet when you visit next time.  Cheesy story, but it works.

Opportunity to discuss frustration, persistence, changing a plan, patience when something goes wrong

All aboard

Have a platform about half a foot high that the group has to squeeze to fit everyone onto.  Then have them all fit onto the platform so no body part is touching the ground for however long of a goal they set.

Opportunity to discuss personal space and groups, creative problem solving, who was willing to sacrifice their comfort for another, using people’s strengths

Turnstiles

This is essentially a giant jump rope game.  Old climbing rope is fabulous for this because it’s nice and long.  Have the group start on one side of the rope and tell them when they are ready, they have to ask you permission to turn the rope.  Then they all have to get to the other side without getting hit by the rope.  Variations include, having them all go at once, having them go in varying group sizes, give them an enigmatic pattern that they never get right.

Opportunity to discuss trust in team- mates, strategic planning, encouragement

Helen Keller

Divide the group into pairs.  One person is Helen Keller and is blindfolded and is not allowed to talk.  The other is supposed to teach the person an action or concept without talking to them.  Things to learn can be a number, the Macarena, kicking, waving, etc.  Then have the groups switch.

Opportunity to discuss empathy for how another person processes information, patience, creativity,

Helium Hula Hoop

Have everyone stand in a circle with their index fingers out in front of them, palms facing each other.  Then lower a hula hoop onto the participants’ fingers and tell them the objective is to lower the hula hoop to the ground.  They are not allowed to hook their fingers or put anything on top of the hula hoop.  This also works great with a tent pole with people in a line facing each other.

Opportunity to discuss how to handle frustration, problem-solving, leadership and following

Games encourage groups to break down barriers by having a little fun together. Sometimes it takes a little inspiration to find some new things to do with your team. We’ve got you covered! Here is a list of 25 new ideas to inspire you!

1. Foot Tower

Have everyone lay in a circle with their feet in the middle of the circle, and try to make a foot tower as high as they can.

2. M&Ms

Everyone loves chocolate and talking about themselves.  Have everyone take a handful of M&Ms but don’t eat them yet.  Then, you go around the circle and each person shares one thing about themselves per M&M.  You can assign different colors different topics like family, pets, friends, love etc. if you want to get fancy.

3. The Question

Simply ask a question at the beginning of each session and let everyone who wants to answer it.  This is simple, but people really get to know each other.  I was in an awful freshman seminar, but the question game was my favorite part of the day.  You can also have everyone put a question into a hat and then someone else picks a question, reads it, go around the circle and answer it.  Passes are optional.

4. Group Juggling

Everyone stands in a circle.  Start with one ball, saying one person’s name and tossing it to them – it should get to everyone with no repeats and then back to the facilitator.  You may want to remind them to remember who they threw it to.  Then have them repeat a little faster, and then add other objects.  Start with things like tennis balls and then move up to the stuffed gorilla to get people to laugh.   I really like this, but not everyone does.  I like that it gets people to laugh and you can see who is able to focus.

5. Middle names

Tell us what it means.  Go around the circle.  Done.  Good little time filler.

6. Animal Game, Quaker style

Sit in a circle, and everyone go around and decide on what will be their animal sign.  Then you get a rhythm going so that its kind of like name tag: clap clap your own gesture, clap clap someone else’s gesture.  Then that person has to do their own gesture and someone else’s gesture, on and on, til someone messes up.  Fun and silly.

7. Screaming Toes

Stand in a circle.  The facilitator will say either “look down” or “look up.” When they say look down, everyone looks at their toes.  When the facilitator says “look up” they look at someone’s face.  If the person they are looking at happens to be looking back, they have to scream and then they are both out.  Surprisingly amusing.

8. CY Smackdown

Everyone lays down on their bellies with their heads towards the middle of the circle.  Everyone puts their right hand face down, and then their left hand underneath the right hand of the person next to you.  Then try and go around without a person using the wrong hand at the wrong time.  If you mess up, the hand that messed up is out, but the other hand is still in til it messes up.  Play with misses, double hits to reverse, knock to skip a hand, and double-knock to reverse skip.

9. Zoom

Say “Zoom” to pass the game to the person to your left, then you can reverse the direction either with Zoom or you can make up a different word.  Add other random words to move things along: “Ramp” you put your arm diagonally and the play skips the person next to you.  “Zap” moves the play to any person in the circle you are looking at, and they have to continue.  “Wow” makes everyone change places except the person holding the “energy ball” and “Superwow” everyone has to dance to a new spot.  Make stuff up as your creativity allows.   This is a game to get people focused and energized.  You can play it elimination style where if you hesitate or say the wrong thing.

10. This is a What

Players sit in a circle on the ground.  This is a focus game that for some reason when I was a kid we played for a long time – it’s a focus game.  So, you need a pile of random objects in front of the person starting out.  Let’s say they pick up a spoon and they turn to the person next to them and the following dialogue ensues.

1.  This is a spoon

2. A what?

1. A spoon

2. A what?

1. A spoon

2. Oh, a spoon!

Then 2 turns to 3 and repeats this little dialogue.  Meanwhile, 1 starts another dialogue with 2 with a different object.  So you try to go around the circle with no one messing up the order.  You might have to see it to get it.

11. Ducky Fuzz

Everyone sits in a circle.  Saying “fuzzy duck” passes the play to the person on the right, and “ducky fuzz” passes the play to the left.  If you mess up, you have to do a silly dance or are out.

12. Ninja Training

I always tell people that in this game, do as I say, not as I do.  The facilitator will tell the group that they are going to say either “head” “shoulders” or “knees” and the players will have to touch any of these places.  However, the instructor might say “head” while touching his/her shoulders and will mess everyone up.  Elimination or just to test themselves and improve.

13. Gotcha

Everyone stands in a circle, and you put your right finger in the left palm of person next to you.  Make sure everyone has flat palms.  When the leader says “gotcha,” try to get your finger to escape and grab the person’s finger next to you.  Then you can reverse (left finger, right palm) to test people.  People LOVE this.

14. Finger Wiggle Thing

You know the thing where you put your hands together so that your middle fingers look like they’re one big finger wiggling in the middle?  Palms together, cross middle fingers and then turn your hands in opposite directions so they are still palm to palm, but one middle finger up and one finger down.  Try it by yourself, then try to do that with a partner.  Then stand in a circle and see if you can get the whole group to finger wiggle together.

15. Enemy/Protector

Define boundaries so everyone has enough room to move around.  Then everyone silently picks one person at random to be their enemy and a different person to be their protector.  Once everyone has picked  both people, then the facilitator says “go” and everyone tries to get as close to their protector and as far away from their enemy as they can go (within the boundaries of course)  Maximum fun time for this game is very short, but it’s a goofy fun one.

16. Scream Test

Great stress reliever.  Everyone stands in a line, shoulder to shoulder.  Then you run as long as you can scream in one breath.  Then each person stops where they ran out of breath.  You can do this individually or have the entire group go.  Some people use this as a chance to talk about diversity in people and in nature, and how without diversity, neither groups of people nor nature would continue to function.  Some people don’t.  But who doesn’t like to scream and run?

17. Two Truths and a Lie

One person in the group says three things about themselves – two of which are true and one is a lie.  The group has to guess which is the lie.  This game is fun in its simplicity.

18. Jedi Mind Trick

A City Year fave.  Everyone stands in a circle and one person in the middle is “it.”  Everyone starts looking around.  Once they make eye contact with someone they have to switch places.  The person who is “it” will try and take someone’s place while they are in transit.  A safety note – kids should cross their arms over their chest and keep these “bumpers” up during the game to reduce pushing and shoving.

19. Wah

Everyone stands in a circle.  One person begins by clapping their hands together towards another person and screams “wah!”  The person they pointed to claps their hands over their head and says “wah!” At the same time the two people standing next to the person who was pointed at pretend to chop at that person in the stomach and shout “wah!”  Then the person who was pointed out points at someone else and the process starts again.  Elimination game.

20. Dippety Dippety Dip

This is even more ridiculous than Wah.  So, one person (A) begins by saying “Dippety Dippety Dip!”  On each word A points their hands (which are clapped together) at someone.  The person they point to on “Dip”, let’s call them B.  B then says and points the “Dippety Dippety Dip” thing.  Meanwhile, the two people standing next to B say “Dip Dip Dip” while bouncing in a circle on each “Dip.”  It’s wicked confusing.  So if you mess up you are out!

21. Heads and Butts

Divide into two groups.  One group is the heads, and they put one hand on their head.  The butts put one hand on their butt.  Define boundaries.  When the facilitator says “Go!’ then everyone starts to tag each other.  If a head tags a butt, they become a head.  If a butt tags a head, they turn into a butt.  The game ends when everyone is either a head or a butt.  If you go out of bounds, you have to put one hand on your head and one hand on your butt and do the “danky butt-head dance.”   Way fun.

Elbow Tag – A classic.  Everyone stands in a pair with elbows linked except for two people.  One is “it” and one is being chased.  If the person being chased gets tagged, they are it.  The person being chased can be saved by finding another pair of people and linking elbows with one of them.  The person on the end of that chain has to then be chased by the person who is it.

22. Giants, Wizards, Elves

A big version of Rock, Paper, Scissors.  Divide the group into two groups.  Each group starts out behind a set of cones or line of some sort.  The groups have to decide if they are going to be giants, wizards or elves.  Then the have a showdown where they shout “Giants! Wizards! Elves!” until they meet in the middle and they present whatever they are.  Giants have hands above their heads, wizards have their hands out in front and elves make little elf ears with their hands.  Giants beat wizards, wizards beat elves, elves beat giants.  Whoever wins the showdown tries to tag the other group before they make it over the line.  Anyone the winning group tags joins their team.

23. Amoeba–

Tie everyone together and make them move from one place to another

24. Eetchee Meeney Hoi!

A GREAT game.  This is a competitive team game, but involves no skill whatsoever.  The set-up is a baseball diamond, preferably with the bases closer together than normal.  Divide the group into two teams and have them each line-up behind home plate.  The first person in line from each team starts walking the bases, but one team heads to 3^rd base first, and the other heads to 1^st base first.  They should WALK until they meet the opposing team.  Then they do Rock, Paper, Scissors, but they have to say Eetchee Meeney Hoi.  The loser is out, and the winner continues to try and score a run.  Whoever has the most runs wins.  SO fun!

25. Yeehaw!

Stand in a circle.  YEHAW with an arm movement to the left or the right passes movement around the circle.  You can HAYBARN with a movement with your arms above your head and your hands together.  This skips the person next to you and goes to the next person.  DOWN LITTLE DOGGIE  you turn your fingers into little guns and point to someone in the circle, and they are now it.  If anyone messes up, they become hecklers on the side.  This is usually a short game.