Looking for a change of pace at your next school assembly? Although school assemblies are a great way to quickly share information with an entire student body and remind them about school procedures and rules, they can also be an opportunity for your students and teachers to take a little break from the daily grind of lessons, homework, and tests. Do them a favor by adding a measure of fun to the mix. One way to do so is incorporating a few team-building activities into the assembly schedule. Not only will the students participating in the games have fun, but the spectators will also likely get a kick out of watching their peers try to work together to conquer some challenging and sometimes-silly situations — a great way to develop the character trait of cooperation. Below are six student-approved school assembly games to try out at your next gathering.
Blind Retriever
In this team-building school assembly game, the objective is to be the first group to retrieve a particular object on the other side of the room. The students are broken up into several groups of five or six. One team member in each group is blindfolded — the “blind retriever” — and spun around several times. Then he or she is provided with verbal directions from the team members on which direction to move in order to retrieve the object. The team members cannot physically touch the blindfolded person to move him or her in a particular direction.
Minefield
Minefield is a game that also involves students being broken into teams, with one member blindfolded. In this activity, each team must help the blindfolded student navigate across an obstacle course of “mines” (e.g., orange cones, dodge balls, etc.) without bumping into or stepping on anything. If any team member touches one of the objects, the entire team moves back to the starting line. The first team to cross the “minefield” wins.
Four-Way Tug-of-War
In this variation of a classic playground game, two ropes are tied together for a high-energy four-way tug-of-war challenge between four teams of students. Each team must strategize how to eliminate the other groups, requiring communication and cooperation among team members in order to decide which other team to target first.
Human Knot
Standing in a group, students join hands with two other students to form an unbreakable “human knot” that they must all try to unravel together so that in the end, they form one large circle (or possibly a few circles). Depending on your timeframe, you can make this game as easy or as complicated as you want simply by starting with fewer or more students. Begin with one large “knot,” or make it a competition among several groups to see which can get themselves untangled first without releasing hands.
Loop-De-Loop
This school assembly game is quick and easy to organize, especially if you’re in a time crunch or even have a few extra minutes to fill. Have students form into either one large circle or several smaller circles and join hands. Then ask one pair of students in each circle to release their hands just for a moment in order to add a hula-hoop. Without breaking the human chain, the students move the hula-hoop around the circle with their arms and bodies, with each student stepping through the circle of the hoop.
Air Balloons
Organize students into groups of three to five, and give each team a different-colored inflated balloon. The goal of this school assembly game is to keep the balloon in the air without touching it, meaning the students must blow on it or use their hands as fans to keep it afloat. One team member should be designated as the timekeeper and be given a stopwatch to keep track of how long his or her team is able to keep the balloon in the air without actually touching it. The time must be reset to zero each time the balloon touches the ground. The team that keeps it in the air the longest wins.
