Congratulations winning comment #17, Marlena U! Thanks to all who participated, and if new books aren’t in your budget, please remember to ask your local library to order them. They’re usually looking for suggestions from patrons!
In celebration of returning to work for the school year, I’m pleased to review and give away another outstanding team building activity book.
I really wish I’d had this book last spring when I coached a third-grade group of boys for Destination ImagiNation. Team Challenges
The book came out of author Kris Bordessa’s need for activities that teach creative problem-solving, as she served as team leader for several Destination ImagiNation teams. She thoroughly examines the need to learn cooperation and communication skills, and looks at what team leaders can do to make the environment conducive to successful team building. One chapter is devoted to helping your team through the rough spots that plague most problem-solving groups at one time or another.
A perfect companion for adults looking to teach creative problem-solving skills, it offers quick or complex activities with every-day objects. Some require a mechanical challenge, while others push participants to verbalize options for solving a problem. One chapter even guides participants through improvisational dramatic tasks.
And many of the challenges offer a Team Tally grid for leaders to evaluate the team’s effectiveness in the areas of creativity, communication and cooperation.
Team Challenges
And Kris Bordessa is sending an autographed copy to one of YOU! Visit her blog, Great Solutions to Team Challenges, to read sample challenges from this book.
To be considered for the contest, please explain why this book would be helpful to you. You can participate even if you don’t have a blog. Just make sure you leave a working email when you leave your comment. I’ll choose the winner at random after 5 p.m. CST on Friday, September 12. US addresses only. Thanks for stopping by!
If you like this giveaway, you’ll love these other current book giveaways:
Great Group Games (through September 12)
Empowering Youth – Girlfriendology
Empowering Youth – Beauty Inside and Out (through September 12)
We host regular giveaways for parents and educators. Please consider signing up for updates by email or feed. We will never spam you or give out your address.
Tags: challenges, Destination Imagination, team building
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10:58 pm
This book looks as powerful as the first book giveaway that you hosted earlier. As an education and Student Affairs professional I use group activities to teach daily. Outside of work, I am on my church’s education committee and we use similar activities to engage our youth. This book will be great for both of these areas!
8:24 am
We plan to start a homeschool cooperative with other homeschoolers in our church, and this book may provide ideas for the speech/leadership class that my husband plans to teach.
10:15 am
I’m part of the program team for my local twins club. From time to time, we do social programs and I’m always looking for fun group things for the group to help them get to know each other better. This book sounds like a great resource.
Thanks,
Maureen (jnomaxx at hotmail dot com)
5:41 pm
This would be a great resource for some group activities at the start of a running club for kids I’ll be leading in the spring. Timing is great!
11:23 pm
I am part of a homeschool coop and I am leading the team building/team challenge class each week. This would be a great resource. I am also a den mother to my son’s wolf cubscouts. I am always on the hunt for activities to enrich the den’s scouting experience.
I need all the ideas I can get as I am transitioning out of the toddler and early school years to the older child experiences. It seems like as soon as you get something down with your kids, they grow more and you have to grow with them. Thanks.
7:12 am
Again this book looks like a great assett for me as a school counselor hoping to implement small groups with middle school students. In particular I have a group of 8th grade students who could really benefit from something like this!
9:44 am
[...] 5, 2008 If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!Where: Pass the TorchWhat: Team Challenges: 170+ Group ActivitiesHow To Enter: Leave a comment on the giveaway/contest [...]
11:25 am
This book looks great! While I don’t teach or coach a group of kids, I’d love to leverage off ideas for my own children, as well as share the book with my husband, who does coach. Sounds like another great resource, Kelly!
11:39 am
I’m a teacher and a mom. Not only do I have to come up with class activities, sometimes I am in charge of the ice breaker at faculty meetings! UGH!
10:30 pm
Thanks for telling me about this giveaway. I teach a couple classes at my church every week and would love to read ideas for building these characters in our activities. Thanks!
1:47 pm
I am a Destination Imagination Coordinator here in Brasil and I found Kris’s book somehow online and have been reading her blog for over a year. There are DI teams across Brasil and our program has just gotten started (only two years old, a baby really) and is building up a following. The DI program is amazing and creates an environment for the kids where they can do things they never (and we may never either) had thought they were capable to doing. I would love to have a copy of this book – it would be a great resource for all my Team Managers here.
8:44 am
As a school counselor I am always looking for unique and creative ways to engage all the students. I have found that active learning has helped students become connected and build relationships. Our building is also doing cross grade level lunch and recess this year and I am looking for activities that I can teach the students to be able to interact with each other and not jsut participate in the typical sports/athletic activities. You have always had such wonderful resources and I am very interested and excited about this book.
9:07 am
This is a great resource for groups—adults, too!!! We’d use it for our home school group and 4-H, too.
10:22 pm
I work with middle and high school students at my church and getting the kids to work together, respect for each other and allowing times for the quiet, timid students to have to solve the problems while the outgoing, center of attention students is something we try to do throughout the year and I am always looking for new ideas of different ways to challenge them to work together.
3:00 am
This book would be very helpful in some volunteer work I do with needy kids. I have a friend who homeschools also, so she would share it with me!
6:26 am
This would be great at the youth center- positive activities are a bonus. They need new ideas and new challenges
1:00 pm
I’m a school social worker and I’m always looking for new activities for my social skills groups. Sounds like a great resource!
9:56 pm
I have just started a 4th grade D.I. team with another mom, and we have been scouring the internet for EXACTLY what is in this book. Our team is composed of 6 kids – some boys and some girls, some creative and some technical, some outgoing and some reserved, and well, you get the picture! We need some creative ways to get this group communicating somewhere on the same planet because Mars and Venus are not close enough! Also, my husband coaches a boys’ soccer team which could definitely benefit from some team-building fun! The bottom line is we would wear the pages of this book out from use!
9:54 am
This would be a wonderful classroom and adult trainer resource that I would enjoy using!
12:02 pm
I am in charge of the music for a large group of children at church once a week – I’d love to read this book for ideas. Thanks for the chance!
8:31 pm
I am an Assistant Scoutmaster for a Troop of Boy Scouts who could use some team building and problem solving practice. I also am involved with our youth group at church and we are always looking for creative games. Thanks for the great giveaway!
9:00 pm
This book would be helpful in giving our weekly youth group at church some activities that foster independence. We are always looking for something to get them to be more resourceful and creative with daily challenges.
10:29 pm
Kelly, if Laura doesn’t win, please tell her to contact me directly and I’ll send her my e-book. I’ve been right where she is with a team like that!
11:40 pm
Greetings,
I know this book will be helpful because I am a member of the Memphis Lead Team at my University. This book can really help with with team building activities, ice-breakers, and just fun ties with the leadership workshops I will be giving this year. It can not only help me but as well as be a resource for my other team members that can use this book.
6:09 am
I am currently the youth group advisor at my church. What a great group of young kids we have. The biggest challenge I have is that they are from many different schools and grades. Meeting only once a week and seeing each other once a week does not give us much time to realy bond. Yes, they have bonded a bit over theose sundays, but I would really love this book to open my mind to more teamwork and bonding aspects.
9:47 pm
Thanks for telling me about this giveaway.
5:02 pm
This book would be useful for my daughter since she is an only child. Great giveaway, thanks!