15 different Collaborative Play Ideas
Here’s a list of collaborative play ideas that can promote teamwork, communication, and social interaction among children:
- Building with Blocks or Legos
- Children can work together to build a structure, such as a house, tower, or city. This encourages teamwork, problem-solving, and creativity. For added structure, you can use blocks/Legos/building materials that include step-by-step instructions. I LOVE using legos as the instructions are clear, easy to follow, you can easily adjust the difficulty, and they target so many different skills! I've used Legos to have my kiddos work on delivering and following instructions with each other (one can deliver the instructions, while the other follows them and vise versa), problem solving, and communication.
- Group Art Projects
- Large mural or canvas painting where each child contributes a section. This fosters cooperation and artistic expression. One example can be one child can draw for 1 minute and each child can take turns adding more to the art piece.
- Cooking or Baking Together
- Simple recipes like making cookies or fruit salads provide opportunities for children to collaborate, follow instructions, and share tasks. Some other fun examples can include: making ice cream, cupcakes, pizza, ants on a log (celery, peanut butter, raisins)
- Treasure Hunt
- Kids work together to find clues and solve puzzles to reach a hidden "treasure." This encourages teamwork, critical thinking, and communication. You can set this up by creating 4-5 different clues where each clue leads to the next clue and they need to work together to make it to the end.
- Role-Playing Games
- Children can engage in pretend play scenarios like running a restaurant, playing house, or being superheroes. These activities help develop social roles, negotiation, and cooperation.
- Cooperative Board Games
- Games like "Count Your Chickens" or Race to the Treasure" are designed for teamwork, where players must collaborate to achieve a common goal, rather than compete against each other. Here are links to cooperative board games-
Race to the Treasure
$19 on Amazon
Count your Chickens
$16 on Amazon
Pete the Cat and the Missing Cupcakes
$19.88 on Amazon
Found it - Indoor Scavenger Hunt
This game is another favorite of my clients! I love how versatile this game is and how you can target so many different skills! To use this game in a more collaborative way, you can give the kids a time limit to find as many as they can of the target item (example "You guys have 2 minutes to find as many blue items as you can!), so they are working together to reach a goal. Or have them try find a certain amount of items, and they can help each other out if one person needs more support.
- Group Storytelling
- Children take turns adding to a story, developing it as a group. This encourages creativity, active listening, and sharing ideas.
- Sports and Team Games
- Various sports games or relay races promote physical coordination, strategy, and the importance of working together to achieve a common goal. My clients actually love when they can team up to compete against me 😅 (I do this when I'm just working with 2 kids).
- Puzzle Solving
- Large jigsaw puzzles or brain teasers that require multiple hands and minds to complete help foster cooperation and persistence. For teenagers, I love logic puzzles! There are free logic puzzle with varying difficulty apps in the Apple app store.
- Science Experiments
- Kids can work as a team to conduct a fun science experiment, like making a volcano erupt or growing crystals, sharing responsibilities and problem-solving together. I LOVE the National Geographic Kits! They also include videos to show how to complete the experiments.
National Geographic Science Kit - 100+ experiments
- Drama and Skits
- Children can collaborate to write and act out a short skit or play. This builds communication skills, boosts creativity, and allows kids to learn from each other’s ideas. Add in costumes and dress up to make it more fun and engaging!
- Obstacle Course Creation
- Let kids design and build an obstacle course, then work together to navigate it. This encourages problem-solving, coordination, and teamwork.
- Gardening Together
- Planting flowers or vegetables as a group teaches kids how to collaborate while learning about nature. They can share responsibilities like planting, watering, and taking care of the garden.
- Music and Dance
- Collaborating to create a group dance routine or perform music together (even with simple instruments) helps build timing, cooperation, and rhythm. You can use Youtube or a simple karaoke machine for this too!
- Simple Gross Motor activities
- Keeping a balloon in the air
- Collaborative directions game - If you have 3 or more participants, one person can move an object in the room while another person is blindfolded and the 3rd person must give directions to the blindfolded person (i.e. “two steps forward, one step to the right, crouch down and pick up)
These activities can be adapted to various age groups and settings, providing plenty of opportunities for kids to work together and build essential social and cognitive skills.
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