Summer fun with science

Summer is a great time to do some team building. Even taking an hour on a warm afternoon to have some team fun can build camaraderie. Here are some suggestions for some fun activities you may remember from your childhood that work as team building activities.

Egg drop

How high can you drop a raw egg without it breaking? Put together teams to build a container that will keep the egg intact. Then set up a drop zone and drop the eggs, starting from a 10 foot height and then moving higher. The team whose egg survives at the highest height is the winner. Depending on the ingenuity of the teams and your ability to provide a drop that is high enough, you may have multiple winners.

Paper airplane toss

You can do this challenge as individuals or in teams. Go for distance, acrobatics, or both.

You can do the activity either by having people construct their planes ahead of the event, or by providing the materials at the event and build the planes as part of the challenge.

Blowing the best bubbles

Who can come up with the best bubble making solution? You can compete for the largest bubble, the longest lasting bubbles, the most bubbles, or the farthest distance travelled.

You can either provide the bubble wand, or giant bubble-making tools, or include the construction of the wands as part of the requirements.

Cola rockets

How high can you go? The challenge is to create an explosion with Diet Cola and Mentos and achieve the highest eruption.

You will need a visual reference for height, and, if people are really competitive, a video camera set up to catch each cola rocket in action.

Water balloons

Who doesn’t love water balloons on a hot day?

There are a number of activities you can do with water balloons including:

• tossing for distance – either by throwing by hand or building a sling shot
• partner toss – two people team up and toss a water balloon back and forth. Steadily increase the distance after every two or three tosses.

Do you have any favourite summer games that work as team building activities?