The game “Cross the River” is the ultimate team work game and a great game that can be played indoors. This game takes every individual working confidently and efficiently by using great communication to succeed. For every teammate to “cross the river” the team must be patient and work together. This game will help develop communication skills, critical thinking and most of all, teamwork. This is a great game to play inside when it’s a rainy day and you are unable to be outside.
Cross the River
- Group Size: 5 – 30
- Length of Activity: 10 – 25 mins
- Goal: To promote group thinking and develop positive teamwork habits.
- Equipment Needed: Large pieces of cardboard or poster board (one for each participant), cones or lines to denote boundaries.
- Before you Start:
- Set boundaries roughly 10 – 30 yards apart that will act as “land” with the area in the middle being a “river.”
- Have all participants stand on one side of the river together.
- Split into two groups and give each player a “lily pad” (cardboard or poster board)
- How to Play:
- Explain to the participants that they must work together as a team to get from one side of the river to the other only using the lily pads.
- The river as a very strong current so players must be touching a lily pad at all times.
- If a lily pad is untouched in the river at any time, it is swept away by the current and no longer allowed to be used.
- If a player steps off a lily pad into the river, they are also swept away and must go back to the side of the river they started on and try again.
- Once the entire team has made it from one side of the river to the other safely, they have won.
- Variations:
- Provide the team(s) with less lily pads, forcing them to share more and work together.
- Have the teams race against each other to see who can cross the river first.