UWT selection guide

Team-Building Activities for Teens

Choose a teen group activity for learning names, making a story, sharing movement or starting a conversation. Compare four formats, plus an optional quiet drawing reset.

For facilitators working with ages 13 to 18, the useful starting point is what participants will do together. A new group may need names. An established group may prefer a shared creative task. Choose one activity that fits the time, space and participation choices you can support.

These methods appear in UNICEF's Adolescent Kit, designed for ages 10 to 18. The selections below focus on teens within that range. UWT's linked run sheets add specific group limits, timings and delivery adaptations. This guide starts with in-person use; check the separate requirements before choosing remote or hybrid delivery.

Choose an activity for your group

Times and group limits below come from the linked UWT run sheets. Read the full instructions before selecting an activity.

Activity	Time	Total participants	Why choose it	Check before you choose
Juggling Ball Game	10 minutes	4 to 24	Practice names through a repeating pass-and-name pattern. Choose it when the group is still learning who is who.	Bring soft balls, beanbags or rolled socks. Clear the circle space. Offer seated, pointing or tracking roles; skip physical tossing if it adds discomfort.
Circular Story	15 minutes	4 to 24	Make short fictional stories together, one sentence at a time. Choose it when a shared creative task fits better than personal introductions.	Bring paper and pens. Use a neutral fictional prompt. Offer a scribe or a captioned sketch, and let participants decline reading aloud.
Memorize My Moves	10 minutes	4 to 24	Build and repeat a sequence of small movements. Choose it when the group wants movement and can comfortably watch one another.	Use short gestures everyone can see. Offer seated hand movements, a sequence-coach role or passing. Avoid movements that require touching or balance.
Three Truths and a Lie	15 minutes	4 to 24	Start short pair or trio conversations using four statements, one invented. Choose it only when participants are comfortable with this guessing format.	Bring paper, pens and a timer. Keep topics ordinary, such as foods or hobbies. Offer observing or timekeeping; avoid sensitive topics.

Optional quiet reset

The Dao of Drawing

10 minutes; 4 to 24 total participants.

Offer a quiet individual pause when another group challenge would be too much. Participants draw lines that do not touch or cross.

Check before you choose: Bring paper, pens and a prepared example. Showing the drawing is optional. Discuss visible shapes or lines, without interpreting someone's personality.

Match the format to the group you have

All five linked UWT plans cover 4 to 24 participants, but they organize those people differently. Count the participants before choosing a plan; a total group limit is not a promise that everyone works in one circle.

For Juggling Ball Game or Memorize My Moves, use one circle for 4 to 12 people. Split 13 to 24 into two balanced circles of 6 to 12.
For Circular Story, use groups of 4 to 6. With exactly seven people, use groups of three and four. Smaller circles keep the sentence-passing cycle manageable.
For Three Truths and a Lie, prepare three rounds of pairs, with one trio for an odd headcount. Aim for different partners; repeats can happen, and the plan does not promise everyone meets everyone.

Prepare participation choices before you start

Read the full run sheet, gather its materials and explain the task before asking anyone to take a turn. Let participants choose the name they want used and check pronunciation. State the pass option alongside the invitation to join.

Use fictional situations for stories and ordinary preferences for conversation. Participants do not need to disclose difficult experiences to complete these tasks.
Keep alternatives concrete: a seated gesture, a scribe, a pattern tracker or a timekeeper. Ask which option works without requiring a public explanation.
Stop and change the format if someone is uncomfortable. Completing a sequence matters less than allowing a real choice about participation.

For remote or hybrid groups

Use the detailed remote or hybrid instructions on the selected activity page. Circular Story, Memorize My Moves and Three Truths and a Lie group the full roster across locations. Prepare the documents or breakout assignments before the timer starts. Their hybrid plans require individual devices and headsets for people in the room.

Shared story documents have an audience. Explain who can access them and use fictional content. Conversation drafts stay in each participant's own notes until the assigned round, but another person can remember or repeat anything shared.

The physical Juggling Ball Game described here is an in-person choice. A verbal name chain is a separate adaptation. If your equipment cannot support the chosen plan, select a format you can run clearly rather than leaving one remote participant outside the activity.

Check what happened, without overclaiming

Afterward, ask one concrete question: which name became easier to recall, how did the story change, or what helped the group follow a sequence? Notice whether each willing participant had a workable way to contribute. Those observations can guide your next choice. A completed game alone does not establish greater trust, teamwork or lasting skill gains.

Sources and editorial scope

UNICEF is the observed method source for these five activities. That attribution does not establish original invention or endorsement of UWT. The selection advice is UWT editorial guidance. Numeric group limits, detailed timing allocations, participation choices and digital procedures are UWT adaptations described in each linked run sheet. The guide does not claim field testing or guaranteed outcomes.

UNICEF: About the Adolescent Kit: Published audience: ages 10 to 18. This guide selects for teens ages 13 to 18 within that scope.
UNICEF: Juggling ball game: Source for the repeating ball-passing and name-calling method.
UNICEF: Circular story: Source for stories passed around a circle, adding one sentence per person.
UNICEF: Memorize my moves: Source for a cumulative movement sequence.
UNICEF: Three truths and a lie: Source for four statements, one false, shared through paired conversation.
UNICEF: The Dao of drawing: Source for silent line drawing. UWT uses descriptive discussion instead of interpreting a participant's inner life.
Playmeo: Team-building activities for teenagers: Further reading: the publisher overview previously referenced by this resource page.

Editorial review: 2026-09-20.

Use the activity finder or browse all runnable exercises.