5 Team-building Activities That Will Pull on Attendees' Heartstrings

There’s a shift in team-building that’s being driven by younger attendees, who are seeking meaningful experiences that make an impact and reflect their personal values. 

“People want to know that their company is in it for the right reasons, and when they don't feel like there's a sustainable sort of learning environment, and that they're not actually benefiting people out there in the real world, then it's built on smoke and mirrors,” said Lain Hensley, co-founder and COO of Odyssey Teams.

His company is known for Build-a-Hand, an experience where teams build prosthetic hands for amputees. To date, participants have assembled more than 80,000 hands to be distributed in 90 countries.

These 5 team-building experiences, which include a range of costs and time commitments, are sure to remain on attendees’ minds — and in their hearts — long after they return home. 

1. Build-a-Hand

Odyssey Teams’ Build-a-Hand programs can be done virtually or in person. Each kit ($295) contains all the tools and parts needed for one to three people to complete one prosthetic hand, and a blank case and shipping label for the hand to be mailed back for a quality check to the Ellen Meadows Prosthetic Hand Foundation, which distributes them.

The program can run from 90 minutes to three hours, including a debrief, with an hour and a half being the ideal length of time to build an LN-4 prosthetic hand. 

2. Mission ImPAWssible Dog Wheelchair Build

In this team-building activity by Team Bonding, participants work together to complete a series of challenges that earn them the parts needed to assemble pet wheelchairs. The facilitators supply all the materials. The wheelchairs are then donated to a network of international organizations, which is arranged by Team Bonding.

3. Impact 4 Good Impact Kits

A variety of turnkey Impact Kits from Impact 4 Good were created for companies that want to include some kind of meaningful charity work but are short on time (many activities take less than an hour). They’re also priced as low as $45 per person.

The kits contain a bulk supply of materials and come with detailed instructions. Meeting planners are responsible for sourcing a local beneficiary and delivering the donations; Impact 4 Good will identify a beneficiary for an additional fee of $250.

Among the choices, Message in a Blanket allows attendees to create kits including handmade blankets with sensory tags, and record personal messages of support for the children receiving them. There’s also Hopeful Heroes, where participants craft a superhero cape and mask for young heroes facing health obstacles. Each kit also includes an activity book. Hearts and Heroes also includes the mask and cape, along with cheerful covers for IV bags that the team decorates.  

4. Build-A-Rollator

Build-A-Rollator was created by Best Corporate Events and Teambuilding to help the growing number of people with mobility and standing challenges. Rollators are rolling walkers, which often include a seat and a tray.

This challenge asks teams to complete various trivia and photo and video challenges to earn trips to the “Rollator store” to buy the needed parts and supplies. Once they’re built, a representative from each team visits an inspection station to have them checked for safety. Each donated rollator is delivered with a care package that includes items such as a covered tumbler with a straw, non-slip socks, and hand sanitizer.

This experience requires 10 participants per team and runs from one and a half to two hours. Best Corporate Events and Teambuilding makes all arrangements for the rollator donations.

5. Beach Cleanup 

In the past couple of years, SITE’s Florida & Caribbean Chapter has participated in a couple of activities focused on beach cleanup and sea turtle rescue in Miami Beach and the Cayman Islands.

The beach cleanup took place at Key Biscayne’s state park, where garbage regularly washes up because of the position of the beach and the tides.

“It was so eye-opening how littered our beaches are,” said Steffi Kordy, the chapter’s president-elect and owner, Cocoon Incentives LLC. Organizers brought in a spokesperson from Fill a Bag, a local nonprofit organization that puts out bags and buckets that people can use to gather garbage, then return when they’re done.

“It opened our eyes to microplastics, tiny little pieces that could look almost like a shell, but once you look a little bit closer, you recognize what it is. At the end, everybody talked about how many microplastics there were. Once you start looking for them, you never look at the beach the same way again.”