Team Building
TEAM-BUILDING ACTIVITIES AT GRAYLYN
Graylyn Adventures Team Building
Graylyn makes true team connection effortless. Choose from more than 25 team-building activities to energize your meeting and motivate your attendees, bringing individual strengths to the forefront through pure fun and creativity with certified facilitators to specially customize activities for each group.
Chili Cook-Off
Blend cooking with communication and serve up a great time for everyone! Participants don chef hats, aprons, and bandanas and work diligently to create their very own style of chili.
What’s Included:
- Bandanas
- Aprons
- Utensils
- Chili pot
- Chef hats
- Protein (pre-cooked)
- Cooking range
- Colorful vegetables
- Bales of hay
- Festive blankets
- Western hats
How It Works:
Participants form teams and receive materials to make their chili. Each team is given 1 hour to make their perfect chili. In the end, our Chef will judge two bowls from each team, one for taste and one for presentation. After the winner has been declared, teams have the opportunity to sample bowls from each team.
Upgrades:
- Hospitality bar
- Wagon wheels
- Sound system
- Split fencing
- Prizes
- Logo aprons (Graylyn or company logo – appropriate lead time required)
Island Golf
Take a swing at Island Golf! Whether you are a serious golfer, hobbyist, or have never touched a golf club before, you will have the opportunity to claim the glory of conquering the Graylyn Island. This event can be tailored for groups of varying size, with team or individual scoring.
What’s Included:
- Golf clubs (participants can bring their own clubs if they prefer)
- Floating island
- Floating golf balls
How It Works:
Participants in this engaging event will form teams, positioned on the sloping banks of the Graylyn Pond. Each team member will take a swing in an attempt to sink their shot. The team or individual with the most golf balls on the island or in the hole wins!
Upgrades:
- Hospitality bar
- Sound system
- Prizes
- Graylyn golf balls
- Logo golf shirts (Graylyn or company logo – appropriate lead time required)
Paint & Sip
Add creativity and beauty to your meeting by painting a masterpiece! Your group will have one hour to match paint and numbers to create a lasting work of art. This event can be tailored for groups of varying size with team and individual painting options.
What’s Included:
- Aprons
- Brushes
- Canvas
- Paint
How It Works:
Participants will form teams receive drinks, and choose a pre-printed canvas to paint. They will then match the numbered paint colors to the numbers on the canvas in order to create their very own magnum opus. Completed works can decorate your office space or be donated to a hospital, children’s home, or related organization of the group’s choice.
Upgrades:
- Cheese tray
- Custom canvas (appropriate lead time required)
- Hospitality bar
- Logo aprons (Graylyn or company logo – appropriate lead time required)
Pirates of the Piedmont
Ahoy matey! Set sail on the high seas risking life and limb (well…almost!) to find the lost treasure chest. Teams are given one hour to construct their boat using simple materials. The Captain and one other shipmate then race across the Graylyn Pond in the fastest time possible without sinking!
What’s Included:
- Cardboard
- Pencils
- Pirate gear
- Sea shanty music
- Scissors
- Spray paint
- Paddles (2)
- Plastic
- 8’ work table
- Pirate chest
- Life vests
- Yard stick
- Tape
How It Works:
Participants form teams and elect a Captain. They then take on the challenge of designing a boat out of the materials given to them. The Captain and one passenger race against the other teams’ boats across the Graylyn Pond in the fastest time possible without sinking. The goal? To capture the coveted Pirates of the Piedmont Winner’s title and Treasure Chest filled with gold coins (well…chocolate)!
Sample Awards:
- First Place
- Most Enthusiastic Crew Award
- Best Pirate Crew
- Most Creative Boat
- Most Spectacular Sinking Award
Upgrades:
- Hospitality bar
- Tiki bar
- (waters, soda, and juices – alcoholic beverages not recommended)
Scavenger Hunt
Mysteries begin and questions abound in a scavenger hunt that will test the group’s problem-solving skills, reason, and intellect. In this activity, participants work in teams to solve the puzzle. Graylyn’s Scavenger Hunt is challenging fun for everyone!
What’s Included:
- Balloons
- Clues
- Bandanas
- Graylyn History sheet
How It Works:
The group has the option of a 10-20 cule hunt depending on time allowed for the event. Participants form teams and receive a team color bandana. The teams may want to divide the responsibilities for the hunt: photographer, scribe, riddle master, organizer, and historian. Each team starts with a different clue. Team members work together to solve clues pertaining to the history of Graylyn. As they solve their clues, they take pictures of the places to which the clues lead them. The first team to return to the start with all the correct answers (pictures) wins!
Upgrades:
- Flashlight Scavenger Hunt
- Awards: Sherlock Holmes hat, spy glass
- Company logo t-shirts
Smoothie Blend-Off
Get your team off to a blending start by creating a one-of-a-kind smoothie. Merge food preparation with communication and shake up a great time for everyone! Picture your attendees in chef hats and aprons working diligently at work stations to create their own recipe for a cool smoothie creation.
What’s Included:
- Chef hats
- Aprons
- Utensils
- Whole fruits
- Recipe cards
- Select food items
- Blender
- Mystery ingredients
- Glass decorations
- Poster boards & markers
- Glasses & cups
- Pen & paper
How It Works:
Participants form teams and elect a specific duty: food slicer, ice scooper, blender operator, ingredients curator, workspace attendant, and presentation designer. One large station will be set up in the middle of the room filled with a variety of items (think “Iron Chef”). Each team will have a choice of fruits, berries, ices, yogurts, juices, and additional items to make them say “Hmmm, what is that?” – like spices, hot sauces, chocolate sauces, jams, preserves, salts, peppers, and more. This will both add to the mystery of making the perfect smoothie and cause the guests to say, “Hey, am I supposed to put salt in this concoction?” Each team is given 45 minutes to make their perfect recipe. At the conclusion, Graylyn’s Chef will determine the winner based on a taste test coupled with the team’s ingredient cards. They will be judged on taste, creativity of the team and smoothie name, workspace cleanliness, and best overall winner. Once the winners have been announced, groups will have the opportunity to walk around and taste their competitors’ products.
The chef may prepare the winning smoothie as directed on the recipe card for the mid-morning or mid-afternoon break.
Upgrade:
- Daiquiri
- Logo aprons (Graylyn or company logo – appropriate lead time required)
Tour De Graylyn
Assembling a bike can be challenging for sure. It takes patience, problem solving, and a group effort. Each team receives everything needed to complete the task, but every team member will have a physical limitation for an added challenge. Teams must then compete in the Tour De Graylyn race filled with challenging obstacles!
What’s Included:
- Bikes (bikes are not assembled and are wrapped in brown paper with caution tape as ribbon)
- Trophy
- Background music
- Toolboxes
- Charity tag
- Referee(s)
- Bike decorations
- Balloons
How It Works:
Participants form teams and each team receives a non-assembled child’s bike, a bag of bike decorations, and a packet of directions. The packed of directions will provide each team member with a challenge that they must take on (example: wearing a blindfold, no talking, etc). Team members must then work together to assemble their bikes despite the challenges they have been given. Once their bikes have been assembled, they transport the bikes to the race location where they will compete against the other teams. The winners will be awarded a trophy and all the bikes will be donated to the charity of the participants’ choice.
Upgrades:
- Lighting for outside if dark (can also be held inside)
- Hors d’oeuvres and beverages (alcoholic beverages not recommended)
Vineyard Challenge
Have you ever wanted to make your own wine? Well here’s your chance! This challenge involves education about winemaking and sangria, including a brief history of sangria’s origins and the variety of ingredients used to make this summer-inspired beverage.
What’s Included:
- Wine
- Fruit
- Glasses
- Bandanas
- Utensils
How It Works:
Participants form teams for this challenge. Each team must come up with a team vineyard name, brand name, and slogan or jingle to sell their product. A fun wine/sangria trivia will be held at the end of the challenge by the facilitator. A panel of judges will conduct a taste test at the end of the challenge to determine the best sangria. Their criteria for the winner will be Best Taste, Catchiest Slogan, and Most Creative Brand Name.
Upgrades:
- Hospitality bar
- Music
- Glass lanterns
- Logo aprons (Graylyn or company logo – with appropriate lead time)
Geocache
Geocaching is an outdoor activity in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver to hide and seek containers (called “geocaches” or “caches”). A typical cache is a container with a log book and/or items for trading. Graylyn Geocache is a great way to share company-branded products or trinkets.
Join the fun of a high-tech treasure hunt on a 55-acre estate. Geocaching is a fun group activity fostering a strong sense of community while learning more about Graylyn and furthering your company’s goals.
What’s Included:
- GPS receivers
- Bandanas
- Containers
How It Works:
The group has an option of a 10-20 clue hunt depending on time allowed for the event. Participants form teams and each team will receive a team color, bandana, and GPS receiver. The teams may want to divide the responsibilities for the hunt: captain, scribe, guide, navigator, organizer, and riddle master. Each team starts with a waypoint, a marked location on the property, where the cache is hidden. To increase the challenge and fun, team members work together to solve the caches’ clues. As they solve their caches, team members make notes of the places and items they find at each waypoint. The first team back to the start with the most correct caches wins!
Upgrades:
- Flashlight Geocaching
- Company logo t-shirts
Cupcake Challenge
Do you see what I see? Attention to detail is important for this initiative. Tasting optional!
What’s Included:
- Baked cupcakes
- Icing
- Toppings
- Utensils
How It Works:
A specified number of cupcakes are iced and placed together in a particular shape. The cupcakes are meticulously decorated. Each team must recreate the design with the supplies they’ve been given. The teams have an allotted amount of time to complete their creation. The winner is determined by the similarities to the original design.
Upgrades:
- Hospitality bar
- Music
- Logo aprons (Graylyn or company logo – with appropriate lead time)
Sneak-A-Peek
Will you be the next Picasso? This activity focuses on teamwork to create a masterpiece, but there’s a catch. The artist(s) of each team will be drawing blindfolded, while the rest of the members describe an object in precise detail so that the artist can recreate this object on paper. Each team will be judged by how similar the replicated drawing is to the object, and by how fast they can complete this task. This requires team members to practice high-quality communication skills with one another, and work together as a team to win.
Great Egg Drop
What an eggciting eggsperiment! The group will be divided into teams, and each team must build a single egg package that can sustain a fall of eight feet. Before the drop, however, each group must present a 30-second commercial for the egg package to explain why it’s the best. The team whose egg survives the fall wins.
Sling Shot
Is it power? Is it placement? You be the judge. Three is not a crowd in this game: it takes three to launch these water balloons. The group forms teams, and each team has one practice launch. Using a giant sling shot, teams will launch water balloons at the flag target across the Graylyn Pond. Teams have a specified number of launches. The team closest to the pin wins.
Human Rush Hour ®
Ever been stuck in traffic? Wished you could move the cars out of your way? Here’s your chance…Rush Hour takes the classic picture sliding puzzle to a new level of problem solving. This game requires analytical thinking, communication, and teambuilding skills. You choose the level of challenge: beginner, intermediate, advanced, or expert.
Classic Tinker Toy Tower
When was the last time you built a skyscraper? It’s time to travel back to a childhood of building with Tinker Toys. In this activity, each team must build the highest structure within an allotted amount of time. Tinker Tower is sure to bring out a competitive spirit while “building” teamwork that lasts!
Bag O’ Tricks
Whether you have 15 minutes or an hour, we have a game to get your group moving around and thinking outside the box. They can be inserted into your program at the beginning of the day as an icebreaker, as a midday stretch break, or at the conclusion to reinforce the objective of your meeting. Just tell us a little bit about your group and your goals and we’ll put together the perfect Bag O’ Tricks!
