A Cardboard Sled for a Stack of Books1. Each team builds a sled from one flattened box and tape, with a length of string to pull it by.2. Ten minutes to build, with a few books to test it.3. The run is across the room and around a chair. One person pulls by the string, and nobody else may touch the sled.4. Load one more book for each run. The sled that carries the tallest stack all the way around without losing a book wins.Where: indoors. Group: 3 or more. Time: about 20 min. Needs: a flattened cardboard box, tape, string and scissors for each team, a pile of books. Debrief: What did the first lost book tell the team to change?
A Letter Walked Into the Snow1. The team stands side by side in one line at the edge of clean snow: one pen, as wide as the team. 2. The leader names a capital letter: L, then Z, then S. 3. The line walks the letter into the snow and stays side by side. On a turn the inside end marks time while the outside end walks. 4. Look at the letter from its foot. Then the team picks a letter of its own and another team reads it. Where: in the snow. Group: 4 to 12. Time: about 8 min. Needs: nothing (a patch of clean snow). Debrief: Who called the turns, and how did the far end hear them?
How Many Winters Has This Team Seen?1. Stand in a circle. Each person says how many winters they have spent with this team, school or company, counting this one. 2. Nobody writes anything down. The group adds the numbers up as they are said and agrees a total out loud. 3. Go around again to check it: each person says the running total after their own number. 4. The person with the most winters tells one thing about their first, and the newest person says what they expected. Where: in the snow or indoors. Group: 3 to 20. Time: about 6 min. Needs: nothing. Debrief: What does the total say about who to ask when something has happened before?
One Glove in the Pile1. Everyone drops one glove or mitten on a pile and stands in a circle around it. 2. On go, each person takes one glove that is not their own and finds the person wearing its pair. 3. Before handing it back, the finder asks the owner one winter question, such as what they do first on a snow day, and listens to the answer. 4. Back in the circle, each person tells the group what the owner of their glove said. Where: indoors. Group: 6 or more. Time: about 8 min. Needs: nothing (everyone's own gloves). Debrief: What did you hear that you did not know this morning?
Show all 28 activities (25 more)
Warm-ups, continued
Pass a Snowball That Is Not There1. Stand in a circle. The leader holds out an imaginary snowball and shows its size and its weight with both hands. 2. The leader hands it to the next person, who takes it at the size it was given. 3. Each person changes one thing before passing it on: packs more on, lets it melt, drops it and catches it. The next person takes what they were shown. 4. Send a second ball the other way. The round ends when both are back with the leader. Where: in the snow or indoors. Group: 5 or more. Time: about 5 min. Needs: nothing. Debrief: How could you tell what you were being handed?
Read the Tracks and Walk Them Again1. Half the team faces away. Each of the others crosses a strip of clean snow in a way of their own: backward, heel to toe, with a turn on the spot, with a sidestep in the middle. 2. The readers turn around, study the tracks for one minute and decide together how each was made. 3. One reader walks beside each track the way the team thinks it was walked. 4. The walkers show what they really did. Then the two halves swap. Where: in the snow. Group: 4 to 16. Time: about 8 min. Needs: nothing (a strip of clean snow). Debrief: Which track fooled the readers, and what gave the others away?
Ten Rows of Snowballs in a Triangle1. Stamp a patch of snow flat. The job for the whole team is a triangle of snowballs laid on it: one in the first row, two in the second, and so on to ten in the tenth. 2. That is 55 snowballs. Give the team no plan and start the clock. 3. Anyone may pack, carry or place. A ball that falls apart is made again. 4. Stop the clock when the tenth row is full. The team talks for one minute, kicks the triangle flat and beats its time. Where: in the snow. Group: 4 or more. Time: about 8 min. Needs: nothing (snow that packs). Debrief: Who ended up counting, and did anyone decide that?
Thirty Seconds at the Window1. Everyone stands at a window for thirty seconds and looks at the winter outside. Nobody speaks, points or takes a photo. 2. Turn the group around. The leader, still looking out, asks ten questions about what is out there: how many cars have snow on the roof, which way the smoke is blowing, what color the nearest hat is. 3. The team has to agree one answer to each question before the next is asked. 4. Turn back and check all ten together. Where: indoors. Group: 3 to 15. Time: about 6 min. Needs: nothing (a window). Debrief: When two people remembered it differently, how did the team choose?
Building contests 7
A Cardboard Sled for a Stack of Books1. Each team builds a sled from one flattened box and tape, with a length of string to pull it by. 2. Ten minutes to build, with a few books to test it. 3. The run is across the room and around a chair. One person pulls by the string, and nobody else may touch the sled. 4. Load one more book for each run. The sled that carries the tallest stack all the way around without losing a book wins. Where: indoors. Group: 3 or more. Time: about 20 min. Needs: a flattened cardboard box, tape, string and scissors for each team, a pile of books. Debrief: What did the first lost book tell the team to change?
A Coat Rack That Holds Six Coats1. Each team builds a coat rack that stands by itself, from cardboard tubes or rolled newspaper, tape and string. 2. Fifteen minutes to build. The rack may lean on nothing. 3. The test is the team's own winter coats, hung one at a time, each by its owner. 4. A rack passes with six coats on it for a count of ten. A team of fewer than six hangs scarves, hats and bags to make six. Where: indoors. Group: 3 to 6 a team. Time: about 20 min. Needs: cardboard tubes or newspaper, tape and string for each team, the team's own coats. Debrief: Which coat nearly brought it down, and what was done about it?
A Newspaper Shelter the Whole Team Sits Under1. Each team gets a stack of newspaper and a roll of tape, and builds a shelter that stands by itself with the whole team sitting under it. 2. Five minutes to plan with no paper touched, then fifteen to build. 3. Nothing may be taped to the floor, the wall or the furniture. 4. The team sits inside while the leader counts to thirty. A shelter that stands for the whole count passes. Where: indoors. Group: 3 to 6 a team. Time: about 25 min. Needs: a stack of newspaper and a roll of tape for each team. Debrief: Whose idea held the roof up, and how did it get heard?
A Snow Figure of the Name You Drew1. Everyone draws a teammate's name from a hat and keeps it secret. 2. Each person builds a snow figure as tall as a boot of the teammate they drew, with one thing that points to them: a twig guitar, a pine cone dog, a pair of stick skis. Nothing that mocks. 3. Stand the figures in a row. The group guesses who each one is. 4. Each builder says who it is and why they chose that one thing. Where: in the snow. Group: 4 to 16. Time: about 15 min. Needs: name slips and a hat. Debrief: What was it like to see what a teammate chose for you?
A Snow House for a Mug of Warm Water1. The leader fills a mug with a lid with warm tap water for each team. The team builds a house of snow around its mug in ten minutes. 2. Teams decide how thick the walls are and whether the mug stands on snow, on a glove or on something else they have with them. 3. Leave the mugs for fifteen minutes and run another card in the meantime. Then dig them out. 4. Pass the mugs around, or use a kitchen thermometer. The team with the warmest water wins. Where: in the snow. Group: 3 or more. Time: about 30 min. Needs: a mug with a lid and warm tap water for each team. Debrief: What did the team argue about, and how was it settled without a test?
A Snow Table With a Seat for Everyone1. The team builds one table of packed snow and one seat of packed snow for every person on the team. 2. Two minutes to plan with no snow touched: where it stands, how big it is, who packs and who carries. 3. Twenty minutes to build. A seat counts when its builder can sit on it for a count of ten. 4. Hold the debrief sitting at the table. Where: in the snow. Group: 4 to 12. Time: about 30 min. Needs: shovels and buckets. Debrief: What in the plan changed once the building started?
A Wall Three Bricks High From One Bucket1. Each team has one bucket as its brick mold and a line ten paces long stamped in the snow. 2. Pack the bucket, turn it out on the line and build a wall three bricks high along it, with each brick sitting across a joint below. 3. One bucket means a queue. The team works out who packs, who carries, who lays and who fills the gaps. 4. After ten minutes, pace out each wall and count only the part that stands three bricks high. Where: in the snow. Group: 3 or more. Time: about 15 min. Needs: one bucket for each team. Debrief: Where did the work pile up, and who moved to clear it?
Relays 7
A Bottle Standing on the Sled1. Stand a plastic bottle half full of water upright on a sled. Set out five markers to weave through. 2. Two teammates pull the sled through the course by its rope while a third walks beside it and calls the pace. Nobody touches the bottle. 3. If the bottle falls, the three stop, stand it up and count to five aloud before going on. 4. Hand over to the next three at the line. Run the course twice and beat the first time. Where: in the snow. Group: 3 or more. Time: about 10 min. Needs: a sled with a rope, a plastic bottle half full of water, five markers. Debrief: What did the caller see that the pullers could not?
A Snowball on Two Shovels1. Each team rolls one snowball as big as a soccer ball and marks a turning post ten paces away. 2. Two teammates carry the ball around the post on two shovel blades held side by side. No hands on the ball. 3. At the line they set the shovels down flat, and the next two pick them up with the ball still on them. 4. A ball that falls is put back where it fell. A ball that breaks is rolled again at the start line. Every pair goes twice. Where: in the snow. Group: 4 or more. Time: about 10 min. Needs: two shovels for each team. Debrief: What did the handover need that the carry did not?
Every Coat Back to Its Owner1. Everyone's coat goes on one pile at the far end of the room, and the group lines up at the other end. 2. Two runners at a time walk to the pile, take any one coat that is not their own and bring it to its owner. Runners may not speak. 3. Owners may not point or call out. They may only nod or shake their head when a coat is held up to them. 4. The clock stops when everyone in the room is wearing their own coat. Run it again another day and beat the time. Where: indoors. Group: 6 or more. Time: about 8 min. Needs: nothing (everyone's own coats). Debrief: How did you know whose coat you were holding?
The Ice Cube That Arrives Biggest1. Each team stands in a line with an empty cup at the far end. The leader gives the first person of each team an ice cube. 2. The cube is passed down the line and dropped in the cup. Each team runs four cubes, one after another. 3. Before the start the team has one minute to choose how it passes: bare hands, sleeves, paper napkins or spoons. 4. Tip the cups out side by side. The team with the most ice left wins, not the team that finished first. Where: indoors. Group: 4 or more. Time: about 8 min. Needs: four ice cubes, a cup, napkins and spoons for each team. Debrief: Was your team fast or careful, and who chose?
The Mitten Nobody May Walk With1. Each team stands in a line at one wall, an arm's length apart, with a mitten in the first person's hand. The far wall is the finish. 2. The mitten may only be handed on, and nobody may take a step while holding it. 3. After handing it on, a person walks to the far end of the line and stands ready, so the line grows toward the finish. 4. The round ends when the mitten touches the far wall. Talk for one minute, then run it again with a second mitten following the first. Where: indoors. Group: 4 to 10 a team. Time: about 8 min. Needs: nothing (two mittens from the team). Debrief: Where did the line stall, and who saw it coming?
One More Word Each Leg1. Each team stands in a line at one end of the room or the yard, with a marker to walk around at the other end. 2. The first walker goes around the marker and thinks of the first word of a sentence about winter on the way back, then whispers it to the second walker. 3. Each walker carries the sentence so far around the marker and adds one word before whispering it on. 4. The last walker says the whole sentence aloud. A team wins with a sentence of eight words or more that makes sense. Where: in the snow or indoors. Group: 4 to 10 a team. Time: about 8 min. Needs: nothing (a marker to walk around). Debrief: Where did the sentence turn away from what you had in mind?
Sled Post Between Two Camps1. Tie a long rope to each end of a sled. Half the team stands at one camp and half at another, twenty paces apart, each half holding one rope. 2. The first camp puts a written question on the sled under a snowball, such as what should this team do before spring, and the second camp pulls the sled over. 3. The second camp agrees one answer, writes it under the question, adds a question of its own and sends the sled back. 4. Stop after three questions each way and read the whole sheet aloud. Where: in the snow. Group: 4 or more. Time: about 15 min. Needs: a sled, two long ropes, paper and a pencil. Debrief: Which answer took a camp the longest to agree, and why?
Survival exercises 7
A Rescue Call in Twenty Words1. The story: the radio of the plane will work for one call, and the battery lasts for twenty words. 2. Each team gets a card with the facts: six people, nobody hurt, a river to the east, a hill with a tower to the north, food for two days. The team writes its call in twenty words or fewer. 3. One person reads the call once, at speaking pace, to another team, which may write nothing down. 4. The listeners say back how many people, where they are and what they need. Three right, and the call got through. Where: indoors. Group: 4 or more. Time: about 12 min. Needs: a fact card, paper and a pen for each team. Debrief: Which words did the team cut, and which were worth their place?
A Signal the Pilot Can Read1. The story: a search plane will pass over. One person is the pilot and goes to an upstairs window or to the far side of the field, facing away. 2. The leader gives the team a signal of three shapes, such as an arrow, a cross and a circle. The team has two minutes to plan and ten to stamp it into clean snow. 3. Nobody may shout to the pilot or wave. 4. The pilot turns, looks for ten seconds and says what they see. Set that against what the leader asked for. Where: in the snow. Group: 4 or more. Time: about 15 min. Needs: nothing (a patch of clean snow). Debrief: How did the team decide how big was big enough?
Move the Camp in the Fewest Sled Loads1. Pile up the camp at one end of the yard: six boxes of different sizes, a bucket of snow, a broom and a rolled blanket. Mark the new camp thirty paces away. 2. The team has one sled and three minutes to plan. 3. Move everything on the sled, pulled by its rope. Nothing may be carried by hand, and a load that sheds anything goes back to the start. 4. Count the loads. Then bring it all back in fewer. Where: in the snow. Group: 3 to 8. Time: about 15 min. Needs: a sled with a rope, six boxes, a bucket, a broom and a rolled blanket. Debrief: What did the first load teach the team about the second?
Plane Down in the Snow: Rank the Twelve Things1. Read this aloud: "A small plane has come down in snowy woods in January. Nobody is hurt, the radio is dead and the nearest town is a long day's walk away. Twelve things came out of the plane: a box of matches, a tarp, a wool blanket for each person, a flashlight, a metal pot, a folding saw, a paper map of the region, a whistle, a ball of string, a jar of peanut butter, a hand mirror and a pair of skis." 2. Each person ranks the twelve alone and in silence, from the thing they would keep first to the thing they would give up first. 3. Teams of four to six agree one ranking. No voting, no averaging and no trading one place for another: a place is settled when everyone can live with it. 4. Each person adds up how many places each thing moved between their own list and the team's. A low total means the team ended close to where you began. Where: indoors. Group: 4 or more. Time: about 30 min. Needs: the list of twelve on paper for each person, pens. Debrief: Who changed the team's mind about one thing, and what did they say?
Search Line for a Buried Mitten1. Mark a square of clean snow twenty paces on a side. With the team facing away, the leader pushes a mitten under the snow somewhere in it, smooths the place over and walks a few false trails. 2. The team gets two minutes to plan its search and then walks the plan: feet only, and no digging until a foot feels something. 3. Time it from the first step to the mitten in the air. 4. Hide it again in a new square. The team may change its plan before the second search. Where: in the snow. Group: 4 or more. Time: about 12 min. Needs: one spare mitten. Debrief: What did the second plan fix?
Stay With the Plane or Walk?1. Carry on from the plane in the snow, or tell the story new: a small plane is down in snowy woods, nobody is hurt, and the nearest town is a long day's walk away. 2. Each person gets one timed minute to say whether the group should stay with the plane or walk out, and why. Nobody answers back yet. 3. The team then has ten minutes to reach one decision that every person will say aloud they accept. 4. Each person finishes one of two sentences: I changed my mind when, or I kept my view because. Where: indoors. Group: 3 to 8 a team. Time: about 20 min. Needs: nothing (a phone timer). Debrief: Did the minute each change how the argument went afterwards?
Two Nights Here Until the Plow Comes1. The story: the roads are closed and the team is in this building until the plow comes, two nights from now. 2. For five minutes, list from memory what is really in the building: in the kitchen, in the supply closet, in the lost and found. No walking around to look. 3. In ten more minutes, put the plan on one sheet: where people sleep, what there is to eat, who does which job, and what the team does on the second evening. 4. Send one pair to check three things on the list. Where: indoors. Group: 3 to 8 a team. Time: about 20 min. Needs: paper and pens. Debrief: Who knew the building best, and did the plan use what they knew?
How this list was compiled: An original list of October 2026: 28 team building activities for the cold months, in four types (7 warm-ups, 7 building contests, 7 relays, 7 survival exercises), 16 for snow and 15 for indoors. Nothing was copied from another list, and each entry is one way to run its activity, not a rule book. Group sizes and minutes are rough figures for planning, and no result of team building is claimed. The plane crash ranking is this site's own version: its story and its twelve things were written for this page, it is not a copy of any published survival exercise, and it has no answer key, because nobody with expert knowledge ranked the twelve. No card gives survival advice, and the list states no facts that need a source. This site's own rule holds for every card: nobody rides a sled or is pulled on one, no snowball is thrown at anyone, nobody lies down in the snow or walks on a frozen pond, coats and gloves stay on outdoors, a rope is only held in the hands, nobody is lifted, caught, carried, held or blindfolded, there are no forfeits, and an adult runs and watches every activity. That rule is this site's own and not a review by an expert. Licence: own work
How it works
These team building winter activities work with snow or without: warm-ups, building contests, relays and survival exercises, among them a plane crash ranking to run at a table. Nobody rides a sled, and no snowball is thrown at anyone.
Read the full guide
The plane crash winter survival game
Plane Down in the Snow: Rank the Twelve Things is the table exercise: each person ranks twelve things from the plane alone, then the team agrees one list with no voting. Stay With the Plane or Walk? and A Rescue Call in Twenty Words carry the story on. One of each type deals one survival exercise beside a warm-up, a build and a relay.
With snow and without
A Snow Table With a Seat for Everyone and A Signal the Pilot Can Read need a patch of clean snow. A Coat Rack That Holds Six Coats and Thirty Seconds at the Window run in any room. Pass a Snowball That Is Not There, One More Word Each Leg and How Many Winters Has This Team Seen? run either way.
Plane Down in the Snow needs its list of twelve on paper for each person: copy it from the card's first step before the session.
Questions and answers
What are fun winter team building games for PE?
For a gym class, the indoor relays: Every Coat Back to Its Owner, The Mitten Nobody May Walk With and One More Word Each Leg are all run at a walk with nothing thrown. More games for a class are on Winter PE games.
Is there an answer key for the plane crash winter survival game?
Not on this page. Nobody with expert knowledge ranked these twelve things, and the page gives no survival advice. Each person scores how far their own list sits from the team's, and the debrief asks how the team decided.
Which team building winter activities work indoors?
15 of the 28, such as A Newspaper Shelter the Whole Team Sits Under, The Ice Cube That Arrives Biggest and Two Nights Here Until the Plow Comes. Choose Indoors under the button to deal only those.
What are team building winter activities in the snow?
16 of the 28: builds such as A Wall Three Bricks High From One Bucket, relays such as A Snowball on Two Shovels, and 3 survival exercises, among them Search Line for a Buried Mitten.