Group Activities for College Students

Tap to Read ➤ Rahul Pandita

'United we stand divided we fall' is a principle which can be appreciated and a universal precept accepted even among animals. Great things can be achieved by working together.

Education plays a very important role in the development of an individual's personality. Institutions, apart from imparting quality education, instill certain qualities in an individual, which can help him for the rest of his life.

To help develop these qualities, colleges and universities often carry out a lot of extracurricular activities, which are not only high on fun and entertainment, but also help students to gain and improve some of the most important skills. To develop a sense of unity and togetherness, colleges often carry out group activities.

Group activities complement the academic curriculum and enriches the college experience of the student. Without the presence of these extracurricular activities, the life of a student can become quite exhausting, and he may feel burned-out.

These activities help in relieving academic tension, while helping students expand their social circle at the same time. There are numerous ways in which group activities can be conducted.

Team Building Activities for Students

One of the classical group activities is tug of war . This exercise helps students to work as a team and builds cooperation. In this game, students are divided into two groups, so that the groups are of somewhat equal strength.

Teams have to pull the center ring, and this not only requires strength but certain amount of guile as well. You can conduct this game in several rounds, and the team which wins most of the rounds will be declared the winner.

While conducting this game, make sure that you take certain precautions, like the ropes should be only pulled by the hands, and should not be tied up around anyone. This activity can also cause rope-burns on the hands, so let go the rope if it is moving through the hands.

Another group activity is the blindfolded game. In this game, students can be divided into two teams, and then they can choose a leader among themselves. All the participating members are then blindfolded, with the exception of their respective team leaders. Then, the groups are made to pass through an obstacle course.

The blindfolded members have to help each other out while taking instructions from their team leader. The team which is able to cross all the obstacles and reach the destination wins the game.

The purpose of the game is to create a conducive atmosphere for the students to blend with each other, and to have them work and accept each other with differing personalities.

Another stimulating way to have the participating students bond is by encouraging them to participate in group dances, stage shows, and various other sports activities. This helps students to overcome diffidence, which in turn fosters in themselves strength of character with an unshakeable assertiveness.

Planning group activities serves well among students who exude traits of introversion. This is a tactful way to overcome this aberrant behavior, and also accomplishes bonding by breaking down the walls of indifference and timidity.

You can engage the students in many ice-breaking games, with the preclusion of not making these games very invasive and personally intimidating.

Some of the examples of these ice-breaking questions are: Who is your role model in life? What is the ideal dream job for you? What are your hobbies and interests? What characteristics do you look for in someone before being friends with them? How would you describe yourself?

These group activities ensure that students learn the importance of working together while having fun at the same time. From the point of objectivity, fun activities may be dismissed as trivial and time-consuming.

Observations and data gathered over the years have concluded that group exercises and projects for fun have ostensibly been able to make a mark in molding a person's overall attributes.