The Green Game is a socially responsible team building activity where teams build sustainable and environmentally friendly bird boxes, insect hotels and bat boxes. In this meaningful activity, teams must first complete “green challenges” provided via iPads to earn sustainable materials to build bird, insect and bat boxes. These fun, creative, mental and physical challenges are of varying difficulty and encourage ingenious innovation – teams position their talents by completing the bird, bat and insect-based challenges they can.

Decisive leadership, strategy and effective communication are everything as teams can gain an advantage by juggling multiple tasks. After stocking up on essential materials, the team’s next task is to share roles and produce three eco-friendly wildlife habitats. Guided by three-dimensional sketches, teams first build and then decorate the wooden structures according to specific criteria.

Results: The Green Game is a fun, reflective, practical and inclusive game that has local impact and a positive shared experience. Participants learn about their local ecology and the impact of human activity on local bird, bat and insect populations. In the first phase of the activity, teams discover what positive actions encourage populations to grow and restore balance to the natural world in their area.

The games present a relaxed and informal platform for co-workers to get to know each other, break the ice and explore team dynamics. To succeed, teams need to collaborate effectively. As time goes by, participants need to talk and let the rest of the team know what challenges they can confidently respond to. Confidence builds as challenges are successfully completed and participants learn to appreciate each other’s skills.