Teamwork, Team Games - Trust Games

Trust Games



If we think about it....we use trust everyday in our normal lives.... We trust that car that is coming towards us has an experienced driver beind the wheel when we cross the road, we trust our friends when we tell/ask them various information, and we trust that pilot in the cockpit of the jet plane that we are travelling on to see our loved ones.

Trust is a very hard thing for us to do....but an easy thing for us to master. Trust is usually a matter for us to learn....and with some people, they take all their lives just learning to trust. Unfortunately, in this day and age, of all of the wild things that people do, trusting people in society may be like climbing a huge wall without the end in sight.

S-Teem places in the eye of the participant, a chance to enhance their trusting ability without any prejudices, and with the aide of the many team building games that can be accomplished. All people, even shy people, will always be happy in the fact of accomplishing a very intuitive, interactive team initiative. Trust forms the basis of this fact. So the circle is formed....to trust, you have to know whether your teammate is competant....and to know that your teammate is competant....you have to trust them.

Teamwork is fostered by respecting, encouraging, enthusing, caring for people, and not exploiting or dictating to them. Trust is gained in that the participant must respect that the fact of the matter, is where their teammate would not voluntarily place them in danger. To illustrate this fact, blindfolds are a great aide to enhance this special trait. In the above photograph, the game called " Blind Train Walk" , enables people to trust in the person who is driving the train. The driver in this case, is the person at the back who "drives" the train by squeezing the shoulder/s of the person in front, and that person although blindfolded, does the same, and the person in front of him/her, does the same. This is communication at it's most basic so as to guide the team through a safe passage. Trust comes about by the fact that the person in front has to believe that the train driver will affect the necessary changes and thus keep them safe.

For this game to work, the rules are that if you are the driver, you need to squeeze the shoulder of the person in front for the way you wish the train to move. On no account, is there to be any verbal communiaction. For the team to go straight ahead, a squeeze on both shoulders at the same time should be affected. To stop, the driver just needs to affect a "double squeeze" on both shoulders. The train driver also needs to affect the change with enough time for the message to get from the back to the front. Thus, the driver has to anticipate the amount of time to affect a change at the front.

In this game, it is easy enough to complete without blindfolds....but blindfolds would enhance the trust factor. "Blind Train Walk" is a simple and easy way to introduce the team to trust issues, and a gentle game to play on the way to the "Games Area".

"Hug a Tree" is a pure blindfold game where trust is placed in one person. The participant is blindfolded and "led" by the guide who is not blindfolded of course. This game is best used in Nature....or some park . The object of the game is to get the blindfolded participant to retrace his/her steps to find out the journey that was recently undertaken.



The guide having blindfolded their "mate", then takes their mate on a journey over the ground in the immediate area, getting them to experience the absolute despair of not having the advantage of sight. The guide leads them all around the area for a number of minutes and then gets the mate to grab hold of a tree/object. Then the guide leads them back to the start. The mate then takes the blindfold off and has to go and identify the tree/object. Once this is done, the persons swap the tasks.


" Magic Hat" is a game of strength and team initiative. The task is to get the team from one side of a defined area to the other other something like a "River of Radioactive Dinosaur Snot". The trick is that only one person wearing the "Magic Hat" can be able to walk across the river. The "Magic Hat" can only be worn once by each person.


The solution is basic. One person caries another person across. That person walks back with the hat on and then waits while the rest of the group follows the same with the final person carries two people across.


This game enables people to understand that with communication, they will eventually get the solution while throwing their ideas into the ring. It also shows the team that various people of different sizes and strengths may be used at cruicial times during the game.

"Tic Toc" is a basic game to enable trust to grow between the team members. In groups of three, One person "the clock hand" stands in the middle of the other two facing one, and with their back to the other. That person fold their arms across their chest, keep their feet together and close their eyes. (You can also use a blindfold). Keeping their body stiff, and their feet still, they gently sway between the people who catch them and redirect them back to the other person. Once people get comfortable, they may increase the distance or speed. This is a great game to start your trust activities with.

"Wind in the Willows" is another game for basic trust principles and is a respectable game in which to follow "Tic Toc". It is just a formulation of the Tic Toc game where the unsighted or blindfolded person stands in the middle of a tight circle of the whole group. The person then can sway in any direction. The whole team keeps their hands up to support the "Willow" in the middle.

"Bull at a Gate" is another intimidating trust game where the group lines up in two lines facing each other with arms extended out so that their fingertips are touching. One person stands about 10-20 metres away and runs at full speed towards the middle of the two lines of people. Just before the person running gets to the outstretched arms of the waiting team members, the persons standing in the two rows lowers their arms quickly by their side allowing safe passage for the person running.

This is a fun game and to have different sized people running at you is another anxious trust activity.

The "Trust Fall" is the Epitome of any trust game and is seen on many displays of personal character building games. Usually the person faces away from the catcher and falls into their arms. However you can add an increase to this challenge by having the group line up closely in two rows facing each other with their arms slightly bent and alternating with the person beside them and opposite to them. The restriction for this game is that the lines of catchers must be longer than the person's height who is falling. The person doing the trust fall stands on a table with their back to the group, closes their eyes and crosses their arms on their chest. Keeping their body stiff they fall backwards to the group who should safely catch them.

This game has different analagies to it as it shows that "if a person falls, the group can be there to catch them if trust and respect are in place."

Please remember that there is a high level of risk to this challenge and leaders must be confident that the group is up to this challenge. Leaders would do well to have all of the safety precautions on hand for any of the risk trust activities.

All of these trust games will eventually lead to or build up to common teamwork ideals. The formulation of the team through Forming, Storming, Norming , and Performing rituals will enhance the team and enable it to get through the rough times as well as outshine others when the calm times are there.

Look forward to the next installment where we will explore Team Initiative Games.