Games that Teach is a practical workshop for teachers, youth workers, summer scheme leaders, outdoor pursuits instructors, community leaders and anyone else interested in the positive development of People.

What’s the Games that Teach Workshop all about?

You will participate in a range of activities and games that will reinforce:

• Problem solving
• Communication Skills
• Community Awareness
• Conflict Resolution
• Critical Thinking
• Responsibility
• Respect

What will I learn on the Games that Teach Workshop?

• How to modify games and activities so suit desired learning outcomes
• Linking games and activities through a progressive development process
• Games without resources
• Open space games versus closed space games

Participants will also receive:

• A resource pack which includes briefs for the games, activity plans and another 20 games
• Certificate of completion

Who will be leading the Games that Teach Workshop?

With over 15 years experience Stephen Brown has developed and delivered adventure based personal and social development courses with marginalised young people and community groups, team building events for small businesses and large businesses alike, activity days for families, groups of friends, schools and youth organisations.

For more details on Stephen and his work:

• Facebook: www.facebook.com/TeamBuildingAdventure
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/AdventureTeam
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/theadventureteam
• Flickr: www.flickr.com/theadventureteam

When is the Games that Teach Workshop?

There are two Games for Fun Workshops in February:

• Course 1 – Wednesday 22nd and Wednesday 29th February 2012, 6.00pm – 9.00pm
• Course 2 – Saturday 25th February 2012, 10.00am – 4.00pm

How much does the Games that Teach Workshop cost:

£125 per person and bring a friend or colleague for £100

Community Groups, Schools and Voluntary Organisations are entitled to a 50% discount

All prices are subject to VAT and the total amount is payable at the time of booking

How do I book my place on the Games that Teach Workshop?

Just give us a call on 0845 5213145 or email info@theadventureteam.co.uk

You can also book Stephen to deliver this workshop for your organisation – just ask!

Other workshops include:

• Games for Developing Teams
• Chaos – The 30 minute energiser
• Reviewing skills for beginners
• Reviewing skills for business
• Plan it, do it, review it – refining the reviewing process

Where is the Games that Teach Workshop?

The Adventure Team, CEAL, 8 Meadowbank Road, Carrickfergus, BT38 8YF

What people say:

"Five star!! really enjoyed the activities bringing out our competitive nature and also that of team work and strategy planning! Brilliant facilitators and great way with the guys who deliver the training. Very well done i know its not the last you will see of me! You helped me build relationships within the NICE group and I know those relationships are now based on our level of trust and co-operation.. keep up the great work! Thanks to you all.”

"From the initial set up right through to the delivery Stephen and his Adventure Team provided a first class service. Stephen, via his calm, self assured and professional style of delivery created an atmosphere that enabled our groups to feel safe and challenged. All the activities provided were delivered in a professional, fun and creative manner. The group, whether participating in an icebreaker or games session right through to the more challenging outdoor activities were at all times in very safe and knowledgeable hands. Stephen and his team ensure that the young people are supported to feel safe both emotionally and physically.”

Are you fed up with the same old Christmas Capers?

Are you looking for something different to do with your work colleagues before Christmas?

If so we have a brilliant, affordable Christmas Adventure that doesn’t involve jumping off cliffs or racing down mountains!

Our City Centre Christmas Treasure Hunt’s are ideal for organisations that want to spend 2 –3 hours having some fun with each other before the annual Christmas Party!  They make a brilliant Team Building Event and work equally as well as Team Bonding Experience.

Our Treasure Hunt’s are available in all major town’s and cities throughout Ireland with the following being our top 10 destinations:

• Belfast
• Derry/Londonderry
• Donegal Town
• Letterkenny
• Dublin
• Galway
• Cork
• Newry
• Dundalk
• Bangor

What you get:

• A Team Pack for each team that includes clues, camera and Top Secret tools!
• A CD of images from your event!
• A Christmas Celebration for your Team that will have them talking for weeks!
• Spot prizes!

Optional extra’s include:

• Whisky or wine tasting
• Visits to local tourism hot spots
• Team T-shirts

And with prices starting from as low as £20 per person this really is a cost effective team building event!

If you would like to book please feel free to email info@theadventureteam.co.uk or call 0845 5213145

Some photos of a recent Treasure Hunt around Derry/Londonderry!

A little insight to working as part of The Adventure Team from David Thompson.  David’s role is primarily as the Business Development Assistant, he gets involved will all aspects of the business though!  Read on to find out how David got on with his first residential.

I do specifically remember reading a Facebook status on the Adventure Team Facebook over the summer, which said, “Making an impact on the lives of 255 young people today. How cool is that?” I will admit that I found it quite cheesy at first. Being the business development assistant and office manager, I tended to be sending the emails, making the phone calls, and sorting the other ins and outs of an office, which meant that I could not fully appreciate the value of the status.

However if I have to tell a customer about the activities which we offer, then the best thing is to experience them first hand and then describe my experience to them. The one area I did struggle about was with young adult residentials.

The young adult residential I had taken was with Tyrone Donegal Partnership. I found it a bit daunting at first since I had only previously helped out with kids before and not people around my own age group. I watched Stephen at work and how he took control of the various personalities in the group. To be fair I probably wasn’t that much help on the day. But I did notice the amount of respect he earned from a group of young adults which is definitely a lot harder to gain than that of a group of young children.

With a few more Tyrone Donegal residentials forthcoming, it was my call of duty. I was nervous at the prospect but it was Stephen’s confidence that I could do the job and take control which inspired me as well as the fact he was just as nervous about leaving me unattended like a parent dropping their child off on the first day of school. However the second he left, I felt that I was in control. Adventure Team motto in my head, it was quite literally a case of “Hold your breath and jump!”

I tried a few energisers and then a few team games which got the groups really competitive. By the time Donal had arrived to help me, he ended up taking a back seat until I had finished my last game. Which was every bit as much as a compliment as him actually saying anything. They say you can decide within 7 seconds if you like somebody. So that was the only thing on my mind. If I had to win over the group, I had to do it instantly! However I wasn’t entirely sure if I had.

In the mid afternoon, I was taking archery and I noticed the group were dependent on me to help them load the bow, what way to stand, where to aim and when to let go. With that dependency on me, I was gaining their respect which in turn was giving me more confidence and enthusiasm to work with them.

By night time, Donal and I had taken a walk up the village and to the Bar to watch the football and chat about how the day went. A few of our students came over and personally thanked us for the great day they had. Then another few and another few and when we arrived back at the hostel after the match, I slowly started to appreciate what The Adventure Team status meant to the person who wrote it (Stephen or Tracy).

The next day it became much clearer, especially when taking the group to the lake for some raft building. It was great to see them working as a team and putting all differences aside to get their raft assembled, floated and raced and disassembled. That gave me a sense of achievement to see how far their attitudes changed towards one another after 2 days.

The time came for the group to go home and I had to say my goodbyes to them all. I genuinely felt a bit sad to see them go and then it was my turn to feel like the parent leaving the child for school! I felt I had fully earned their respect and impacted on how they treated one another, or needed one another and the importance of teamwork to achieve an overall objective. Hearing their appreciative thank you’s and handshakes and watching them hug each other as they left, took me back to that status that The Adventure Team had posted over the summer. “Making an impact on the lives of 255 young people today. How cool is that?”

Adventure Team Challenge

Your Team is randomly split in to sub-groups that compete against each other for points in a series of energisers, team games, team tasks and archery. The points are used to purchase raft building equipment in the afternoon and the challenge will finish with a raft race.

Usual times: 10.00am – 4.00pm

Cost: £25 per person (rate applies to delivery in Gortin only)

X Challenge

Your Team is randomly split in to sub-groups that compete against each other in an adventure style race that will cover a mixture of terrains; therefore involving activities such as running, orienteering, raft building and archery. The sub-groups will face a number of Team Building activities along the way that will challenge them physically, mentally and practically.

Usual times: 10.00am – 4.00pm

Cost: £30 per person (rate applies to delivery in Gortin only)

Challenge Xtreme

Your Team is randomly split in to sub-groups that compete against each other in an adventure style race that will cover a mixture of terrains; therefore involving activities such as running, orienteering, coasteering and abseiling. The sub-groups will face a number of Team Building activities along the way that will challenge them physically, mentally and practically.

Usual times: 10.00am – 4.00pm

Venue: North Coast or the Mournes

Cost: £40 per person

If your Team is ready for a Challenge call us on 0845 521 3145 or email info@theadventureteam.co.uk

A TRULY INNOVATIVE TEAM BUILDING EXPERIENCE

In these difficult economic times, it is vital for organisations to invest in staff morale and employee development. As experts in team building, The Adventure Team has partnered with People Fusion and Derrynoid Rural College to deliver an innovative cost effective team building event suitable for all employees and teams.

Investments in staff morale are of increasing importance in today’s changing workplace as the morale of your existing team will play a significant role in productivity levels and profitability moving forward into the new economy.

So if you need a great replacement for a more expensive staff development activity you had planned for the coming year, but now can’t due to economic restrictions, Build A Bike™ will fit the bill!

Build A Bike™ is an innovative Corporate Team Building event that can be designed to match your organisational, team and individual development needs within a limited budget, with the added bonus of providing real benefit to children in the local community!

Build A Bike™ Thursdays are designed not only to facilitate your team building but to enable networking with other businesses on the day!

This is a half day of team building activity in groups of 4 to 6 focusing on problem solving, communication, decision making and ultimately team working culminating in the building of a bike to be donated to a child. We are proud to be working with Women’s Aid as our preferred benefactor and they have identified 31 children in the Antrim and Ballymena area who would benefit from this programme!

(You can, of course, donate your bike to any group or child that falls within our qualifying criteria*)

How does it work?

Through a series of team building activities, you will earn the resources to build a bike – and yes, you do have to actually build the bike!

It is a team building experience that touches hearts and inspire minds. It is filled with fun and excitement, as well as skills and experiences that will make a dramatic and powerful impact on your team.

Once constructed the bike is donated to the group or child of your choice! Where possible, we bring the children to the programme and the donation becomes personal.  Truly a moment they will never forget.

Benefits

• Powerful team building experience with the added bonus of providing a child with a bike!
• Cost effective team building activity
• Photographs of your experience
• Positive impact on staff morale
• Press and media coverage of your involvement in the programme

*qualifying criteria available upon request

To book click on the dates below (or give us a call if you need another date)

January 20th 2011

February 17th 2011

March 24th 2011

April 14th 2011

May 19th 2011

June 23rd 2010

Each member of your team will help build a bike that will change the life of a child. This bicycle building experience will touch your hearts and inspire your minds. It is filled with fun and excitement, as well as skills, tools and experiences that will make a dramatic & powerful impact on your team.

At the end of the event, all bicycles are donated to disadvantaged children within your community.  When possible, we bring the children to the programme and the donation becomes personal.  Truly a moment they will never forget.

Have you ever seen a child’s face light up as they receive their first bike?  With Build a Bike, you won’t have to imagine…and there won’t be a dry eye in the house.

How does it work?

If you would like your team to get involved we have a number of options available:

• You can bring your team along for a 3 hour event just for them
• You can bring your team along for an all day Team Building event that includes Build A Bike, again this is just for them
• You can bring your team along to a Build a Bike Thursday – dates and venues to be confirmed

And you don’t have to limit it to your immediate work team – bring along your key suppliers, customers, etc and get them to help your company make a difference!

What are the benefits?

The obvious benefit is that a disadvantaged child will get a new bike – an opportunity that they might never have.  This in turn will help towards more fun, exercise and adventure.  There are other benefits too:

• Team Building
• Employee engagement – increased morale and motivation
• Increased profile in the local and broader community
• Your customers and suppliers will see that you are serious about your corporate social responsibility

We will help you with your press releases by providing you with templates and photographs – we can even recommend a PR company that will help you maximise the PR opportunity.

How many people do I need to Build a Bike?

Build a Bike works best in teams of up to 6 people.  And the more people you have the more bikes you can build

How much does it cost?

Each Build a Bike costs £300 plus VAT so for a team of 6 people it only costs £50 per person

We would like to become involved but don’t have the time…

That’s ok – we have a programme that allows you to fund a community and voluntary organisations to get involved – they will build the bikes on your behalf

Anything else we should think about?

Your organisations core values can easily be brought to the forefront of this highly creative event by providing:

• Team t-shirts with your organisations/event branding*
• Bikes can be branded with your company logo*
• Event photography will provide you with a story that your organisation can share with your team over and over again*
• Make this your corporate gift of 2010

*contact us to discuss how these elements can be arranged

If you would like more information or if you are ready to book give us a call on 028 8164 8390 or email info@theadventureteam.co.uk

If we were to play a game of word association and started with the word “Team” it is highly likely that the next word we hear would be something to do with sport – football, rugby, cricket or whatever…  That’s because the most obvious team that everyone knows about is a sports team.

In a sports team each member is working along with his/her team mates to beat the team they are playing.  They train together, they play together, they know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, they have fun together and when everything is going well they are able to fulfil the strategies of the manager and coach and win!

The Team knows who their opposition is and they have very clear goals. And although there may be personality quirks and differences the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

But how does a Team get to this level?

There are many strategies that the Management of the Team need to put in place such as regular practice and training, friendly matches, develop and learn new strategies and practice being a team.

The latter is where we have been able to help Team’s reach their goals.  In the 18 months since we opened our doors we have worked with a wide range of male and female sports teams – Rugby, Football, Hurley and Gaelic Football. 

We know that the Team’s we work with have had a rewarding experience that should stand them well in their efforts to become the champs in their league!  But sometimes it is difficult for us to measure the real impact our Team Building programmes have on the people and teams we have worked with. 

That said, sometimes it is hard to miss the positive impact we have made – especially when it is in the press!

Big congratulations must go to Tyrone Minor’s who won the Ulster GAA Championship last Sunday.  We worked with them earlier this year and were recently told:

“…they had a fantastic time… The Adventure Team had a big part to play in their achievements!!!”

Now that really does prove that what we can help Sport’s Teams reach the top of their game!

Congratulations once again lads and good luck with the All Ireland!

We all know what it is like when things go wrong. When we are up against it and everything we are doing seems to be hitting the wall. We feel stressed. We worry. We can’t sleep? Sometimes we can’t even eat!

So why is it, that when we take groups Raft Building and their Rafts sink they are in no way put off by the experience? Why do they not get caught up in the feeling of failure? What makes them continue with the activity? In fact, why do they even try and swim their Rafts across the lake instead of turning back?

The answer may be simple – is it because they are enjoying what they are doing!

They have already connected with each other through the team building games and challenges we have led them through. They have learned that not being able to do something is NOT failure. They have learned that working together is fun and should be enjoyed even when the best plans just aren’t working out.

It really is amazing how a safe environment, free from judgement, can help people enjoy new experiences. By providing activities that are pitched at the right level we help people challenge themselves physically, practically and mentally.

But there is more to it than the careful selection of activities! It’s all about developing trust and not just between us and the group members. Trust among the group members is crucial. They must know that they can rely on each other and that they are all in the same boat (pardon the pun).

We are very lucky!  We have the ability to provide really fun activities that make a brilliant platform for learning new skills, facing new challenges and reaping great rewards – whatever your age and ability.  That’s why what we we offer is suitable for individuals, families, schools, youth clubs, sports teams and business teams.

We are also lucky in that we have a vast catalogue of activities and adventure sports; and with such a variety we can create the following opportunities for you:

• participants are exposed to and enjoy their new experiences
• participants are often uncharacteristically enthusiastic
• participants are inspired and motivated to learn more
• participants become more self-confident
• participants increase their self-esteem and self-awareness
• participants develop better thinking, decision-making and language skills
• participants learn to communicate better with their peers and adults
• participants feel more positive about learning
• participants become healthier, and their sense of well-being increases

There are, of course, many other benefits, some more obvious that others; and we can easily offer you solutions and ideas if you are interested in using activities to explore:

• Attitudes and values
• Confidence and resilience
• Communication and social skills
• Physical development and well-being
• Emotional and moral development
• Motivation and behaviour
• Risk, challenge and adventure

Using activities for Personal and Social Development is a key part of our mission and purpose.

If you would like more information on how we can help you achieve your goals then send us and email to info@theadventureteam.co.uk or call 028 8164 8390