Teamwork for Kids

Written by: Liza Gresko, Mom and PR Specialist at Moss Tucker Group

There’s an old saying : teamwork makes the dream work. It was popularized by John C. Maxwell, a leadership author and speaker, around 2002. He used it as the title of his book Teamwork Makes the Dream Work where he explored principles of collaboration and group success.

Fast forward to 2025, and who knew that we’d be in a world where independent (some would even say self-focused) behaviors and motivations may be eclipsing collaborative thinking and support.

It’s been proven time and again that one of the most important skills we can teach our children isn’t just how to succeed independently, but how to succeed together.  According to a recent study conduced at Yale University, a team environment “allows individuals to bring their diverse perspectives to problem solving, which in turn increases their success at arriving at solutions more efficiently and effectively.”

Teamwork for kids isn’t just about winning a game or finishing a group project. It’s about learning how to communicate, compromise, solve problems, and build lasting relationships.

At SimplyFun, we believe that kids working together builds more than just shared experiences and memories. It strengthens emotional intelligence, develops leadership and listening skills, and sets children up for future success both in and out of school. Through our carefully and strategically designed board games, we provide powerful, hands-on opportunities for children to learn teamwork in school and at home in a way that’s natural, joyful, and engaging, leading to lifelong skills that support every type of relationship and interaction.

In this post, we’ll explore the definition of teamwork for kids, why it matters, real-world teamwork examples for students, and how SimplyFun games like Team Digger, Save the Pie, Pairamid, and Handy help teach these essential life skills through play.

What is Teamwork? A Definition for Kids

How do we best describe “What is teamwork for kids?” to kids?

A simple teamwork definition for kids could be:

“Teamwork means working together to solve a problem, reach a goal, or help each other, using kindness, listening, and cooperation.”

It’s more than just sharing materials or sitting next to each other. Teamwork for children is about making sure they’re working together to accomplish something that one person couldn’t do alone, or could do alone but not as effectively (or joyfully!). It includes listening to different opinions, dividing tasks, supporting each other’s strengths, and staying positive, even when things get tough or frustrating.

Whether it’s building a castle out of building blocks, putting on a class play, or playing a board game, kids working together in school or at home gain confidence in their communication, empathy, and creativity.

 

Why Is Teamwork Important for Kids?

Strong teamwork skills aren’t just a nice thing to have to make encounters more pleasant, they’re literally essential skills to living life.

Introducing these skills at an early age can help children flourish in multiple aspects of their lives, from relationships to families and friends to interactions with colleagues and other members of the community.

 

Here are a few reasons why it’s so valuable to teach teamwork to kids early on:

1. Social and Emotional Growth

When children learn to work with others, they develop empathy, patience, and perspective. They begin to understand that everyone brings unique strength, and that every voice matters, leading to more self-awareness and respect for others.

 

2. Academic Success

Teamwork in school settings often involves group projects, peer learning, or class-wide goals. Students who can collaborate well are more likely to stay engaged, contribute meaningfully, and handle challenges with resilience. They’re also more likely to perform better academically than peers who are not able to work well with other students.

3. Future Readiness

Teamwork is one of the most sought-after soft skills in adulthood. From sports to science labs to boardrooms, the ability to work together as a team is crucial throughout life. A “team” doesn’t just exist on the soccer field or baseball mound. A team can be your family, your friend group, your work colleagues. A group of people working together is considered a team.

 

4. Confidence and Leadership

When children successfully collaborate, they experience the satisfaction of shared achievement. This builds both self-esteem and a sense of responsibility. Collaboration fosters respect and support of others, leading to more positive relationships and interactions, vs. self-absorbed behaviors and thinking.

How to Teach Teamwork to Kids

So, how can parents, caregivers, and teachers teach teamwork to kids in ways that really stick and make a difference?

One of the best approaches is to make teamwork part of everyday play. The amount of things children can learn just by playing are simply unlimited! Board games that require cooperation offer a safe, exciting way for children to practice collaboration, communication, and compromise.

 

Game-Based Learning: The SimplyFun Way to Build Teamwork Skills

Unlike competitive games where there’s only one winner, SimplyFun offers several cooperative and semi-cooperative games designed specifically to encourage kids working together.

Let’s take a look at four standout games that promote teamwork in schools, homes, and group settings, while reinforcing key skills in an age-appropriate way. Bonus: did we mention they’re FUN and can help make lasting memories?

 

1. Team Digger

2-4 players • 30 min • 6 & up

This Good Housekeeping Award-Winning Best Toy is an adorable way for players to work together as a team of pups who follow commands to dig up buried bones. In this cooperative game, players put together five-card sequences to move their pups around the board to various dig sites, hoping to uncover four bones to win. The way the card sequences work teaches kids early coding skills, along with essential collaborative skills.  One Good Housekeeping tester said Team Digger offered the right amount of challenge.

This game is a masterclass in teamwork for kids because it requires players to think together, communicate their intentions clearly, and plan several steps ahead. There’s no winning unless everyone cooperates effectively.

What kids learn:

• Planning and strategy
• Verbal communication
• Sequencing
• Shared decision-making

Team Digger is a great way for children to learn collaboration and sharing as they discuss options for moving their dogs and who needs to trade cards with whom.

If you notice that children are not trading cards, encourage them to share their ideas for moving their own dog and ask the other children if they have ideas for better moves to make. Then they can work together to trade cards so the best sequence of moves can be made.

2. Save the Pie

2-6 players • 20 min • 6 & up

Save the Pie is a fun packed cooperative game where players work together, performing actions and trying to help each other move the Buddies across the board to the Pie Maker Space. It can be played with as few as 2 to as many as 6 players and everyone age 6 and up can help Tibbar and his friends save the pie. 

The fast-paced and visually engaging game mechanics reinforce the idea that children working together can solve big problems, and that staying calm under pressure is easier when you’re part of a team.

What kids learn:

• Time-sensitive collaboration
• Focus and group coordination
• Task sharing under pressure
• Strengthening Fine Motor Skills
• Supporting each other’s moves, not just your own

Save the Pie is perfect for demonstrating teamwork examples for students who need to manage limited resources or coordinate multiple moving parts.

 

3. Pairamid

2-4 players • 30 min • 8 & up

In Pairamid, it’s time to search for buried treasure, and with this fun collaborative game, you get to look for treasure while working in teams. This game supports two to four players, ages 8 and up, each moving the four different researchers around the board to collect treasures and avoid traps.

The game comes with an Egyptian themed board, a white scarab to show treasure and a black scarab to mark traps. There are several pyramid markers to show your team colors, 4 researchers with dice in matching colors, and of course a huge pile of treasure!

What makes Pairamid unique is that it encourages friendly cooperation even across teams. Pairamid gives you deceptively simple choices, but your decisions are still critical to winning the game. It’s the ideal blend of meaningful choices and casual gameplay.

What kids learn:

• Memory-building through shared knowledge
• Celebrating others’ successes
• Collaborative recall and logic
• Supporting teammates even without a personal win

Pairamid is an excellent fit for classrooms, as it models healthy group dynamics and teamwork in schools examples where academic performance can improve through cooperative learning.

4. Handy

3-6 players • 30 min • 8 & up

This SimplyFun classic is a game that will get your whole family laughing. Even teenagers will love this one. It’s like Twister for your hands - the amazing five finger frenzy we call Handy.

With partners on either side, balance the spongy balls between your fingers while more and more balls get added to the hand tree. For 2-6 players, ages 8 and up, this game gets better with more people.  The game comes with six sets of colored balls, six ball holder rings, and six sets of finger instruction cards. But the most important part of the game isn’t even in the box… it’s your own hands!

This is a perfect game for kinesthetic learners and younger children who thrive through active, embodied play. The physical aspect of Handy makes teamwork for kids a full-body experience, where they literally have to stay connected and cooperate to succeed.

What kids learn:

• Body coordination
• Spatial awareness
• Physical trust and cooperation
• Helping peers stay balanced and calm

Handy is particularly effective in settings that benefit from movement-based activities, such as early childhood classrooms, therapy sessions, or active play dates.

Real-World Teamwork Examples for Students

Using board games is a fantastic way to help connect these skills to real-life teamwork examples for students.

Whether you’re a parent or an educator, here are a few ways you might reinforce teamwork lessons learned during play:

In the Classroom:

• Group Projects: Assign mixed-ability teams to build a presentation or model. Reflect on how they collaborated and ask them what they felt about working together for a shared goal.
• Team Clean-Up: Designate shared responsibilities in classroom tasks.
• Peer Tutoring: Pair stronger and struggling students together to support each other’s learning.

At Home:

• Chore Challenges: Create a fun “beat the clock” challenge where siblings or friends must work together to clean a room or set the table. Instead of independent responsibilities, kids must work together for the shared goal of completing the task.
• Creative Builds: Use blocks or craft supplies to build something as a team with each person contributing an idea or piece.
• Cooking: Bake cookies or make a snack together, assigning steps based on each child’s ability. This is a great one, because when you’re done, you get to enjoy delicious treats!

On the Playground or in Sports:

• Relay Races: Emphasize cheering each other on as much as the race itself.
• Team Games: Practice choosing roles based on strengths, rotating leadership, and encouraging fair play. Encourage children to root for the other family members or friends, and share in the victories along with the failures. We win together, we lose together.

These examples show children that teamwork in school and beyond isn’t a one-time skill—it’s a lifelong asset.

 

Reinforcing Teamwork Through Reflection

After gameplay or group activities, take a moment to ask reflection questions to really see how effective these games were in teaching collaborative thinking:

• “How did your team solve a problem today?”
• “Was it hard to agree on a decision? How did you get through it?”
• “How did it feel when someone helped you or when you helped someone else?”
• “What made your team strong?”
• “What do you think could have helped your team get a better outcome?”
• “Who in the group do you think worked the hardest to get to your end goal? Give them a round of applause!”

These discussions make the teamwork lessons from games like Team Digger and Save the Pie more memorable and meaningful.

Final Thoughts: Why Teamwork Matters More Than Ever

In a world where division and competition often dominate the headlines, teaching teamwork for kids is a way of planting seeds for a more connected, compassionate future. Ironically, in the world of game play, it isn’t always about winning first or winning alone. Some of the most fun and entertaining games are when we work and win together. Even in losing as a team, it reinforces that we are all in it together, win or lose.

Children who learn to collaborate at an early age will grow into adults who can solve problems together, listen to others’ needs, and lead with empathy. Whether in classrooms, homes, or community groups, the ability to be a team player is as essential as reading or math.

By integrating games that promote cooperation, we make the process of learning teamwork not just effective but fun, engaging, and filled with joy. Whether it’s kids working together in school or siblings teaming up to find the four bones, these playful moments are shaping tomorrow’s respectful, kind and empathic adults.

 

More on the blog: 

The Importance of Collaborative Learning