You might be surprised about all the fun team-building activities you can do with just a simple stack of cups. There are many games that involve stacking, flipping, throwing, and more. Your students can exercise their cooperation and communication skills while participating in these group activities. We’ve compiled 20 of our favorite cup team-building activities that are perfect for learners of various ages!
1. Flip-Flop Tower
As with blocks and Legos, the first thing some of your students might think when they are given a big stack of cups is, “How high of a tower can we build?” Teams must work together to build the tallest free-standing 36-cup tower in this fun exercise.
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2. 100 Cup Tower Challenge
Want to make it even more challenging? Add more cups! This website also provides some post-challenge discussion questions that you can ask your students.
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3. Reverse Pyramid
Okay, building a simple pyramid out of cups can be pretty easy. But what about building it in reverse? Now that’s a challenge your students can try! You can add a time limit and extra cups to make it more challenging.
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4. Team Hula Cup
This ball-throwing game can get your students to practice their hand-eye coordination. Two students can work together to try to pass a ping pong ball between their plastic cups while another teammate holds a hula hoop between them. How many catches in a row can they get?
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5. Throw Cups Into Cup
This throwing game is more challenging than the last. Your students can line up in their teams with each student holding a cup. The first student can attempt to throw their cup into the second student’s cup. This is repeated until all cups have been collected.
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6. Blowing Plastic Cups with Straws
Which team can be the fastest to knock over the cups? Set up a row of cups on a table and provide a straw for each student. Teammates can then blow through their straws to knock their cups off the table.
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7. Table Target
This activity is more challenging than it looks! You can place a cup upright with a second cup taped down on its side. Team players can use their breath to blow the ping pong ball around the first cup and into the second one.
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8. Cup Stacking Teamwork Activity
Can your students use their teamwork skills to stack cups without using their hands? They can try this using pieces of string attached to a rubber band.
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9. Tilt-A-Cup
After bouncing a ball into a cup, students can stack an additional cup on top and bounce again. They can continue this until they’ve built a tall stack of 8 cups. Every cup added is an added challenge.
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10. Pass The Water
Divide your class into two teams. One student must start with a cup full of water and try to pour over and behind their head into their teammate’s cup. This is repeated until every teammate has collected water. Whichever team has the most water in the last cup wins!
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11. Pour Just Enough
Watching this one is hilarious! A blindfolded student can pour water into cups that are on top of their teammates’ heads. If the cup overflows, that person is eliminated. Teams can work to communicate with the pourer to get as much water filled as possible.
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12. Fill It Up
One student from each team can lie down and place a cup upright and over their stomach. Their teammates must carry a water cup above their heads and then empty it into the target cup. Which team can fill up their cup first?
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13. Flip Cup
Your students can race to flip cups from an upside-down to an upright position. Once the first student in a team completes the flip, the next student can start, and so on. Whichever team finishes first wins!
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14. Flip & Seek
The goal in this flip-cup variation game is to find all the candy (hiding under the cups) that matches your team’s color. However, students must flip a cup for every cup they search. Whoever finds all their candy first wins!
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15. Flip Tic-Tac-Toe
Teams can line up and prepare to flip. Once a student flips their cup upright, they can put it on the tic-tac-toe frame. Then, the next student tries for the next cup, and so on. The team who places a full line of cups wins!
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16. Flip Up & Down
You can scatter cups in an open space– half facing up, half facing down. Teams will race to flip the cups in their assigned direction (up, down). When time’s up, whichever team has the most cups in their orientation wins!
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17. Cup Speed Challenge Rhythm Game
You might recognize the familiar tune in this video. The movie, “Pitch Perfect” made this cup rhythm song popular several years ago. Teams can work together to learn the rhythm and try to synchronize with each other.
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18. Stack Attack
After mastering their cup stacking motor skills, your students can try this epic challenge activity. One player from each team can start by building a 21-cup pyramid followed by collapsing it into a single stack. When finished, the next player can go! Whichever team finishes first wins!
Learn More: Outscord
19. Minefield Trust Walk
One blindfolded student can try to walk through a minefield of paper cups. Their teammates will have to carefully communicate how to navigate through the area. If they knock over a cup, it’s game over!
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20. Micro Cup Activities
These fun team-building activities can also be played with micro-sized cups! Manipulating these smaller cups can be more of a challenge for students, which can help to develop their fine motor skills.
Learn More: Chris Cavert
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