The Turn the Sheet Activity is a simple team building icebreaker used in workplace training to develop communication, coordination, and problem-solving skills by challenging groups to work together under physical constraints.
In workplace training sessions, facilitators often use the Turn the Sheet Activity as a quick way to get groups collaborating before moving into more complex discussions.
- groups of six or more people working closely together
- around 10–15 minutes, depending on how much discussion you allow
- a facilitator watching how teams communicate and coordinate
- very little equipment or preparation
The Turn the Sheet Activity works particularly well in workplace training because it can be easily adapted to make the task simpler or more challenging, depending on group size and learning objectives.
This activity also gets people laughing and helps trainers to overcome the challenge of getting participants active and engaged, and it’s part of our free team-building activities hub for workplace training, used by trainers and facilitators.
How Long Does the Turn the Sheet Activity Take and What Does It Cost?
10 minutes is a good time frame for this activity, although you can add on 5 minutes after the activity itself, for discussion about how the participants felt about the activity.
This short debrief allows the facilitator to link what happened during the task back to workplace behaviours and learning objectives.
For example, facilitators often ask participants what strategies helped them stay coordinated and how those behaviors show up in day-to-day work.
This is a free activity that can be built into a training session and is also included within some of our ready-to-use training materials for workplace facilitators.
What Type of Team Building Activity Is This?
This is a team building icebreaker designed for use in workplace training sessions.
- Team Building
- Icebreaker
How Many People Are Needed for the Turn the Sheet Activity?
Before starting, make sure you have a spare or old bed sheet that can be cut into smaller sections for different teams.
What Is the Purpose of the Turn the Sheet Activity?
This task helps team members work together by coordinating their actions, making it especially effective alongside other problem-solving activities for workplace teams.
It works particularly well as an experiential learning activity because participants learn through doing rather than discussion alone.
It also works well as a light trust-building exercise, similar to other trust building activities used in workplace training.
Participants have to stand on a bedsheet on the floor and then have to turn the sheet over on its opposite side, without anyone from the team stepping off the sheet.
How to Run the Turn the Sheet Activity
As the trainer, make sure you have a spare or old bed sheet that you have cut into smaller parts, i.e., use a one-bed sheet cut into two so you can provide two teams with a sheet.
In the classroom, you will then ask teams of 6 or more people to stand in one group.
You then give them 10 minutes as a group to turn the sheet completely over.
No member of the team may step completely off the sheet. If they do, then they must start the task over again.
You can adapt this task to make it easier or harder for the teams by changing the size of the teams or the size of the sheet.
You might, for example, wish to have a sheet that is cut into quarters, and which will make it harder for a team of 6 or 8 people to stand on and to turn over.
Facilitator tip: If groups get stuck, resist the urge to intervene. The learning often comes from noticing how teams respond to frustration or unclear leadership.
Benefits of the Turn the Sheet Activity
The Turn the Sheet Activity is always a popular option because it gets people laughing and engaged as a group and helps to teach leadership.
It also reinforces the importance of working together and supporting one another to achieve a shared goal.
The activity also helps teams practice coordination and shared problem-solving under mild time pressure, which mirrors common workplace situations.
Trainers often pair this activity with short decision-making activities for teams to extend learning beyond the icebreaker stage.
In short, the Turn the Sheet Activity is a fast, low-prep team-building icebreaker that helps workplace teams practice coordination and communication under pressure.
In need of more team-building activities for work? Here’s our free activities eBook below:
