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“Play is often talked about as relief from serious learning. But Play is serious learning”

-adapted from Fred Rogers

Why PLAY? Play can reduce stress. Play can increase joy. Play can help you learn. According to psychiatrist Stuart Brown “Play is a basic human need as essential to our well-being as sleep, so when we’re low on play, our minds and bodies notice.” Lynn Barnett, a professor of recreation, sports and tourism at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign notes that “At work, play has been found to speed up learning, enhance productivity and increase job satisfaction; and at home, playing together, like going to a movie or a concert, can enhance bonding and communication.”

How To Play Stuff was created to enable play.

Learn how to play a new game or re-discover a game you played with your grandma. Whether you want to learn how to play hearts, soccer, team building games, or board games, we’ve got something for everyone!

Check our our Top 10 Team Building Games. Whether you have a small group, large group, or limited supplies we’ve got a game for you that will increase communication and engage even the most stubborn team members.

Best Team Building Games

How to Play Tennis

Tennis is one of the world's most beloved and popular sports. This is probably due to it being really fun and exciting, but also because of how quickly and easy it is to learn how to play tennis. Requiring only a usable court, a tennis racquet, a few tennis balls and a willing friend, it's...

How to Play Go Fish

Go Fish is a great game for 2 to 6 people. This is how you set up the game: 5 cards (7 cards if only 2 people are playing) are dealt to each player from a standard 52-card deck. The balance of the deck is splayed out in the middle of the group. The object of Go Fish is to collect the most books...

More than a Pencil

Encourage your team’s creativity and challenge them to work together to come up with a brand new use for an old tool. The pencil. Ideal for building: teamwork, communication, innovation, creativity 4-30 people Pencils Set Up: Gather enough pencils for all groups. Group sizes should be 3-4 people....

How to Play Spoons

Learn how to play Spoons, a simple card game with an active twist. It's simple to learn and can be played by children or adults. There's even a version of spoons that has become popular as a drinking game at parties. It's a sneaky, fast-paced and involves bluffing, so if you have a good face for...

Human Machine

Work together with a team to choose and act out a machine using only the people in your group Ideal for building: Teamwork, communication, creativity At least 10 people How to Play Human Machine Divide the group into teams of 5-7 people Tell the group that they are going to choose a machine for...

I Talk You Draw

Describe an object while your partner attempts to draw. The catch is you cannot tell your partner what the object is used for or what it is. Ideal for building: Communication, attention to detail Random objects (1 for each team) Paper Pencils or pens 2+ people 15 minutes Set Up: Collect as many...

How to Play Go

Originating in China, Go is an ancient game of strategy. An Introduction The game of Go is played on a flat board divided up in to a 19 by 19 grid of evenly spaced lines. That's 19 horizontal lines by 19 vertical lines. The board looks like a grid of squares, but it's the lines that are the focus...

Tallest Tower

Work with your team using simple supplies to build the tallest tower possible before time runs out. Ideal for building: Teamwork, innovation, creativity, communication, working under pressure, dealing with disappointment There are many different ways to play this game using simple supplies. See...

How to play Basketball

Basketball Basics -The object of basketball is to score on your opponent's team by putting the ball through their hoop while preventing them from scoring on your own team's hoop. This is the basic premise if you're learning how to play basketball. -2 teams of 5 players will play against each other...

How to play BS

B.S. is a simple bluffing card game. It is known by many names including Cheat, I Doubt It, Bullshit, Bologna Sandwich, Bluff, and many others. BS is best played with 3+ players and the object of the game is to be the first to get rid of all your cards. What you need to play BS: Standard 52-card...