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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 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...

How to Play Football

Football Basics: • Football is played on a marked field measuring 100 yards, an end zone at each end of the field. The field is marked with hash marks, each being a yard apart. The fifty yard line marks the center of the field with each yard line counting down until a team reaches its end zone on...

How to Play Rugby

The Basics of Ruby Despite its riotous appearance, rugby is actually a very organized, well-governed sport that is played all over the world. The rules of the game are rather basic and can be learned fairly quickly. If you know how to play American football, then you will learn the sport of rugby...

Noodle Dual

Get your group moving around and working on communication while trying to whack the other team with a pool noodle. Ideal for building: Communication, trust, and group energy 4+ people 2 standard pool noodles 2 Blindfolds Whistle if possible Boundary markers (cones, rope, circle of people, etc.) At...

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 Risk

Risk is a war strategy game that allows players to compete against one another in attempting to take over the world. Since its introduction, Risk has gone through various changes, but has stayed mostly true to the original. Likewise there are several slight variations on the rules but all are very...

The Big Picture

A leader from each team studies a picture for 15 seconds and memorizes as much as possible. The leader then goes back to their team to describe the picture, who then has to draw based on the instructions. Ideal for building: communication, teamwork, understanding, positive conflict, leadership A...

How to play 13

13 is a glorious card game that was invented in Vietnam and Southern China. It is also known as Tien len, Vietnamese cards, and American Killer. It is considered a "climbing" card game and is meant for 4 players. The object of 13 is to be the first player to discard all of your cards. What you...

How to Play Soccer

Soccer Basics The object of soccer is to score on the opposing team's goal while preventing them from scoring on your own team's goal. Soccer is played with 2 teams of 11 players. The team that has scored the most goals after time expires, wins the game. The game is 90 minutes, split into 2...

How to Play Spades

Looking to learn how to play Spades? Great! It is a fun 4-player card game that involves two teams trying to win tricks in order to gain points. In most games of Spades, you are playing to a certain point amount, usually 500. The team that first gets to the set point amount wins. Spades is a game...