Games

Pass The Clay Game

Objective:
• To work as a team to build a clay structure.
• Group Size:
• Four or more.

Materials:
• Whistle or noise maker. Clay, Playdough®, or another type of sculpting material. Description:
• Break the group up into teams of two to six members each and give each team a large lump of clay. Each team must sit in a circle so that they can easily pass the clay
around. Start with one team member holding the clay.
The leader shouts out a object, scene or something else that can bemade out of clay (some ideas follow), on the "go" signal the first person begins to build as fast as
they can. After a few seconds the leader blows the whistle and the clay must be passed to the next person who picks up where the first person left off. Continue in this
manner with the leader frequently blowing the whistle at irregular intervals. On the "stop" signal, the person holding the clay must set it down. At the end of each
round allow each group to show their creation to the rest of the group, with any description or story they want to make up about it. You may do several rounds of this
fast-paced game with a different person stanrting with the clay each time.

Sculpture Ideas:
• A bus stop A popcorn stand A clown A barn with animals A plate of spagetti with meatballs Discussion Prompts:
• 1. Would this task have been easier or harder if you were by yourself?
2. Does being on a team make life easier or harder for you?
3. Did some of you get more time with the clay than others? How did this make you feel?
4. Do you ever feel like you put more effort or less effort into a project than other people do who are on your team? How does this make you feel?
5. What is the advantage of being part of a team? Are there any disadvantages?

Variation:
• Give each person a different colour of clay that they must add to the sculpture as they get it.
• Have the first person start making something of his or her choice without talking. The next person has to continue the original sculpture when the whistle is blown. The
group can't talk but tries to create something by the time everyone has had a turn with the clay.
•  
 Welded Ankles’
• Welded Ankles’ is an initiative test of the group’s ability to
cooperate and move together. “Stand together side by side in a
line. Your feet should be comfortably spaced about equal
distance as your shoulder width. Each foot must be touching
the foot of the person of each side of you. The problem is to
move together, as if your ankles were welded together with the
ankle of the person on each side of you. The group has to walk
to the finish line about 8 meters away without separating your
feet from your partner’s. If I see that happen, the group has to
stop and walk back (separately) to the starting line and start
over again.” This is surprisingly difficult, but very inspiring when
the group together figures out how to solve the problem.
 Car Car
• ‘Car-car,’ which I learned from David Earl Platts of the Findhorn Foundation, is one of my favorites because it is fun, very simple and almost every group
takes to it right away. I usually present the activity like this: “Trust and responsibility are two very important qualities in creating world peace. This
activity will help you experience how you feel about trust. Choose a partner. This is a silent exercise. One person, ‘the car’, stands in front with his or
her eyes closed and hands held in front of the chest with palms outward as your bumpers. The second person, ‘the driver’, with eyes open, stands
behind with hands on the shoulders of the car. Keeping his/her eyes open, the driver will steer the sightless car around the area, avoiding collisions
with other pairs. Remember that the safety of the other person is your responsibility, so you must show compassion and care. Any questions?”
• I demonstrate with one volunteer compassionate, slow ‘driving,’ reminding the group that anyone with eyes closed is going to feel nervous. Then I’ll
put some quiet music on, remind everyone about no talking, and then announce in a loud voice, “Begin.” After 3-4 minutes I announce, “Stop. Open
your eyes, and now switch roles with your partner. OK? Begin.”
• At the end, I ask everyone to sit or stand in pairs and talk about how they felt in both roles, as the car and as the driver. If it is a small group, I might
then sit in a circle and encourage everyone to share their experiences. This debriefing of the event is very important part of the learning process.
• I explain that the goals of cooperative games are:
•  1. To work together as a group for both individual and collective development, on the physical, mental and spiritual levels.
• 2. To serve others by giving support and constructive feedback.
• 3. To overcome fears that arise in the game, and to gain the courage to confront other fears in one’s life.
• 4. To work together as a group in attempting what seems impossible, and to feel good about our efforts and successes.
• 5. To have a lot of fun together.
•  I also explain that in addition to safety guidelines for some activities, the rules of these games are:
•  1. No one may devalue or discount others or oneself, for every person is unique and beautiful.
• 2. Anyone may choose not to do any activity at any time.
•  I lead more than a dozen different games involving closed eyes, because these activities develop trust and help to overcome fear. I prefer asking
players to close their eyes than providing blindfolds, partly because it’s less trouble for me, but in large part because it follows the theme of Project
Adventure: “Challenge by choice.” This means that rather than forcing participants to do an activity (the obstacle courses in a military training camp are
a good example of that), I invite and encourage them to try it without pressure. If participants choose not to do any activity, that’s fine. But at the
beginning I choose the least threatening games that are clearly a lot of fun, to get everyone laughing and to gradually build the group’s trust in me.
 River Crossing
http://www.teampedia.net/wiki/index.php?title=River_Crossing
• What happened during the process? What worked? What didn’t or what
hindered the process?
• What leadership was demonstrated during the process? How so? What
did you observe?
• What were the individual roles people played? Were members
comfortable with their roles?
• Who knew what the process for crossing was? Who didn’t? How did you
communicate the plans to group members?
• What might the different aspects of the exercise represent in your group:
the squares, the river, the loss of squares, the facilitator, etc?
• When the first people rushed off the river and stranded some of you
how did that feel?
 Pass the Stone
http://www.teampedia.net/wiki/index.php?title=Pass_the_Stone

• This game requires concentration, communication, strategy and powers of observation.

• Make sure both lines have the same number of people. Each line receives a small stone which is
passed (or appears to be passed) down the line. Each person can pass the stone or just appear
to pass it on. Hands must be kept in front of the body. Both lines "pass" at the same time.
• The participants should be watching the other team, not their own, to see if they can figure out
where the stone stops.
• When the "passing" reaches the ends of the lines, each group huddles to choose who on the
other team has the pebble. The first person in each line presents the team's choice and if they
guess right, they get a point. If you want to emphasize team strategy more, you can ask them to
briefly discuss their team strategy for the next round in their huddles.
• Then they come back and sit in their original lines. The head of the line gets up and goes to the
end of the line and this repeats until everyone has a chance to lead the line.
• If you have a large group, then make more lines and rotate after each round... but for the sake
of this explanation, let's use two lines
• Newspaper Tag
• LINE UP
• Materials: blindfolds
• Blindfold everyone in the group. Whisper to
each person a number from one to the number
of persons in the group. After you are done, tell
the players they must line up by consecutive
numbers without talking. Everyone should begin
to move slowly around each other, putting
palms up facing outward to protect themselves
 DO YOU REMEMBER?
•
by Susan Otto
• Purpose
• To explore how note-taking and teamwork increases our ability to remember more.
• Time
• 30 minutes
• Supplies
• 50 miscellaneous items such as a ball, fingernail file, hat, lipstick, mirror, key, toy, picture, candle, pen, orange, etc.
• Tray
• Cloth to cover the tray
• Countdown timer
• Flow of the Activity
• Prepare a tray of 25 items. Cover the tray with a cloth.
• Tell participants that you are going to show them a tray of miscellaneous items and they should remember as many items as they can without writing down anything.
• Display the tray with 25 items for 60 seconds. Then talk to the group about some other topic for a minute.
• Have participants write down as many items as they can remember.
• Reveal the items on the tray and determine how many correct items participants listed.
• Do the activity again, displaying a new set of 25 items for 30 seconds. Allow participants to take notes.
• Ask each participant to count the number of items listed.
• Organize participants into teams of four and ask them to combine their lists.
• Reveal the new items on the tray and determine how many correct items individual participants and teams listed after the 30-second viewing.
• Debrief participants and emphasize the following points:
• Participants were able to write more items in half the time (30 seconds) than when they had 60 seconds.
• Teams were able to list more items than individuals.
• Conclude the activity by asking participants how they would apply the principles of note-taking and working in teams to other situations that requires memorizing and recalling
such as:
• Interviewing a candidate for a job
• Listening to a lecture presentation
• Analyzing the behavior of an expert performer
• Proof-reading a report
• Observing the behaviors of shoppers in a retail store
 BLIND SQUARE
by Nick Smith

• This is an activity that I use in almost every teambuilding session I run--because it delivers results every time. I can take no credit for its invention
since it has existed from long before my time, in various forms and with a variety of names (such as BLIND POLYGON). The activity can be
frontloaded to focus on particular issues by changing a few parameters or altering the instructions. However, I often use it as an activity for
exploring overall team building issues to see how the participants get on.
• Preparation
• Before the exercise begins, tie a length of rope (about 20m) into a circle. Also, provide blindfolds for everyone.
• Instructions to Participants
• To complete this activity, all the team has to do is to form the rope into the shape of a perfect square.
• You will have 15 minutes planning time, during which no one may touch the rope.
• At the end of this time, everyone will be blindfolded and the rope will be placed in your hands.
• You will have 10 minutes to form the square.
• All the team members must be holding the rope.
• Once you think that the square is complete, lay the rope on the floor.
• Debriefing
• Ask questions to draw out responses that focus on any of these types of topics:
• Attention to detail
• Collaboration
• Communication
• Creating a square
• Evaluation
• Planning
• Problem solving
• Variations
• Don't tie the rope into a circle at the start.
 Thigh and Hand Circle
• Game description
• Everyone sits in a circle. Each player puts his left hand on the thigh of the
player to his left and his right hand on the thigh of the player on his right.
One player begins: with one hand he slaps the thigh of the player next to
him. This player slaps his neighbours thigh, and so on in a clockwise direction.
• Option
• If a player slaps twice, the direction is changed. If a player slaps too soon or
late or not in his turn, he must put the hand that made the mistake behind
his back for the duration of the round. If he makes another mistake, he is out
of the game.
• Judging
• anyone who slaps too early takes this hand out of the game (behind the
back). If a mistake is made with the second hand the player is out of the
game