Games Day - Balloon Trolleys

How you do it:

In this activity you just pick a destination and go for it as a group. Sounds simple enough, but as you know adventure activity appearances can be deceiving! Materials for this challenge include a bag of balloons and a group of people willing to go on a trip. Pick up balloons of some substance, at least 12 inches in diameter inflated, minimal regulation size for this activity. Theme balloons can be fun, such as all smiley faces or Star Wars. If you can find a bag of fat elongated balloons, grab ‘em. We once searched eight party stores in vain for those suckers, which seem to be discontinued as per a marketing genius who determined that round is in, elongated is out. Go figure! Anyway, here is the set up for balloon trolley.

Lay out a course of travel with a difficulty level that relates to your program goals at the moment, and the nature of the group. One bunch may need to travel up and over boulders, while for another the challenge of just getting there without committing homicide may be sufficient. The task is to have a line of people, with a balloon held between each of them move from one place to another. Hands may not be used to hold the balloons in place, only bodies pressed together exerting pressure on them. The difficulty of this innocent task should now be coming readily apparent. As an initiative to illustrate the components of goal setting, this is a real winner.

Some thoughts around variations include allowing the group to determine what constitutes success. Does that mean no balloon drops, the fewest over three attempts, one, two? Empower them to determine the level of success they find acceptable. Now give the group some planning time before the trolley leaves the station, then let them have at it!

Games Day - Toxic Waste

All right.  It is time.  We are going to get into some prop heavy activities.  Kits for all of the activities that we will talk about can be purchased from any of the major vendors or if you are very savvy, you can create them out of things you can find at your local hardware.

 

TOXIC WASTE

How you do it:

A terrific way to get people thinking about the values they’ve chosen to reside within themselves is to have those values cared for by the group.  This nurturing of norms can be built right into your activity design.  Your Toxic Waste kit should include the following items:

 

• A bicycle inner tube, cut
• A bunch of ropes that when tied together will allow for lengths to reach ¾ of the way across the circle’s diameter.  Use yellow polypropylene, some retired 9 mm rope, harness webbing, and a few lengths of bungee cord. 
• Miscellaneous toys to add distracters
• Two #10 tin cans (the kind baked beans and sauce come in for institutional kitchens)
• Two gym spot markers
• Permanent markers and masking tape
• 6-10 small diameter plastic balls, like Pensy-Pinkies, but hollow and light.  For those of you who never had the transcendent experience of whacking a Pensy-Pinkee with a stickball bat, they are now being manufactured again.  It is the highest and smoothest bouncing pink ball on the planet.  But we digress…

 

Lay out two circles of rope, a large outer circle, with a diameter of approximately 30 feet, and a smaller rope circle centered in the larger one, about 5 feet across. Call the group and ask them to give voice to the values they have carried with them throughout their group experience.  Write each value they recall on masking tape, then attach each to a small diameter plastic ball.  The balls should then be reverently deposited in one of the cans.  Now, place one #10 tin can on a spot marker inside the smaller circle.  Place the can containing the group values on the second spot marker just outside the smaller circle. 

 

Arrange the group around the outside of the larger circle.  Hand them the bag filled with ropes, inner tube, and other assorted retrieval items.  Using these resources the group must transfer their values from the can “bobbing” in the sea of toxic waste to the blissfully serene can in the inner circle.  It is imperative that no group values be desecrated by tumbling into the toxic waste during the transfer process from one can to the other.  The group may not cross into the outer circle without risking their corporeal lives. 

 

We have witnessed many solutions to this most challenging of initiatives.  The inner tube figures prominently in the most common solution paths.  If you are feeling particularly strict, blindfold any participant whose hand breaks the plane of the outer circle when holding onto a rope.  She may continue to hold the rope but her movements must now be directed by a sighted helper.  This strategy maintains the integrity of the challenge and will ensure that you are unanimously hated by members of the group, at least for the duration of this activity!

Games Day - Whampum

On April 30, a group of facilitators from The Adventure Center traveled to Renaissance High School in Clarkston Michigan.  I will talk more about this group on Friday, but I played a game with them that I have not done in a long time.  I forgot how much I enjoy playing this icebreaker.  It usually always leads to people laughing and having fun.  It can also give you a window into how safe your group is going to be that day.

WHAMPUM
Equipment-Props:  Styrofoam “boffer” or foam noodle cut in half.

How you do it:

Have the group stand in a circle, with a spot marker for each person.  There should be quite a bit of space on the inside of the circle. The player in the middle has a soft foam boffer 3 or so feet long (it must be soft). A person in the circle shouts, “Mary” (the actual name of a fellow player).  The task is for Mary, who has heard her name loud and clear, to shout the name of another player before  the player in the middle hits her BELOW THE KNEES with the boffer.  So it goes, randomly around the circle until the player in the center successfully hits someone before he or she is able to say the name of another player in the circle (again, below the knees only).  It is a fast game, and demands focus.  As players get used to the game, and to each other’s names, it becomes more and more difficult to get out of the center of the ring.  An easy out has someone yelling “switch”, where the last person who said a name takes the place of the center person, thereby relieving the pressure to perform.

Safety:

The boffer can be used to really whack someone, no matter how soft it is.  A light to medium hit below the knees is acceptable.  Nothing else.

Games Day - Blindfold Square

This is a game that works well if you are trying too debrief on perception, communication, and teamwork.  Please keep in mind that if you are doing an activity with blindfolds, you should keep the option open to just close eyes (challenge by choice).  Not everyone is comfortable with blindfolds.  Enjoy!

How you do it:

This is another low prop unpredictable problem solving initiative (the root of all goal setting) that, depending on the karma of the group, will either be solved quickly or not at all.  Reach down into your adventure kit bag for a rope anywhere from 100 to 200 feet in length. The rope length will ultimately determine the dimensions of the square.  The larger the square the more difficult communication can become, which certainly ups the challenge quotient.  Do a quick line up by testosterone level.  If that suggestion results in blank stares try by height, date of birth, length of shoelaces, or the birth date of each person’s maiden aunt.  Once the group has formed up in a line by any means you chose spread them out along the rope as you hand it to them. 

Once rope equipped, the group members put on their blindfolds.  Direct the group to form the rope into a square, and to not remove their blindfolds until there is a consensus that the task has been accomplished.   It is important to have some spotters on hand to protect group members from wandering trees, bushes, highway Impact Attenuators (did you know that’s what those big sand filled barrels are called?), and other human impediments.  Groups will tend to drift about while holding the rope so be prepared.  

Game Day - The Quagmire

This is an initiative that can be adapted in many different ways.  I will give the simplest version here and you can let your creativity run wild.  Enjoy! 

The Quagmire

How You Do It:

Journeys are often exciting, but if not carefully planned can contain a significant element of risk.  How about walking through a quagmire with a blindfold on?

This activity allows for the creation of a relatively benevolent quagmire using fleece balls, rubber chickens, chairs, sprung mousetraps, plastic squids and other creatures, hanging Cray paper, and any other non lethal objects you might have handy in your bag of tricks.   Mark off a large boundary area, rectangular in shape, say 20 feet wide and 40 feet long.  The dimensions of the Mine Field can be varied to increase or reduce the challenge or adjust to group size.  Now take your explosive items and scatter them about the Field, making a straight line path through the exploding debris impossible to negotiate. 

Get your group divided into pairs, using the usual assortment of uniquely adventure methods for doing so. One member of each pair loses her sight either by keeping eyes tightly squeezed shut or with the use of a blindfold.  The partner must guide her through the obstacles you’ve created while remaining outside of the boundary area.  Completion may mean reaching the other side, only stepping on a predetermined number of mines, or any other definition of success that the group wishes to establish. 

Sending more than one explorer into the field at a time from different directions adds to the incendiary potential.  Switching guides mid field is another delightfully sadistic variation.   Ask the group to think metaphorically about the exploding objects.  What might they represent as obstacles to reaching individual and group goals?  Label them using the group’s ideas.  

Games Day - Chaos Juggle

This week we will expand on the activity that we talked about last week.  I first saw this initiative at the University of Michigan Challenge Program.  I have seen it work with many different kinds of groups, and it always does a great job at illustrating how chaos is managed by the group.  Enjoy!

Chaos Juggle

Props/Equipment:  See Toss-A-Name.  For this activity, tossables should be in three groups of three.  Each group should be made up of similar items.  For example:  group one is three fleece balls, group two is three rubber chickens, and group three is three rubber rings.

 

How you do it:  Once you have established your pattern from Toss-A-Name, tell the group to remember that pattern (you can even practice a few times).  Now tell the group that you are going to practice managing chaos that comes, often unexpectedly.  Explain that the fleece balls will be tossed in the same pattern as in Toss-A-Name, the rubber chickens will go in reverse order, and the rubber rings will go clockwise around the circle.  If any object hits the ground, the group must start over.

 

Debrief:  As you can see, there are a lot of things to debrief in this activity.  Focus on how the group responded to and managed the chaos.  What were the easiest objects to get around, what was the most difficult?  How can this relate back to your home program?  How can you better manage chaos when it happens? 

Games Day - Group Juggle

So far we have given you some icebreakers, touch barrier breakers, and an initiative.  This next activity is a standard for the challenge course industry.  Chances are that if you have ever facilitated, dare I say, been a part of a challenge course day, you have probably heard of this activity.  I will give you the outline, and then next week I will give you a variation that I learned at the University of Michigan Challenge Program.  For those who have not guessed:

TOSS-A-NAME
Equipment:  Assemble a series of soft throwables (Nerf or plastic balls, rubber chicken, whale, dog, cat, heart, brain, etc.  They must be soft.  If you toss a hard object to someone and that person is not looking, it could hurt).

How you do it:
Put them in a bag.  Ask the group to assemble in a circle. Say, “You only have to remember one name to get this game started”.  Taking one item and, while holding it, announce, “My name is Josh”…….  While passing it to the person next to you, ask them to say, “Thank you, Josh”……..  That person then takes the throwable and, while passing it to the next person, says, “My name is Joe”…..  This goes on until the entire circle has been engaged.  From that point, using the same name and thank you scenario, throw the object across the circle to a person on the other side.  Gradually introduce new items.  The rubber chicken always gets a good laugh.  Asking for names is encouraged.  Laughter is a natural consequence.  Somewhere along the line, ask if someone can name everyone.

Variation: “Everyone move to a new place, and we’ll play the game some more.”

Safety: We must reiterate, tossing a hard object can result in bruises or worse.  Since there are a great deal of objects flying about, and a resultant confusion, the items must be soft enough to sustain a hit on the temple or the eye.  Do not use tennis balls or plastic toys.   Don’t allow participants to “wing” (throw hard) the objects, either.  There is a modicum of trust to this activity.  After all, we are dealing with each other’s precious names!

Games Day - Stepping Stones

We have talked about several games up to this point. Today, we venture into the world of initiatives. What is the difference between the two? A game is something that is meant to break the ice (hence the name “icebreaker”), something that will get your group in the mood to have fun and get the initial barriers broken down. An initiative has some element of problem solving involved. It will take the group working together to solve that problem, and it will include some sort of discussion at the end of the activity. With that, here is a great, simple, low prop initiative to get you started.

STEPPING STONES
How you do it:
Stepping Stones is a great activity that can be framed in many ways. How you use it, as with all adventure activities, depends upon the creation and co-creation that occurs within the briefing of your group.

Get yourself some paper plates, spot markers, pieces of cushy Styrofoam; anything that will allow for two sets of toes to find a perch. Your stones should be approximately a foot square. Of course the smaller the stones the greater the challenge, as you will soon see. The other challenge variables are the number of stones you offer the group, and the distance you set for the group to travel. You’ll also to need to establish a beginning and an end of the journey. Pieces of Polypropylene always come in handy for boundary lines.
The goal is for the group to journey from one place to another using the Stepping Stones as safe spaces during the trip. Line them up at one end and give them one less stone than there are people. If a person steps off, teeters down, disembarks or in any way falls off of a stone, they must return to the starting point. Stones may only be moved in a forward direction, and physical contact by a digit, toe, elbow or any other human body part must be maintained. Violation of either the forward moving or contact rules results in the permanent (until the next round) loss of the stone in question. After the loss of the first stone, their value tends to increase immensely. The group finds success in getting everyone from point A to point B.

Stones can be labeled with norms, values, twelve steps, old bad habits, group and individual goals, almost anything you’d like in order to bring into focus important issues that you are exploring with your group. An interesting variation is to start two groups off from opposite directions, that is, coming toward each other, with a smaller number of stones for each group. Initially stone hoarding will occur until a light goes on within someone that sharing the stones is a much more effective way for both groups to be successful in.

Games Day - Cross Town Connection

Today, we break the touch barrier. One of the biggest issues with any group is breaking that touch barrier. In the challenge course industry, it is necessary to come in contact with other group members for spotting, belay checks, debriefing, as well as assistance and comforting during and after an activity. So the challenge becomes, how we introduce a group to that touch. This activity is a great way to introduce a simple, non-threatening way to make that introduction.

Cross Town Connection –

How you do it: Have your group gather in a circle. Start by explaining that there are many different ways to meet new people. Tell your group that they will learn five ways to meet new people. They will learn a new way to meet, find one person in the circle that they will share that greeting with, practice it and return to their spot in the circle. You can use any greeting, here are five that work well:
1) Handshake – Very simple, participants interlock hands, and shake them.
2) High Five – Participants extend a hand up in the air, and slap their open palm against their partners.
3) Ankle Shake – Participant walk toward each other and start the same way you would start a “High Five,” the difference is that you do not slap hands, you miss, reach down to that person’s ankle and shake that.
4) Lumberjack – One person will put out their fist in a thumbs up manner, the next person will make a fist around that person’s thumb and extend their own thumb into the air. The first person will repeat this process and then the second person. This will interlock all four hands, at which point, participants will make a “sawing” motion back and forth.
5) Happy Salmon – Participants start out with a regular handshake motion. They will move their hand further up the arm to the forearm of their partner then slap (gently) their partner’s forearm.

Here is where the game gets fun. After each person has one partner for each type of greeting, the facilitator will call out the names of the handshakes at random. Each person must find their partner and exchange that greeting before the facilitator calls out the next greeting. This usually leads to mass chaos, a lot of laughing and people doing the Happy Salmon all day long.

Games Day - Human Camera

I have done this activity with a few different groups. I has worked out with most of them, but I find that it works best with the more creative groups. The best human camera that I have done was when I did this activity with a group of theater students. Their results were very funny and insightful. Enjoy.

How You Do It:
While this activity’s use is only limited by ones imagination, it is a dandy one for establishing group Values. The group is divided into pairs, with one partner initially acting as the camera, the other as the photographer. The photographer guides the camera, who has his eyes closed (like the closed lens on a shutter) to a picture she would like to take. After carefully focusing the camera (lining him up at the right distance and angle to the subject of the picture, the photograph is taken. This is accomplished by the person acting as camera briefly opening and then closing his eyes, like a shutter snapping. The partners then switch roles for another photo. After each photograph is taken the photographer explains the significance of the picture to her partner. This information is then reported out by the “camera” during the activity debrief. The photographer may offer clarifying comments, as warranted. The briefing for this particular group went like this:

“ Over the last two years as you have continued your journey toward full communion with the church, there have been values that you’ve held that have sustained you in times of doubt, when your faith was challenged by events in the lives of your family and friends. I’d like you take a moment and think about those challenges, and when you’ve got one, guide your camera to something out here that captures the experience for you. The challenge needs to be connected to one word that sums it up. For example, you might have been made fun of for your beliefs by other kids you know. The word, courage” or “conviction” comes to mind when I think of an experience like that. Can any of you come up with an example? (a brief conversation ensures). Once the photographer has taken the picture tell your partner what it meant to you, then change places. Remember, you will be sharing out your partner’s photo to the group, so take the time to be clear on what they wanted you to see.

O.K. then, we have already reviewed some of the safety concerns. Remember photographers; you are guiding a sightless person. We need to make sure they feel safe. Does any one want a blindfold? (some take you up on the offer). Remember, cameras, if you feel unsafe you have an obligation to tell your partner, and you can always open your eyes for a quick peek! We’ll meet back here in about 10 minutes to look at our photos.”