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Pipeline: Variations

7/31/2012

The activity Pipeline (a.k.a., Half Pipe, Gutter Ball and other names), has been a personal favorite of mine for over 20 years - it's one of the first activities I learned. HERE is a nice description from Guide, Inc. (The earliest reference I could find on my shelf is Half Pipe, in Karl Rohnke's FUNN STUFF, Vol. 2, 1996).

Here are some of the 'Pipelines' and 'Gutters' I've used over the years: Round PVC piping of various sizes; Round PVC cut in half to make "Gutters" - this variation seems to be the most popular; Paper towel and toilet paper rolls - kept round or cut in half or cut a paper towel roll into a spiral!; Bubble tea straws (these are the big ones) or even the smaller straws; A single piece of 8 1/2 by 11 paper - participants can be creative with this resources; a short/small piece of wood; Clear flexible tubing; Hot wheels track (brings back memories); Tennis ball tubes cut up to form a round tube or cut in half for gutters; Foam pool noodles - two players work together, each with a noodle, pressing them together length-wise so something (e.g., tennis ball) can roll down the the track; the resources here are endless.

Here are some of my favorite resources to move through the Pipeline or Gutters: GLASS MARBLES of various sizes (seems to be the main standard); WOODEN MARBLES - you can write things on these: each player has a marble with his or her name on it - how will the players move "each other" through the pipeline? Write concepts on the wooden marbles like, trust, support, peace, kindness, friendship, listening - how will the players treat these concepts? How do they perceive these concepts? MAGNETIC MARBLES of various sizes - these tend to slow the process down a bit (I don't let these marbles "slide" through the pipeline) - they have a wonderful dynamic; TENNIS BALLS used with foam pool noodle gutters - you can write on tennis balls too! I tend to stay away from the real small objects like BBs (used with air guns) - too easy to lose them and you don't get the best sound out of them when they drop into the container at the end.

What sorts of pipelines/gutters and round spherical objects do you use? Leave a comment below.

All the best,

Chris Cavert, Ed.D.

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Number Ball: Repurpose

7/23/2012

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(This post was updated on March 6th, 2021.)

Keep an eye out for a soft tossable that looks like a small soccer ball - I've seen simple black and white colors and the multi-colored (pictured) versions. It's a little bigger than a standard softball. I've seen them in the "dollar" stores, and other big-box stores.

Pull out a couple permanent markers (one silver and one black marker have worked well for me) and mark each panel of the tossable with a different number (1, 2 or 3), or a different letter (I stay away from the Q, X & Z), or mix and match numbers and letters - again each panel only has one symbol.

Now, besides having a great tossable for a wide variety of toss-and-catch activities, you have an icebreaker and debriefing tool.

Icebreaker: Toss the ball to someone willing to share. After a two-handed catch there will be a number (or letter) under each thumb. The person gets to choose one of the numbers (or letters) and use it to share something or some things about her/himself.

Say I choose the number 3 under my left thumb - I then share three things about myself. If it happens to be the letter "C", I would choose a descriptive word related to my personality that starts with the letter C. These, of course, are only two possibilities of endless, well...... possibilities.

Debriefing Tool: Use the Number (or Letter) Ball to talk about an experience that just occurred. For example, tell the group one (or 2 or 3) things you found important about the last activity (depending on what's under a thumb). Or, think of a word that starts with a C (or the letter under a thumb) that describes something about the last experience.

When you are ready for the deluxe version of this activity idea, check out the wide variety of Thumballs at the Training Wheels online store - you'll find them under the Icebreakers tab and Training Wheels originals.

Some Options Include: Debriefing Thumball, Icebreaker Thumball, Body Parts Debreifing Thumball, Conflict Resolution Thumball... (at the time of this updated post, there are 21 Thumball options)

What else could we do with this Number/Letter Ball? Comment below.

All the best,

Chris Cavert, Ed.D.

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Silent Word Circle Puzzles: Variation

7/15/2012

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(This post was updated on March 6th, 2021)

I learned about circle puzzles from Chip Schiegel a number of years ago and, based on the "solution" aspect of the task, have called them Word Circle Puzzles ever since.

The basic idea is to take a group of predetermined words and connect them together ending up with a circle - each word is appropriately connected (verifiable) to the word in front of it and the word after it (e.g., compound words, a two-word phrase, two common words that make up one word, etc.)

For example, here is a Word Circle Puzzle set up in solution order:
Room, Light, Show, Boat, Club, Soda, Pop, Corn, Field, Gun, Stock, Still (connects to Room). If you haven't done so already, check out the picture above to see five completed Word Circle Puzzles. (Suggestion: Grab some index cards and make yourself a collection of Circle Puzzles - the five above and the two in this post.)

To make this a team building activity, write out each word on an index card - nice and big. (Of course you could also digitize the words, copy, laminate and cut.) Each participant in your group will need at least one word card (for most variations of play). The easiest set up is simply telling the group to "arrange all the words so they connect to each other forming one big circle - all words need to be used." Then let them at it. As with any team building activity keep an eye out for the dynamics - those great things you'll want to talk about.

In the Word Circle Puzzles Starter Kit there are 12 different Presentation Ideas. Here is another presentation idea I've been trying out:

Silent Word Circle Puzzle

Before handing out the word cards tell participants they are not allowed to show anyone the word(s) they possess. Hand out the word cards (no more than two cards per person). Tell the participants they are allowed to tell one person (and only one person) in the group what word(s) they possess. This is the only person that is then allowed to tell the group what word is being held by the player they spoke with. If a participant is holding more than one card, she/he is allowed to give one card away.

Again, word cards are not to be shown to anyone else in the group (of course, if a card is given away, it can be looked at be the receiver). Players must be standing in a circle - they believe to be the correct answer - before revealing the word card(s) they are holding.

Here is another new puzzle for you - not in solution order. Have fun.
Start, Form, Lap, He, Ding, End, Bat, Up, Letter, Bed, Head, Ear, Dog, Art
(The answer is below.)

Picture Word Circle Puzzle - Since this original post back in 2012, I've created Picture Word Circle Puzzles and ICON Circle Puzzles. Check them out for the next level of Circle Puzzles challenge. (Both have free print-n-play downloads.)

Where can you find Word Circle Puzzles? My first recommendation is to create them yourself. Short ones are a bit more challenging to create than the longer ones. Longer puzzles are more challenging to solve. If you'd like to save some time, check out the three downloadable Circle Puzzles Kits at the FUNdoing Store.

All the best,

Chris Cavert, Ed.D.

Circle Puzzle Answer: Bat, He, Art, Form, Letter, Head, Start, Up, End, Ear, Lap, Dog, Bed, Ding

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Pipeline: Variations

Number Ball: Repurpose

Silent Word Circle Puzzles: Variation

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