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Lots of Tops (Noodle Activity) with Video

9/13/2019

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Lots of Tops is a version of Immobile Chopsticks (a FUNdoing Blog post) and an activity found in the book, 50 Ways to Use Your Noodle, by Cavert & Sikes (tons of fun with noodles!). In the original Immobile Chopsticks there is one destination for the tennis balls. In Lots of Tops there are LOTS of destinations. 

NEEDS: For each group of 6 to 12 participants, you'll need 12 to 15 tennis balls, 12 to 15 towers and one game noodle for each person in the group. (A game noodle is half of a long foam pool noodle toy - easily cut with a bread knife.) The towers you see in the video are thread spools picked up from a textile factory that does sewing (often discarded or recycled). Towers can also be plastic cups, open end down (like in the Immobile Chopsticks blog post), paper towel or toilet paper rolls, sections of 1 inch PVC pipe, aluminum cans, rolled paper - anything that can support a tennis ball. The more towers you use the longer the challenge. (To make it easier for younger groups, use plastic cups and set them down open end up - the tennis ball is dropped, carefully, into the cup.) 

SET UP: Place the towers for each group in a straight line, about three or four feet apart. Place all the tennis balls (equal to the number of towers) on the floor/ground about 12 feet from the start of the line. (If I have hula-hoops around, I put the tennis balls in a hula-hoop set on the ground 12 feet from the first tower.) 

OBJECTIVE: Cap all the towers with a tennis ball. 
RULES: 
  • The Tennis Balls can ONLY touch/be touched by the noodles after leaving there starting position.
  • If a Tennis Ball touches the floor/ground during its travels, it is returned to the start.
  • When a Tennis Ball is touching a players game noodle, this player may not move his/her feet. 

FACILITATION: I love all the possible ways Lots of Tops can be facilitated. My favorite way is to give all the groups in play at least two chances at topping the towers. So, when this is timed, a second chance will give a group the opportunity to find ways to achieve a better time. 

I've also lead this one as a 'completion' activity as well. Once the towers are capped, the group(s) can talk about how they achieved the task, what 'problems' they encountered and how they got past them, and then talk about what they want to keep doing as they work together in the future. 

With multiple groups I like to have a 'group time' so when one group is done capping their tops, what do they do? These are just a few ways to present Lots of Tops. 

LEARNINGS: Here are some topics I can discuss with this one: 
  • Planning out a task - how does the planning evolve? 
  • Division of Labor - who is doing what and when? does the group stick together or divid and conquer?
  • Collaborative Leadership - does leadership change hands or stay with one or two players?
  • Collaboration - if there are multiple groups, do they exchange information? what influences the exchange of information, or not?  
  • Roles and Responsibilities - are these assigned, assumed, unknown?
  • Goal Setting - how do we set goals without data and then with data? 
Let us know how this one plays for you. If you have another version of Lots of Tops, please share in the Comments! Have FUN out there my friends. 

Chris Cavert, Ed.D. 



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Immobile Chopsticks (with Video)

11/1/2018

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If you know me, you know I love team building with noodles!! Noodles are one of the most versatile activity props on the planet! My good friend and team builder Sam Sikes and I wrote a couple of books on the subject - you can find 50 Ways to Use Your Noodle and 50 More Ways... HERE. 
Immobile Chopsticks is from our book, 50 Ways... It's a variation of the classic Pipeline activity. (I've written about Pipeline Variations in the past. And, another related, called Bridges & Traits.) 

In this noodle version here, it takes two players to make the channel needed to allow the tennis ball to travel from one point to another. And, multiple pairs of noodled players to get somewhere. Here are the basic rules in this version (video below) of Immobile Chopsticks.

Rules: 
  • Each player is allowed to touch/use one, and only one, noodle prop.
  • Tennis balls (six of them), start 60 feet from a set of six cups (Volcano Tops) circled together - cups are open-side down. (You'll see the configuration in the video.) 
  • If a tennis ball is touching a players noodle, that play may not move his/her feet in the direction of the cups. So, no tennis ball touching your noodle, you can move in any direction.  
  • Only one tennis ball is allowed to touch a pair of noodles at any time.
  • If a tennis ball drops to the ground/floor, this tennis ball is returned to the start (a player is allowed to pick up the ball and return it to the start). 
  • When all the Volcanos (cups) have been capped, you have successfully completed the task. 

Adjustments:
  • The closer the cups are together in a circle, the more challenge.
  • Players can move their feet if they have their eyes closed. 
  • Turn the cups over and drop the tennis balls inside (a bit easier) - if they don't let the cups tip over.   
Why I Like This Team Building Activity: 
  • You can run this one with any size group - if you have enough equipment. 
  • I can break the group up into smaller groups, from four to twelve in a group. 
  • I can use it as a competitive activity - First, Second & Third places. 
  • I can use it as a cooperative activity - "All the Volcanos in the room must be capped as soon as possible." 
  • I can vary the replacement of the cups (Volcanos) - in a small or larger circle, or randomly around the room. 
  • And, noodles make anything fun!! 
Let me know how it goes. Leave us a Comment below. 

​Chris Cavert, Ed.D. 
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Popper Tag Transformation (with Video)

6/14/2018

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Recently, I had the opportunity to hang out in the shadows (literally) and observe Nate Folan (he's in the light colored hat) facilitate a day-long training for a summer camp staff (I was facilitating the next day). Nate was featured a while back in a Top 10 Blog - lots of fun details and activity links. 

During the training he led one of my favorite tag games, Popper Tag. Over the years I have called this one Flashback Tag. I use soft tossables or crumpled up paper (snow)balls. The idea is to toss your tossable at the backs of other players. If you hit a back (between the shoulders and the waist - no arms), you get a point. First one to 10 wins. 
​Okay, fast forward to 2007ish. Noodle poppers showed up on the scene. I first saw them in the book, Achieving Fitness. Popper Tag was in the "Cardio" section of the book. Poppers are basically half of a  noodle chip, You can make them yourself (see the red chip in the picture). Or pick up a bucked of Noodle Bits (for a decent price as of this writing) from Flaghouse HERE (see the yellow chip/bit in the picture). 
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Add a Transformation Part of Nate's focus with his trainees was to emphasize different aspects of facilitation. Using Popper Tag (PT) as his experiential pathway, he introduced players to the idea of "being silly" and how this (or these) behaviors fit into building a fun caring community of learners. So, he invited each participant to "transform" into the chicken of their choice once they obtained 10 points playing PT. From a group of players to a flock of chickens. Brilliant! 
Players were given a challenge and a choice to "chicken" or simply move around amongst the flock of chicken as players, one-by-one transformed. For me, it was a fabulous way to step right into a fun, crazy space. Magical! (Now, I'm not sure all the players would agree with me, but I got the lesson.) Ready to smile? Check out the action. 
Have FUN out there my friends. Let me know how the transformation goes!

​Chris Cavert, Ed.D. 
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Noodle Knot Into One Circle

4/19/2016

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If you're reading this post it's probably a safe bet that you've been a part of, or have lead, a Human Knot activity. So far, the earliest version I've seen in print is from The New Games Foundation's book The New Games Book (1976) - it's simply called: Knot. (Here is a really awesome history of The New Games Foundation - if you're into the origin stuff.) 

My favorite way to run the "Knot" involves noodles (go figure). I can comfortably get 14 players in the mix and the colorful props seem to invite engagement (and the players are not in anyone's pits - if you know what I mean). Recently, I also learned how to set up the Knot so my group(s) will always end up in ONE circle (random connections with players can result in a few different solutions). Here's how I set it up: 
Noodle Knot Into One Circle 
  • Circle up your group of eight to 14 players - this is Circle 1 (remember this). If you have more than 14 players form more groups. 
  • Each player will needed one 30 inch noodle (this is half of one of those long pool noodles) - ask each player to hold this noodle in their right hand (and never let go!). 
  • Ask each player to say hello to the person on their right. They might have to wait for this person's attention, but it's very important that everyone says hello to the "right" person - say their name, find out their favorite color, say their name again, sing their name, whatever it takes. Just don't forget this person!
  • Now (every player still has the noodle in their right hand!), tell the group to form a new circle so everyone is standing next to two different players. This is Circle 2. 
  • When everyone is standing next to two different players (this is Circle 2), ask them to look around (not move) and locate their "right" person from Circle 1. Say their name. Call out their favorite color. Sing their name! Make sure everyone can see their "right" person from Circle 1 (remember, no moving). 
  • Now, players will lift up their noodle (the one that's in their right hand) into the center of the circle and extend/offer it to their "right" person from Circle 1. This "right" person will grab the end of the noodle offered to them with his/her left hand. (You might need to read that again....if they connect with someone other than their "right" person, all bets are off.) 
  • When every player is connected to their "right" person, from Circle 1, the group can then untangle themselves, without letting go of the noodles, back into one circle. TaDa! (If this doesn't happen there was some switch-a-rooing going on behind your back.) 
(It's all about remembering the "right" person!)
Other Knot (with Objects) Variations I've Tried
  • Instead of noodles, use small segments of ropes - I use five-foot lengths of parachute cord (since I use these ropes for a bunch of other activities). 
  • Each player has a tennis ball in his/her right hand. Press the tennis ball against the left palm of the "right" person (from Circle 1). Untangle the knot without any tennis balls falling to the ground/floor (and, of course, without folding fingers down around the tennis ball - holding on to it). Since players will be closer together on this one, I set up groups with no more than 10 players. 
Share your favorite Knot variations in the comments below! Thanks!

Have FUN out there. 

Chris Cavert

P.S. Did you know about the books 50 Ways to Use Your Noodle: Loads of Land Games with Foam Noodle Toys, and 50 More Ways to Use Your Noodle: Loads of Land and Water Games with Foam Noodle Toys? From yours truly (Chris Cavert) and the one and only Sam Sikes. Get your copies from DoingWorks.
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    Blog Author

    Dr. Chris Cavert is an internationally known author, speaker, and trainer in the area of adventure-based activity programming and its relation to community and pro-social behavior development.

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    This blog is a space for hands-on programable fun - energetic activities and ideas that can be used as a means to bring people together; activities and ideas we as educators can add to our social development curriculums. 

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