Count to 50

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My friends Swati and Agyat (doing some amazing work around the world, in part with Play for Peace), answered my call to share some of their favorite activities used with groups with a wide range of cultural diversity. 

I love all the one's they shared. (I posted the Aga Zumba Zumba action song a while back. Agyat is the one with the name tag.) Count to 50 stood out to me as a good progression to an activity I played as a participant many years ago. 

I don't recall the name or a source, but it involved math. Some of us are good at math, others, not so much. I'm in the later camp (but I'm getting better). We circled up (maybe 20 or so people). Our goal was to get to a certain number, I can't remember the goal (buried trauma?). The challenge was to count sequentially, from number 1, up to the goal. If your number was a 3 or a 7, or a 'multiple' of 3 or 7, you had to clap. (I don't recall if we had another action like 'comb your hair back' in Count to 50.) That's it! If a mistake was made, the group started over. I still can feel the panic of multiples! (And, I'll assume, that was the point. And how did I manage my panic? I think I missed the lesson!)

Needless to say, I didn't program this one AT ALL during my career. (Now I know better – I could have hooked the 'math-smart' people.) With Count to 50 I'm motivated to add it to my programming choices preceding the original version I learned years ago – a progression to the challenging multiples. 

I also like the group culture development of the way Swati and Agyat use it. When a mistake is made everyone recognizes it as an "OOps" with action (see below), and then they move on for another try. They are in the challenge together, supporting each other, making room for mistakes as learning opportunities.

​Here it is...  

Count to 50

Objectives:
Empathy-Building, Self-Awareness, Group Support, Failing Forward
 
Needs & Numbers:

• No props are needed. Works well with 10 to 16 participants. (When you have more than 16, divide the group into smaller groups of at least 10 people.) Multiple groups can play at the same time. 

 
Process:

• The group stands in a circle.
• The challenge is to count from one to fifty in sequence with participants taking turns calling out one number at a time - the one next in the sequence.  
• Any participant who gets any number that has the digit ‘4’ (4, 14, 24, 34...) in it has to clap instead of calling out that number.
• Any participant who gets any number that has the digit ‘7’ (7, 17, 27, 37...) in it has to comb through their hair using one hand instead of calling out that number.

Rule:

• If anyone gets confused, makes a mistake, the whole group CELEBRATES by saying 'Dhat Teri Ki' (OOPS! In Hindi) while touching their forehead with the palm of their hand. [Use whatever “darn, I made a mistake" word and gesture that works for your group. I'm going with "Oopsy Doopsy!" – more syllables work better for me with the palm-to-forehead action.]  

 
The game restarts with the same person from where it stopped with that person saying “one”.

NOTE: If someone knows a source for the 'multiples' version of this activity, please let me know. 

An educated guess tells me this version will be a little easier to accomplish – get to 50. What are the skills we need?

• Focus
• Anticipation 
• Helpfulness (What will this look and sound like?)
• Grace & Support (What does this look and sound like?)
• Acceptance

I can see myself using the experience to talk about some of the behaviors of a successful group, discussing what mistakes are for and supporting each other through challenging, even risky, tasks. (What risks are involved in Count to 50?)

After a success (to 50!), I'll move on to other activities before trying Count to 50 again. What will the group remember about their success? What behaviors do they need? Were they just 'lucky' the last time, or did they learn what it takes to repeat their success? 

​If I assess that my group is ready, I'll add a 'change'. Same goal, a different approach. What will the group need to manage the activity with multiples – multiples of 4, a clap, multiples of 7, comb the hair back. I anticipate that 'helping' will become important. What norms will be developed for the use of helping behaviors? 

Add Another Level of Challenge Get to 50 in 60 seconds or less. Now we have a progression, three levels of challenge to work with, adjusting to the skills and abilities of our groups. 

Thought Experiment: What are some benefits to returning to a 'process improvement' activity that was done earlier in a program? (We tend to stay with the same process improvement activity for two or three attempts in a row. What if we spread these attempts out over time. What might we find?)

Have fun out there, and keep me posted!

Chris Cavert, Ed.D.