[NOTE from Chris: Before you watch the video, if you want to participate in a little 'Thought Experiment' check out my invitation below.]
Several months ago, I started purposefully collecting and documenting problem-solving activities for pairs. I like using concentric circles* with groups giving all pairs icebreaker questions to answer. Then, moving one circle "to the left" three people forms new pairs quickly. Now, instead of just using icebreaker questions, why not throw some fun problem-solving into the mix where two people work together on a task? Mixing it up makes for good engagement and a bit more complex interaction.
*Concentric Circles – an 'outside' circle of people facing towards the center of the circle and another 'inside' circle with each person facing someone from the outside circle.
A couple weeks ago in the FUNdoing Fridays email I shared a quick idea I had for a paired activity calling it the House Puzzle of String. Sam Sikes, in his 1995 book, Feeding the Zircon Gorilla and Other Team Building Activities, calls it The House – he uses a long activity rope. Here's a little snapshot of history:
Several months ago, I started purposefully collecting and documenting problem-solving activities for pairs. I like using concentric circles* with groups giving all pairs icebreaker questions to answer. Then, moving one circle "to the left" three people forms new pairs quickly. Now, instead of just using icebreaker questions, why not throw some fun problem-solving into the mix where two people work together on a task? Mixing it up makes for good engagement and a bit more complex interaction.
*Concentric Circles – an 'outside' circle of people facing towards the center of the circle and another 'inside' circle with each person facing someone from the outside circle.
A couple weeks ago in the FUNdoing Fridays email I shared a quick idea I had for a paired activity calling it the House Puzzle of String. Sam Sikes, in his 1995 book, Feeding the Zircon Gorilla and Other Team Building Activities, calls it The House – he uses a long activity rope. Here's a little snapshot of history:
Sam's Instructions (brevity brilliance): "Ask the group to pick up the rope." [An untied 40- to 50-foot rope for up to 12 participants lying in a pile on the ground.] "Tell them they can slide their hands along the rope, but they can't let go and/or trade places in line. Their task is to form a house or an envelope, whichever they prefer, without the rope doubling back on itself. You may need to provide a sketch of the end product for them to see." [I love the reference of the 'envelope.' I wonder if that's a recognizable image now.]
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The image on the left would be the 'sketch' of the end product. So the group, everyone holding onto the rope, is challenged to form the house puzzle like the solution in the picture above. (After the group in the picture above solved the puzzle, they set it on the ground.)
House Puzzle of String
The image above on the right is the one I created for the House Puzzle of String paired challenge (the full size PDF download is below). The eight pathways in the house I call 'channels'. Using a 48-inch (122 cm) piece of string (or yarn), two people work together to lay out the string inside the channels without the string 'doubling back' on itself. The additional challenge is that the string cannot cross over any of the channel lines.
Video Note: I edited the video down to a about 8.5 minutes. It took my friend Dillon and I a little over 12 minutes to complete the task. (A majority of the time was spent getting the string within the channel lines – moving one part of the string often displaced another part of the string. Run with that metaphor!)
House Puzzle of String
The image above on the right is the one I created for the House Puzzle of String paired challenge (the full size PDF download is below). The eight pathways in the house I call 'channels'. Using a 48-inch (122 cm) piece of string (or yarn), two people work together to lay out the string inside the channels without the string 'doubling back' on itself. The additional challenge is that the string cannot cross over any of the channel lines.
Video Note: I edited the video down to a about 8.5 minutes. It took my friend Dillon and I a little over 12 minutes to complete the task. (A majority of the time was spent getting the string within the channel lines – moving one part of the string often displaced another part of the string. Run with that metaphor!)
| housepuzzle_diagram_cavert.pdf |
Thought Experiment: Here's an email from a FUN follower friend of ours. After reading about House Puzzle of String he inquired:
Tell me please, why do you need a pair to do it with the string? Can you do this alone?
The Experiment: Watch the video and then speculate how I responded to our friend. After a bit more contemplative prose I'll share my response (just a little trivia and a way to hide my response for now).
The House Puzzle is a 'Transum' or 'Path Puzzle' (Dillon discovered this.) Here's an image I swiped from the results of searching 'Transum'. Solve all the shapes (tracing over all the lines and dots) without taking your pen off the paper or doubling any line.
The House Puzzle is a 'Transum' or 'Path Puzzle' (Dillon discovered this.) Here's an image I swiped from the results of searching 'Transum'. Solve all the shapes (tracing over all the lines and dots) without taking your pen off the paper or doubling any line.
One Answer for the House Puzzle of String:
What have you speculated? Why would I program this activity for two people? Here's my response:
Yes, this one can be done solo. However, I'm anticipating the interaction between two people doing this task will be noteworthy – open up some good learning conversations.
And another Yes. Many tasks are much 'easier' (in some ways) doing them alone – "I'll just do it myself." With this mindset we are losing the practice (and benefits) of working with others....I like to use partner activities for some low risk people practice.
If you considered another reason for using this activity with pairs, I'd love to know! And, what other solo activities can we turn into a paired experience? Leave us a Comment below.
People Practice Questions to Ask
Keep me posted!
Chris Cavert, Ed.D.
People Practice Questions to Ask
- What parts of the challenge were difficult? What parts of the challenge were easy?
- Raise your hand if you could have done this challenge on your own. What changes in a task like this when you are working with someone else?
- What are some of the things you do and say when you're working well with someone else?
- What benefits do you get from knowing how to work with others in a productive way?
Keep me posted!
Chris Cavert, Ed.D.
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