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I happened upon an Instructors Manual (paper pamphlet style with staples in the seam) for The Grab Bag from the Challenge Learning Center (which no longer has an online presence). It’s a little teambuilding kit that I’m assuming they sold to educators.
I found a nice activity that is a cross between Find Your Island (Portable Teambuilding Activities, from Cavert) and Magic Carpet (The Teambuilding Puzzles version, from Anderson, Cain, Cavert, Heck). Magic Carpet Spots will be a ‘simple task’ activity on my programming menu to introduce my groups to some of the dynamics of teambuilding tasks.
Needs & Numbers: Have one 12-inch diameter (or larger) game spot for each participant. I will use this activity with 12 to 30 people. Most likely middle school ages.
Set Up: Lay out the spots on the floor/grass/ground in a leopard-style pattern. Have the spots about two feet away from one another. Placing the spots closer or further away will change the challenge level. Note: Closer together does not mean it will be easier.
Process: I like how the Challenge Learning folks frame it:
“Explain that the spots are magic carpets and everyone is flying high above the ground. Unfortunately, the Magic Spots are upside down, causing them to turn in the wrong direction. Ask each person to turn over their spot without stepping onto the floor/grass/ground.”
I will add a couple more facets:
Reflection: I can imagine discussing the positive and negative behaviors they noticed during the task. If restarts occur, I will also ask about how they handled starting over – what choices were they making when group members made mistakes? Which ones were helpful and which ones were not?
Let us know your thoughts about this one. Leave a Comment so we can learn more.
All the best,
Chris Cavert, Ed.D.
I found a nice activity that is a cross between Find Your Island (Portable Teambuilding Activities, from Cavert) and Magic Carpet (The Teambuilding Puzzles version, from Anderson, Cain, Cavert, Heck). Magic Carpet Spots will be a ‘simple task’ activity on my programming menu to introduce my groups to some of the dynamics of teambuilding tasks.
Needs & Numbers: Have one 12-inch diameter (or larger) game spot for each participant. I will use this activity with 12 to 30 people. Most likely middle school ages.
Set Up: Lay out the spots on the floor/grass/ground in a leopard-style pattern. Have the spots about two feet away from one another. Placing the spots closer or further away will change the challenge level. Note: Closer together does not mean it will be easier.
Process: I like how the Challenge Learning folks frame it:
“Explain that the spots are magic carpets and everyone is flying high above the ground. Unfortunately, the Magic Spots are upside down, causing them to turn in the wrong direction. Ask each person to turn over their spot without stepping onto the floor/grass/ground.”
I will add a couple more facets:
- Since they are all flying through the air and need to have sure footing, when stepping onto another Magic Spot, at least half of a person’s foot needs to have placement on a spot. This goes for both feet. Any time a foot is on a spot, it must be at least half on!
- Any touches of the ground with more than half a foot or any other body part will result in a foul. On the fifth ‘group’ foul a restart is required. NOTE: Not five fouls per person. Five fouls per group. For this activity, the facilitator will be watching for and calling fouls – playing the referee role.
Reflection: I can imagine discussing the positive and negative behaviors they noticed during the task. If restarts occur, I will also ask about how they handled starting over – what choices were they making when group members made mistakes? Which ones were helpful and which ones were not?
Let us know your thoughts about this one. Leave a Comment so we can learn more.
All the best,
Chris Cavert, Ed.D.
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