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SPIDERS WEB
A really simple exercise of group work and ingenuity (and that’s just the setting-up among the leaders)
You’ll want to work with groups of about half-a-dozen to complete this exercise. In advance, tie pieces of wool or string across some form of passage or doorway (though not a fire-escape!) at differing heights and angles - leaving enough space to fit a body through. Explain to your group that their task is to get the whole team through the door, without touching any of the threads (think Catherine Zeta- Jones in Entrapment if you want a reference point that will show your age and make young people look confused) with the added complication that each ‘gap’ can only be used by the team once. Encourage them to think and discuss how they might help each other get through. If any of the team touches a thread explain that they have awakened some form of giant spider and the whole team has to start again from the beginning. If you’ve got the time and space, you could construct a 3D version. As ever, if an element of competitiveness would aid your group in completing the task you could time how long each team takes - but the real challenge in this task is completing it as a team and not being ‘better at it’ than anyone else.
Group-bonding potential: 7/10.
Nothing says ‘we’re a team’ like wrestling to lift each other through gaps in a woollen web.
TANGLE-TUNNEL
This game is more complicated to explain than it is to play, much like Risk, or Settlers of Catan
5 Divide your group into smaller teams of six to eight (if numbers allow) and line them up, one behind another. Get each person to place their left hand between their legs, reaching backwards, and then with their right hand grasp the left hand of the person in front of them. (The person at the front will have their right hand free, and the person at the back will have their left hand free.) The goal is for the line to untangle themselves without letting go of hands, or lifting their feet over the chain. In essence, the back person has to crawl through the legs of the people in front of them, and as they pass through each person’s legs, that person then has to follow on in order to avoid letting go and breaking the chain. When everyone has crawled through, the line should be untangled. Once you’ve done this in smaller teams, try it with the whole group in one line.
Group-bonding potential: 2/10.
To be honest, there are very few scenarios where a group works better by crawling between each other’s legs, but it’s a fun activity anyway.
ISLANDS
This game is probably the closest we’ll ever get to replicating Takeshi’s Castle
For this game you will need a hall, which has a floor that you can mark lots of ‘islands’ on. (Tape or chalk both work for these, depending on your floor surface.) These shapes need to be close enough together that people can move from one to another without having to be long-jump experts, and small enough so it’s tricky for two people to pass each other on the ‘islands’ without stepping off. Place them liberally around the hall so that it is possible to get from one end of the hall to the other on these islands. Divide your group into two teams and start each team at opposite ends of the hall. Explain that the aim of the game is for the whole team to get from one end of the hall to the other without stepping off an ‘island’ (into the ‘sea’) and without touching a member of the opposite team. Each team takes it in turns for one player to move one step - this can be a small step or a large leap, but they have to land cleanly within an island. If they overbalance, take another step to steady themselves, or put a limb outside of the island, they have to go back to the start. Equally if they touch a member of the other team in this move then they must go back to the beginning (although opposition team members are not allowed to deliberately move to ensure that they are touched!). Get each team to nominate a captain who makes the final choice over who makes a move each turn, and keep the game moving by putting a time limit on each move. This is a game of teamwork and strategy so allow some time at the start of each game for the teams to discuss their tactics.
Group-bonding potential: 8/10.
Getting a group to work together in a scenario based around islands can help prevent a Lord of the Flies style disaster if any future youth group outings go awry.
TURN THE RAFT
This game would be much better with real sharks, but that’s not allowed (it would be a ‘health and safety nightmare’, apparently)
You will need some form of floor covering that is both sturdy and large enough for your group to stand on; a tarpaulin, ground sheet or large rug would work. Lay your sheet out flat on the ground and get your group to stand on it. Explain that they are actually standing on a raft in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, surrounded by shark-infested water. For some reason (that has temporarily escaped your mind) they need to turn the raft over so that they are all standing on the other side of it. Explain that no one is allowed to touch the water, and if anyone is ‘lost’ overboard they need to restart the process. Allow them to work out suitable techniques for supporting each other and keeping them all on-board. If they find it too easy, try reducing the size of the ‘raft’ available.
Group-bonding potential: 5/10.
Very rarely will a group find itself in a scenario where they are adrift on a raft in the middle of an ocean, and even rarer still are situations where they need to flip the raft over. However, if it does occur, this exercise will prove invaluable.
