Balloon Crab Walk

Materials

• One balloon per person
• One trashcan or something that can act as a goal per every two people

Designate a start and finish line. (Explain the rules to the participants before giving them each a balloon.) They are to do the crab walk from the start to finish line while keeping the balloon off the ground. If the balloon touches the ground, the participant must start over at the start line. Once they get to the finish line, the participant has to get the balloon in the goal.

Once everyone is done, have them partner up. Together, each partnership is to get one balloon from the start line into the goal. (Designate a place for the participants to put the balloon they are not using). The game finishes when everyone has gotten their balloon in their goal.


Variation
Add a string at the start and finish line about one foot high. This creates a new obstacle for the participants.
Make a rule that they can only say uplifting things to each other - I like to do this when participants finish before each other because sometimes they can say rude things. This way they know up front they need to be positive and uplifting.

Lessons Learned
Talk about how difficult it was to complete the task alone.
Ask if it was easier alone or with a partner - talk about the importance of support networks and what their support network is in the facility and at home.
Talk about problem solving - what methods did and did not work, how did they find out the methods that did work, did others help them to solve their problem (either by giving advice or watching a peer do it successfully).
Give them a pen/pencil and a piece of paper. Tell them to think of a time that someone helped them and have the write about that time and how they can pass it forward.

Have you led this game or one similar? How did you implement it? What are other ways you could process this group?

Photo Credit: https://www.google.com/search?q=kids+doing+crab+walk+with+balloon&client=firefox-a&hs=fED&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=fflb&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=MhQBVOHWGYvNggTMooD4Dw&ved=0CB8QsAQ&biw=848&bih=425#imgdii=_

What is that?

This task requires a bit of prep work but is totally worth it! In this post, I have the work sheet and all of the images necessary so all you will need to do is print them.

Before the participants come, number each image and tape them around the room (they do not need to be in numerical order). Give each participant a worksheet (a piece of paper with numbers 1-20). Tell them to walk around the room and write down what they think each image represents on the corresponding number on their worksheet. Tell them they get X amount of minutes to work on this task (you can decided based on your time frame - I usually have the participants work on it for 10-15 minutes).

After the time is up, have everyone gather around and ask the participants if they were helping one another and talk about why or why not. After discussing it, tell them to try again. Give them so many minutes to work on it.

After the time is up, call them together and tell them the correct answers. Talk about if they got more correct the first or second time and the lessons they learned.

Life Lessons:
Teamwork
Communication
Helping each other
How to be successful

The Worksheet:

The Answers:

1. Visa logo
2. UPS logo
3. IKEA logo
4. NBC logo
5. Motorola logo
6. Pepsi logo (new and old)
7. Olympics logo
8. Highest freefall sponsored by red bull
9. Royal wedding
10. Napoleon Dynamite
11. Karate Kid
12. SALT
13. Hunger Games
14. Indiana Jones
15. Alvin and the Chipmunks
16. Fast and Furious
17. Giants winning the World Series
18. The Notebook
19. Nike logo
20. Sea Hawks winning the Super Bowl in 2014

Please comment below on how you would use it with your population, thoughts on how it has worked for you, advice for others on how to implement it, and so on! We'd love to hear about it!

The Images:

 

 

 

(cut off the part that says "Hunger Games")

Image Credits

1. Visa logo: http://www.blogcdn.com/www.bloggingstocks.com/media/2010/05/visa-logo.jpg
2. UPS logo: http://www.logodesignsense.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/UPS-Logo.png
3. IKEA logo: http://www.globalinternships.se/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/ikea-logo.jpg
4. NBC logo: http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120109171309/memoryalpha/en/images/9/97/NBC_logo.png
5. Motorola logo: http://www.mobiletopsoft.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/motorola-logo.jpg
6. Pepsi logo (new and old): https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSzX92wTJ2tErq3q01jZle58nUAFbArhsvKi7cNRCL7lKNzkRKAPw
7. Olympics logo: https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQS6VRMUS-8taw9mTwJFbnb7z3ZDmCxIGykvOGF9Y2ITDS_H5K7
8. Highest freefall sponsored by red bull: https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS2Za6dkkBoBZZCaDyikO7ItG53e-zjCWf02ZoE_SC8JmBiASmA
9. Royal wedding: https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTMrVSsURZkV7KWhY9Jzc-fttq3Wz-fQ5vlWfYd66P9TLd9EwjA
10. Napoleon Dynamite: https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQfCUJKwpkfzrvKDG-g-ZSVsV6YF3Qqaav-KhzIsAJ4TqP3bdLr_A
11. Karate Kid: https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR-Pkrxw6PfL6CszUgBMnjhB08_YPxCFebsyxdu_tvX6u2aS7b_
12. SALT: https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQw6TW9cweJdl6gV7MHmasr7FTUD_32C7dJkRPjX-WpMiAJmbGYVA
13. Hunger Games: https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTUoj2Hw3mypFnjkB997zBXn4V9DmEDTQY4qGahxG5KbwW8e-pI
14. Indiana Jones: https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTWEl81owMCnxgV5m6KpXcyg3DvG3atwVswN0IG6qbsgHTr0PSG
15. Alvin and the Chipmunks: https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSKHgz24darcxRb2q0U-JYK1PKHXZcIADi8vm_vu4ZxYCwYuTmTMQ
16. Fast and Furious: https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQJr7plu92nYwY4agBNKR--jeiMB_-Qcl-rQBfg4zf7EbiwpO5VXA
17. Giants winning the World Series: https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR9xwUZ5zvme7h10Fjs8v2HHITxZ1z8W0jrmA3vqeTTG04_vnBjDg
18. The Notebook: https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQAbeqPSHa7A63hoGtmZ8QOkzmiHR1-djHPz6sirU9OdjH6tIKHsw
19. Nike logo: http://brandirectory.com/images/profile/logo/nike_swoosh_big.jpg
20. Seahawks winning the Superbowl in 2014: http://cmsimg.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=U0&Date=20140205&Category=PKR0101&ArtNo=140205038&Ref=AR&MaxW=640&Border=0&Packers-could-open-2014-season-vs-Super-Bowl-champ-Seahawks

Coping Skills Jeopardy

Split the group into two teams. The person leading the group picks one of the 100 point categories. Whichever team gets the question correct first will pick the next topic. Add the participants' points up as a team. They can talk about answers before they respond. Each correct question counts for as many points as the side says it does (100, 200, 300, 400, or 500). The game ends when the topics have all been used or you can set a point limit.

Life Lessons:
Talk about triggers-have participants name some of their personal triggers.
Talk about the participants' successful coping skills and some they would like to try.
Talk about humor and if/how that could help the participants.

 

Please comment below on how you would use it with your population, thoughts on how it has worked for you, advice for others on how to implement it, what you would process and so on! We'd love to hear about it!

Nitro Straws

Tell this story (or a similar one): “You are scientists working in a laboratory with nitroglycerin in test tubes. Somebody was walking along with a tray full of tubes and tripped, making the tubes fly. You all rushed together and caught the tubes in your hands as you have them now. You had to catch them in this way because the sides are very fragile, and if you touched them they would likely break and cause a huge explosion. Such an extraordinary feat caught the attention of the press, and they would like a photo of you, but they need to see your faces. As a collective group you need to turn around so you end up facing outward. You need to do this without dropping the straws or touching the sides, otherwise everything blows up, and you must begin again.”

Everyone stands in a circle facing inward. Each participant points both fingers (arms at their sides with elbows bent at a ninety degree angle). The right palm should be facing up, and the left palm should be facing down. Place a straw in between the boys’ fingers (one boy’s finger on top and another boy’s finger on bottom and so on around the circle). They must figure out how to turn around without touching the sides of the straws or dropping them. If they accidentally do, they must restart.  

Variation:
Blindfold a participant if they are getting it too quickly or one person is always the leader, and you want someone else to step up.

Life Lessons:
This game is very frustrating so talk about their frustration, what they did, what they could have done better, what worked, etc.
Teamwork
Communication
Problem Solving

Please Comment Below: Have you used this activity or one similar to it? What was your experience with it? I'd love to hear any ways that you have adapted it or processed it!

Photo Credit: http://m7.i.pbase.com/u35/sleeper55/upload/23113917.Straws.jpg

Draw Your Own Island

Depending on your group size, you can have the students do this individually or split the students into groups. Give the student or group the butcher paper. Tell the students they are stuck on an island for one year (you can tell a story about how they are on a plane or boat that crashes and help will not be there for a year). They have a box in the middle of the island that they can pull anything out of that they want. They are to draw the outline of their island and what will be on it. Then give them the markers and tell them to start. This activity can last about 30 minutes. Throughout, stop them to process what they are drawing and why and process the entire task at the end.

Materials:

·      At least one marker per participant

·      Butcher Paper (one for every five or six participants)

Life Lessons: 
This is a value clarification activity so talk with the participants about what they value and how their drawings did or did not represent their values, how they show what they value each day, etc.

Please Comment Below: How did this activity work with your clients? What other activities have you done for value clarification?

Photo Credit: http://mothersofbrothers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Image-2.jpg 

Pipeline

Tell the participants the rules and have them figure out their order. Once they have that down, put the marble in the first pipe, and the participants will try to figure out how to continue moving it to the bowl. If the marble hits the floor, they must start over – give them a few moments to come up with a strategy. Ask what did and did not work to help them get going.

Rules:

·       Alike pipes cannot touch

·       Cannot touch others’ pipes with your hands/feet/etc.

·       Cannot touch marble

·       Must stay in the same order throughout the whole activity

·       Marble must move through the pipe

·       Once the marble is in a pipe, that pipe cannot move towards the bowl

Materials:

·       A PVC pipe for each participant (Half should be completely round and the other half should have the top cut off)

·       One marble

·       A bowl

 Life Lessons:
Importance of working together-no one could have done this by themselves just as they cannot reach all of their goals by themselves
Talk about how they approached this activity and how this compares to how they approach their treatment 
 Communication 
 Speed of the activity: was it easier when they went slow or fast? 
 Leadership


Please Comment Below: Do you have any tips or words of advice for running this activity or one similar?


Picture Credit: http://myparadigmshift.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/pipeline-pic1.jpg
 

Spy Master

Ask players to gather together and close their eyes. Tell them they are all detectives and will be given a mystery to solve. Walk quickly around the circle and secretly tap one person who becomes the spymaster (you can tap a few more if you have a lot of participants). Tell everyone how many spy masters are in the game. Everyone else is a detective. Make sure all eyes stay closed. Circle the group several more times so the identity isn't given away.

Ask players to open their eyes and mingle around the room giving each other compliments and talking about their day. The spymaster should mix talking with "you've been double crossed." The person who was double crossed mingles one or two more times and then falls as dramatically to the floor as he/she would like. 
Detectives (all of the players who are not spy masters) try to uncover the identity of the spymaster throughout the course of the game. When a participant thinks he knows who the spy master is, he calls out, "I know the spy master!"and then calls the person's name out. Everyone votes to say if they think this person is or not. If the majority vote that they think the person is the spy master, the person is out of the game, whether the person is the spy master or not. 
Two ways to win: all of the spy masters are out of the game (detectives win) or the spy masters are the only ones left (spy masters win) When the round ends, appoint a new spymaster.



 Life Lessons
Talk about the importance of giving compliments (how it affects mood, etc.)
Discuss what it is like to be 'double-crossed' and how to deal with it
Talk about assumptions (if they guessed the wrong spy master) and the consequences of assuming 

Please Comment Below: What did you think of this activity? How did it go over with your group?

Here are a few links to ideas on how to lead activities better:

• Why Leadership and Activities are Important 

• Correctly Using Leadership

• Leading the Activity (Problem Solving, Group Control, etc.)

• Handling Different Age Groups

• Managing Large Groups and Choosing Teams (relays, team spirit, including everyone, etc.)

Pictures Credits: http://cache4.asset-cache.net/gc/82193145-group-of-teenagers-talking-together-outdoors-gettyimages.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=g55RrC%2FeJu9k2VRwWE3rgmhwmTV8XCJOe3ZI1vj0RFc%3D