Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Activities: 10-year olds and high school students

Anexkahn · 04-07-2007, 10:01 AM

A good idea for a first meeting, depending on the group size, would be to do some sort of team building type activities. Have the high schoolers act as facilitators while the 10 yr olds run through the events. This age group are generally very receptive to this activity. And it gets them working together, doing something, and is a great icebreaker.

It would require that you meet with the high schoolers prior to the event and "train" them on how to properly facilitate teambuilding activities. Make sure to stress the points of guiding to a proper outcome, giving hints when frustration is occuring, inclusion of every member of the group, and the benefit of debriefing the activity to enforce points learned.

Depending on the number of participants you could expect this to last anywhere from an hour to as long as you want provided you had enough stations set up.

You can google for quite a few team building activities, but here are a few of my favorites, from 13 years of running a youth camp that require very little in the way of materials, and kids tend to enjoy:

Name Catch -- Have the group stand in a large circle, begin by having each person introduce themselves so that everyone knows each persons name. Toss a ball or other object into the circle and call a persons name out as you throw it to them (i like to use a roll of toilet paper because its added streamers add effect). That person has to pick someone else and throw the ball to a new person calling them out by name. This continues until the ball goes to each person and back to the starter. Continue this with each person throwing the ball to the same person they did before, calling out his or her name each time they throw it. Stop the activity occasionally and ask if anyone thinks they can go around the entire circle naming everyone there correctly. Spice it up a bit by starting multiple balls so that you have 4 or 5 going around.

Nukes in the night -- get a coffee can, fill with water, get a 5 gallon bucket, place 10' away from teh coffee can. Get a tire intertube and cut a piece of rubber so you have a large "rubber band" -- double it over if necessary so that it stretches to go around the coffee can. Tie 5' pieces of rope to the rubber band -- about 7 or so pieces, so that when all pulled taught the rubber band stretches out. Tear up a bed sheet to make blindfolds. The objective is to stretch the rubber band around the can full of water, without touching the can, or the water, lift up the can, carry it to the 5g bucket and then empty the water without spilling any of the "neuclear waste" It takes quite a bit of team work to make this happen. Once they successfully have done it, discuss what went well and what didn't. The discussion should focus around having a single person lead what the others do instead of everyone trying to do their own thing. Have them pick a leader, who gets to stay unblind folded and blindfold the rest, this leader now has to explain without touching the apparatus to guide the group to execute the same procedure as before.

Team on a tarp -- Get a large camping tarp. lay it out on the ground and have the participants step onto it. Then fold the tarp in half and have them all get on it again. Repeat and see how many "folds" the team can get while still getting their entire team on the tarp. Debrief talking about what worked, what didn't, how to have a plan for getting people on, looking at strenghts and weeknesses etc.

Catterpiller Crawl -- get 2 8' 2x6 boards, drill holes and cut rope to make "foot holds" every 2 feet or so on the 2x6. The team gets on the skiis, strapping in, and has to navigate a course that can involve some turns etc. Talk about how having a single person calling when to lift one foot and slide forward can help bring order to the chaotic situation.

Wind in the Willows -- This is a work up to trust falls, Have 1 participant stand in the center of all other participants with arms folded. The circle holds their hands up in front of them. Blind fold the person in the center (the willow) and have them stand perfectly straight and gently lean towards the outside circle (the wind). Start with a very tight circle and slowly back up so that the person in the center is gently swaying farther and farther each time. Change up people in the center and discuss trust issues and how it felt not knowing if someone would stop them from falling or not.

human ladder -- get about 6 1-1.5" wodden dowels, (old closet rods make a good substitute) These should be about 3' in length. Participants stand in 2 lines facing each other. Each holding a dowel at waist height with one person on each end of the dowel. One person climbs the dowel as a horizontal ladder, and keeps moving across it. As they clear the back of the ladder, that "rung" moves to the front of the line and extends the ladder even further. You can make a course for them to crawl through, or add a variety by having some people hold dowels higher and lower than others making hills and valleys to traverse.

04-07-2007, 10:01 AM	#3 (permalink)
Anexkahn Crazy Location: whOregon	A good idea for a first meeting, depending on the group size, would be to do some sort of team building type activities. Have the high schoolers act as facilitators while the 10 yr olds run through the events. This age group are generally very receptive to this activity. And it gets them working together, doing something, and is a great icebreaker. It would require that you meet with the high schoolers prior to the event and "train" them on how to properly facilitate teambuilding activities. Make sure to stress the points of guiding to a proper outcome, giving hints when frustration is occuring, inclusion of every member of the group, and the benefit of debriefing the activity to enforce points learned. Depending on the number of participants you could expect this to last anywhere from an hour to as long as you want provided you had enough stations set up. You can google for quite a few team building activities, but here are a few of my favorites, from 13 years of running a youth camp that require very little in the way of materials, and kids tend to enjoy: Name Catch -- Have the group stand in a large circle, begin by having each person introduce themselves so that everyone knows each persons name. Toss a ball or other object into the circle and call a persons name out as you throw it to them (i like to use a roll of toilet paper because its added streamers add effect). That person has to pick someone else and throw the ball to a new person calling them out by name. This continues until the ball goes to each person and back to the starter. Continue this with each person throwing the ball to the same person they did before, calling out his or her name each time they throw it. Stop the activity occasionally and ask if anyone thinks they can go around the entire circle naming everyone there correctly. Spice it up a bit by starting multiple balls so that you have 4 or 5 going around. Nukes in the night -- get a coffee can, fill with water, get a 5 gallon bucket, place 10' away from teh coffee can. Get a tire intertube and cut a piece of rubber so you have a large "rubber band" -- double it over if necessary so that it stretches to go around the coffee can. Tie 5' pieces of rope to the rubber band -- about 7 or so pieces, so that when all pulled taught the rubber band stretches out. Tear up a bed sheet to make blindfolds. The objective is to stretch the rubber band around the can full of water, without touching the can, or the water, lift up the can, carry it to the 5g bucket and then empty the water without spilling any of the "neuclear waste" It takes quite a bit of team work to make this happen. Once they successfully have done it, discuss what went well and what didn't. The discussion should focus around having a single person lead what the others do instead of everyone trying to do their own thing. Have them pick a leader, who gets to stay unblind folded and blindfold the rest, this leader now has to explain without touching the apparatus to guide the group to execute the same procedure as before. Team on a tarp -- Get a large camping tarp. lay it out on the ground and have the participants step onto it. Then fold the tarp in half and have them all get on it again. Repeat and see how many "folds" the team can get while still getting their entire team on the tarp. Debrief talking about what worked, what didn't, how to have a plan for getting people on, looking at strenghts and weeknesses etc. Catterpiller Crawl -- get 2 8' 2x6 boards, drill holes and cut rope to make "foot holds" every 2 feet or so on the 2x6. The team gets on the skiis, strapping in, and has to navigate a course that can involve some turns etc. Talk about how having a single person calling when to lift one foot and slide forward can help bring order to the chaotic situation. Wind in the Willows -- This is a work up to trust falls, Have 1 participant stand in the center of all other participants with arms folded. The circle holds their hands up in front of them. Blind fold the person in the center (the willow) and have them stand perfectly straight and gently lean towards the outside circle (the wind). Start with a very tight circle and slowly back up so that the person in the center is gently swaying farther and farther each time. Change up people in the center and discuss trust issues and how it felt not knowing if someone would stop them from falling or not. human ladder -- get about 6 1-1.5" wodden dowels, (old closet rods make a good substitute) These should be about 3' in length. Participants stand in 2 lines facing each other. Each holding a dowel at waist height with one person on each end of the dowel. One person climbs the dowel as a horizontal ladder, and keeps moving across it. As they clear the back of the ladder, that "rung" moves to the front of the line and extends the ladder even further. You can make a course for them to crawl through, or add a variety by having some people hold dowels higher and lower than others making hills and valleys to traverse.