Blindfolded participants are given a rope to work with and working as a team are tasked with forming a number of geometric shapes defined by the facilitator.
Equipment Required: Blindfolds (for each person), 20-30ft of rope
Space Required: Medium. Delivered either indoors or outdoors.
Group Size: 8 to 12 ideally.
Total Time: 20-30 mins
- 5 minutes to brief and set up
- 10-20 minutes to achieve outcome
- 5 minutes to review
Brief/Challenge Instructions
- Ask the group to line up in a straight line and give everyone a blindfold.
- Get participants to put their hands in front of them and then place the length of the rope into their hands.
- Explain that everyone must hold onto the rope with both hands for the entire activity. Letting go of the rope, even for a moment is not permitted and will result in restarting the challenge.
- Now give them a shape to create with the rope. Start with something simple such as a square.
- When group members feel the task is completed, they can take off the blindfolds to check the results.
- Once they have completed the challenge, allow time to reflect on the task and review with the group.
- If time permits, give them another shape to form (triangle, hexagon, octagon).
Learning Targets
- Team strategy
- Cooperation
- Support and trust
- Communication
Useful Tips
Give members time to come up with a plan before putting on blindfolds. Once participants are ready, they may put down their blindfolds, however from that moment on they are not allowed to speak or use verbal signals
To make the challenge more difficult, tell the group they cannot talk during the challenge, give them a time limit, or get them to form two shapes from the same length of rope.
Doing this challenge with younger children can be quite difficult, so make the challenge easier by only blindfolding half the team (the ones that feel comfortable).
If you have a large group, divide into smaller teams of around 12 people and either get the teams to compete against one another or give them their own shape to form.
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