In this activity, the team has to work together to flip a tablecloth from one side to the other using only their feet!
Resources:
A tablecloth or a piece of fabric in a similar size, preferably one with a ‘front’ and ‘back’ (e.g. one side has a print while the other is just a solid colour)
Space Required: Large. Preferably indoors, where there is a clean surface for participants to lie down.
Group Size: 6 – 30 participants. If you have a large number of people, you may split them into groups of 6 – 10 pax.
Total Time: 20 minutes
- 5 minutes to brief and setup
- 10 minutes for the activity
- 5 minutes to review and debrief
Set-Up
- Prepare one tablecloth/piece of fabric for each small team
- You may want to pre-inform participants to dress appropriately in pants so that they can participate in this activity
Running the Activity
- Explain the activity: In this activity, the team must flip a tablecloth to the other side. The catch: you can only use your feet!
- Instruct participants to form a circle and then get them to lie on their backs on the floor, with their feet facing inwards. Once they are positioned, instruct them to raise their feet. Drape the tablecloth over their raised feet with the printed or ‘front’ side down.
- The team then has 5 minutes to flip the tablecloth over so that the ‘front’/printed side is facing upwards. They can only use their feet and cannot move or get up from their positions on the floor. If the tablecloth falls off their feet, the facilitator should place it back to the original starting position.
- If the team is unsuccessful at flipping the tablecloth within the allotted 5 minutes, give them a second attempt. Allocate 5 minutes of planning time before starting the second attempt.
Suggested Learning Outcomes
- Problem-solving
- Creativity
- Communication
- Teamwork Flip
Variations
- Instead of using their feet to flip the tablecloth, you can also get participants to only use their fists. Instruct them to form a circle and sit on the floor with their backs in the middle. Get them to raise their arms and clench their fists. You can provide socks for them to wear on their hands so that they cannot use their thumbs when flipping the tablecloth.
- Change the shape of the tablecloth/fabric in order to change the difficulty level of the activity. For example, use an oval-shaped tablecloth/fabric instead of a rectangular one.
- To increase the challenge, you can blindfold several members of the group during the activity.
Review
Suggested questions to ask:
- What was your strategy to complete the activity?
- Did a leader emerge during the activity? How did having a leader affect the team’s performance?
- How important was communication during this activity?
- If there was a second round, how did the planning time help you be more effective in completing the activity?
- What did you learn?
