In this team building activity, the team has to build a 1 meter tall structure that will hold up a beach ball for at least 10 seconds, using only the materials provided.
Resources: 20 sheets of newspaper, 1 roll of masking tape, 1 beach ball
Space Required: Small to medium. Ideally indoors.
Group Size: 6 – 10 is ideal. If you have a bigger group, you may want to split them into smaller teams of 4 – 6 people to make it more competitive.
Total Time: 30 minutes
- 5 minutes to brief and setup
- 15 minutes for the activity (planning & construction)
- 10 minutes to review and debrief
Set Up:
- Inflate the beach ball
- Prepare one set of resources for each small team, if necessary
Running the Activity
- Explain the activity: Using only the materials provided, the team has to build a structure that will hold up the inflated beach ball at least 1 meter off the floor for at least 10 seconds. They will receive 5 minutes of planning time, followed by 8 minutes to construct and test their structure.
- Once they are ready, start the timer for 5 minutes of planning time. Thereafter, the teams 8 minutes of construction time. Any testing of the structure must be done within the construction time.
- At the end of the activity, the team has to place the beach ball on the structure. The trainer(s) will measure the height of the structure and time how long the beach ball stays on the structure.
Rules
- Only the provided materials can be used during the challenge.
- The beach ball cannot be changed in any way.
- The team is given 5 minutes of planning time, followed by 8 minutes of construction time. Any testing of the structure must be done within the construction time.
- The structure must hold the beach ball at least 1 meter off the floor.
- The beach ball must stay on the structure for at least 10 seconds.
Suggested Learning Outcomes
- Problem solving
- Communication
- Planning
- Time management
Activity Guidance and Notes
This activity encourages teams to come up with a creative solution to hold up the beach ball. It can be done in small groups as a race or as a whole group with more focus on inclusion and discussion. If you have a larger group, you can split them into smaller teams and get them  competing against each other to see who can solve the problem the quickest or whose beach ball can stay on the structure for the longest.
Review
Suggested questions to ask:
- How much planning did you do before attempting the challenge?
- What worked? What didn’t work or hindered your progress?
- Did you identify a leader? If yes, how did having a leader help?
- What were the individual roles people played? Was everyone comfortable with their role?
- How well did you communicate during the challenge?
- What did you learn from the challenge?
