Overview:
In this activity, participants will work together to tape a suspended participant to the wall with duct tape.
Resources:
- Two rolls of ducts tape
- Scissors
- A chair or small step ladder per group
Space Required: Can be indoors or outdoors but you need a wall – preferably brick.
Group Size: 6 people per group. No maximum.
Total Time: 50 minutes
- 5 minutes to describe the activity
- 8 minutes planning time
- 27 minutes for implementation
- 10 minutes to debrief
Prerequisite: None
Set Up
- Give each group 2 rolls of duct tape and two pairs of scissors
- Start the activity near a wall – preferably brick.
Running the Activity
- Objective: To work together to tape a suspended participant to the wall with duct tape.
- Warning: This is not for all groups and all settings. Know your group. In the end, each group will have duct taped an individual to a wall. The participant will have been standing on a box or small step ladder. When the box/ladder is removed…the participant should stick to the wall.
- Your pre-brief should be very focused around safety – physical and emotional. Make sure that the person who volunteers (and it should be a genuine volunteer) understands what will be happening. Also, make sure no one is claustrophobic. Make sure that all participants know that they can be cut down at any minute.
- DO NOT TAPE THEIR ARMS TO THE WALL!
- Only their torso and legs should be taped…and in an appropriate manner. Never tape their arms, neck, face, mouth, etc.
- Make sure they are not having any breathing difficulties. The warnings sound ominous. Done right it is a fun and engaging activity.
Suggested Learning Outcomes
- Planning
- Collaboration
- Leadership
- Resource Utilization
- Clarity
- Communication
Activity Guidance and Notes
Use your common sense in facilitating this activity. Make sure everyone is physically and emotionally safe and truly opting in to be the taped person. This activity requires planning, collaboration and communication. It also requires the group, more than most activities, to create clarity with the volunteer who can opt out at any time. To be successful, the group really needs to stay emotionally connected while completing the task. Make sure you have spotters around the taped person when the box/chair is removed to make sure they do not fall.
Review
Suggested questions to ask:
- How did you use your planning time?
- When you started the implementation time did you feel ready? What could you have done differently?
- How did you decide on who was going to be taped? Did they feel any pressure at the start, middle or end?
- Where you successful? How did you define success?
- Where you as successful at the relationship aspects and as you were the task?
- If you were the taped person, who was the experience? What could the group have done differently to make it a better experience?
This has to be the most inappropriate team building ever!