The objective of this blindfold activity is for smaller sub-teams to work together and communicate effectively to retrieve a bomb before the other teams. This fun challenge focusses on communication and cooperation.
Equipment Required: Rope to mark start line, blindfold for each team and a ‘bomb’ e.g. a mini football.
Space Required: Medium to Large. Indoors or outdoors.
Group Size: 6 to 12 but can be done with larger groups (rotating roles)
Total Time: 30 minutes
- 5 minutes to brief and set up
- 20 minutes for team activity (rotate team roles)
- 5 minutes to review and debrief
Robots Blindfold Challenge Instructions
Split the group into smaller sub-teams of 3-5 people. There are three key roles in each team. The first participant is the ‘Robot’. They stand blindfolded in front of the start line, facing out into the game area. Position participant two on the other side of the starting line facing away from the activity area. They are the ‘Communicator’. Participant three stands facing the activity area and observes the Robot. This participant must not talk – they may use any other communication method to indicate direction to participant two. Participant two must then verbalise these signals and guide the robot to retrieve the bomb.
If there are more than 3 in a team, either rotate them between roles or assign extra observers and communicators. The objective of the challenge is for robots to retrieve the ‘bomb’ from the activity area before the other teams.
- Robot – blindfolded, facing bomb, only participant permitted in the
activity area. - Communicator – faces away from activity area, must NEVER observe the
robot. - Observer – faces activity area, cannot talk at all
Suggested Learning Outcomes
- Problem Solving
- Communication (verbal, non-verbal and listening)
- Cooperation
- Trust
Useful Tips
If you’re working with smaller teams then just have one team instead of several competing against each other. Allocate three minutes to complete the challenge for each round then rotate so everyone has the opportunity to be a robot.
Think about your positioning when observing the activity – ensure you have full view of all robots for safety and stop any of them if they step out of the activity area.
Questions to ask during the review:
Did you come up with a strategy before starting the challenge?
Did you adapt your game plan?
How did you feel being blindfolded? Did you always trust your communicators?
How difficult was it to communicate your signals without having to speak?
How difficult was it to understand those signals and translate them for the robot?
Did you get frustrated at any point?
Looking back is there anything you would do differently?
hi guys this game was a bit off
Jeff, What did you find that was a bit off with this activity?