Blindfolded and under pressure, the group have to work together in a race against the clock to put up a tent. Blindfold tent build is a great challenge for developing communication and leadership skills.
Equipment Required: Basic 2 man tent
Space Required: Medium. Indoors or outdoors.
Group Size: 4Â to 6 ideally. For larger groups split them into teams and use more tents. If you don’t have the tents available then do a time trial with teams competing against each other.
Total Time:Â 40 minutes
- 5 minutes to brief and set up
- 10 minutes to practice and discuss
- 20 minutes to complete the challenge
- 5 minutes to review
Brief/Challenge Instructions
- Explain to the group that they will need to work together and build the tent as a team, however they will be blindfolded.
- Allow the team time to familiarise themselves with the tent and let them practice putting it up a couple of times.
- Give blindfolds to everyone in the group.
- Give them five to ten minutes to practice and come up with a plan.
- Begin the challenge. Allow 15-20 minutes to complete the challenge.
Suggested Learning Targets
- Problem Solving
- Cooperation
- Time management
- Leadership
- Communication
Useful Tips
If you need to make the challenge easier, blindfold only half of the group. The other half have to direct them during the challenge.
Alternatively, if you need to make it more challenging for the group, tell them that they cannot use words to communicate – only sounds (ensure you tell them this during the initial discussion phase).
Questions to ask in the review:
How important was planning? How did you decide who would do what?
Did anyone lead the challenge? What role did you all play within the team?
How about managing time? Did you have a time-keeper or did you just go with the flow?
Did you get frustrated at any point? If yes, why and how did you deal with that?
What was this challenge about? Why did we do it?
What did you learn from the task? How can you apply that in the future with (work, school, life, sports etc)?
Name one person that impressed during the challenge? What did they do that made a difference?
