Recommended Group Size
20+ persons
5+ per team
Estimated Time
20 minutes
Purpose
To work as a team to complete a side of the square
Objective
To reassemble the square as quickly as possible
Materials
None
Procedure
Divide the participants into 4 teams.
Have teams line up, standing shoulder to shoulder, to form a line. All four teams then assemble to form a square, with each team forming one side of the square.
The facilitator goes into the center of the square and stands facing one of the teams. The facilitator will be acting as the “spinner”.
Each participant has to observe and remember 2 things:
The order in which their team is lined up.
Where their team is lined up in relation to the spinner: in front of, behind, to the left of, or to the right of.
Without saying a word, the spinner spins around several times and stops, facing a team. The spinner then calls, “Assemble the square!” The teams must quickly reassemble the original square around the spinner without talking.
If the spinner is still facing the same team after spinning, he/she must spin again until he/she is facing a different team.
When a team has correctly lined up in its new position, all of its team members shout, “We’re together!” and sit down. The last team to sit down receives a penalty point.
After several rounds of playing, have everyone sit down in their teams and discuss questions.
Continue with several more rounds to allow teams to redeem themselves. The team with the most penalty points at the end faces a penalty to be decided by the facilitator.
Discussion Questions
After the activity, facilitator leads the discussion:
What techniques did each team use to help them finish faster?
What challenges did you face when forming the line?
What can your team do better to finish faster?
Notes
Have someone time each round and challenge the teams to reassemble the square faster in each subsequent round. Participants can play this as many times as desired, and try to get faster times using different techniques.
If there is an uneven number of participants, keep the teams as even as possible. For example, teams can be 5-5-5-6, 5-5-6-6, or 5-6-6-6.