SYNERGY Activities

Station 1:

Activity Name: Swamp

Objective: To develop communication and collaboration between

the members of the team.

Materials and Procedure:

o Stepping stones (pieces of cardboard etc enough for 2 people to
stand on)
 Each team should have 1 less than a safe object for each
pair (eg. If you have 10 students on a team, there would be 5
pairs. They should start with 4 safe objects, with a possible
5th they can win)
 If you want it to be easier, you can give them more stepping
stones to start (eg. Number of people / 2)
o 2 objects to collect (balls, bottles…anything really!)
 Teams must cross from point A to point B without touching the ground
within a time limit (e.g. 20-30 min)
 They use safe objects (carpet squares, Frisbees, etc) as stepping stones
o Teams may talk and strategize as long as they want, but as soon
as they or one of their objects crosses the line, there is NO talking
o Place 2 trading objects in the field
 If the team retrieves them, they can trade them for 2 minutes
of talk time, or one extra safe object
Other Guidelines:
1. Safety first!
2. Objects can only move forwards
3. You cannot use any other things to help you (eg. A tree if you are outside,
a desk in the class)
4. If any member of the team touches the swamp, the whole team and all the
objects return to the start. STILL NO TALKING!

Debriefing Measures:
1. What did you team do well? What could you have done better?
2. Describe your strategy- what made it work/ not work?
3. How did your team communicate after you couldn't talk anymore?
4. *Variation* If you want your students to learn the idea of integrity, have
them monitor their own teams if they touch the ground or not. Discuss if
they were honest after.
Station 2:

Activity Name: Human Knot

Objective: To let student leaders realize the value of

interconnectedness and camaraderie.

Materials and Procedure:

 Students stand in a circle. All students put their right hand in and hold
hands with someone else (not right beside them)Now that they are all in a
knot, they must try to untangle themselves, without letting go of each
other’s hands
o Next do the same but with the left hand
 Safety first!

Station 3:

Activity Name: Disappearing Island

Objective: To develop critical and creative thinking skills in times

of urgency.

Materials and Procedure:

 Using a tarp or blanket, have everyone stand on “the island”
 Each round, the island gets smaller by folding the tarp. The goal is for the
students to come up with creative and safe ways to fit the whole team on
the island as it gets smaller

Station 4:

Activity Name: Sightless Survivor

Objective: To develop trustworthiness to team members in terms

of capability and ability to win endeavors.

Materials and Procedure:

 Create a boundary (circle of rope, area in the gym etc)
 Place a number of balls in the boundary (ideally small, soft, squishy ones
that don’t hurt!)
 Students are in pairs, one will be blindfolded
 The objective is to be the last pair standing
 o The partner who can see will direct the blindfolded partner to the
balls and try to get them to throw a ball and hit someone else
o If either partner is hit, the pair is out of that round

Other Guidelines:
1. Underhand throws only
2. You can only have 2 balls in your possession at once
3. If the blindfolded partner steps out of the boundary, the pair is out

Debriefing Measures:
1. How did you communicate with your partner? Was it easy or hard?
2. What types of words did you use? Were you specific? Or did you give
instructions like “Go over there”?
3. Did you like being the blindfolded partner or the guide better? Why?

Station 5:

Activity Name: Trust Walk

Objective: To develop trust and faith between team members at all

times, in all endeavors.

Materials and Procedure:

 This can be done in partners or as a whole class
 Blindfolded students must trust each other on the walk to keep each other
safe and to reach the final destination
 If the whole class is blindfolded, the teacher can use a sound (clapping,
rocks hitting each other, whistle etc) to guide students on a path

Debriefing Measures:
1. Did you take care of your team? Did you check in with them to see if they
were ok?
2. How did you communicate with each other?
3. Did you feel safe?
4. What was it like being blindfolded?

Station 6:

Activity Name: Knot, Not a Knot

Objective: To help participants realize the value of unity in decision

making and implementations of plans.

Materials and Procedure:

  Take a long rope and arrange it so that it is very difficult to tell if there is a
knot in it
 Have students observe the rope without touching it and decide if there is a
knot
 The whole group must decide unanimously if there is one or not
o This allows discussion, gives students a chance to debate and
persuade each other, to explain why they think their opinion is right
o Many times they split into 2 groups: those who think yes, and those
who think no
 Feel free to give each group some paper and markers to
come up with a short speech to try to convince the other
group
 They can elect a spokesperson

Station 7:

Activity Name: Group Jump

Objective: To challenge strength and courage of team members as

they focus on a given task.

Materials and Procedure:

1. Big, open, flat space; a long and thick rope that can accommodate all
students
2. There must be two rope turners
3. Participants must all jump over the rope together 3 consecutive times
given a time limit.

Station 8:

Activity Name: Plastic Cup Pyramid

Objective: To develop team member’s focus on given tasks.

Materials and Procedure:

1. Cups must be open end down
2. No part of your body may cross the boundary
3. If it does, you lose the use of one hand
4. If a string falls into the boundary, you may not retrieve it
5. Give them a time limit
Station 9:

Activity Name: Tube Race

Objective: To develop innovation, creativity and focus to win a

certain task.

Materials and Procedure:

1. Team members must create a track using tubes/sticks to carry a ball from
the beginning to the end
2. The ball may not touch the ground, start again if it does
3. Hands can only be used to place the ball on the track right at the
beginning

Station 10:

Activity Name: Keypunch

Objective: To develop planning skills of team members.

Materials and Procedure:

1. Set up a boundary, place numbered squared (not in any order) in the

boundary
2. The team must touch each numbered square in order. Only one person
can be inside the boundary at a time.
3. Timed event, you can do it 2 or 3 times to get best time

Station 11:

Activity Name: Maze

Objective: To help members identify correct responses to set

problems.

Materials and Procedure:

1. Set up a grid of spots, beginning and end lines

2. Team must discover the correct path through the maze. They may
strategize, but once someone enters the maze there is no talking.
3. Facilitator tells them yes or no (or makes cool sounds) each step they take
 4. Variation- split the group and have half of them start at one end and half at
the other with the same path (don’t tell them that they’re working together
or against each other- let them assume what they want)
a. Only one person allowed in the maze at a time

Station 12:

Activity Name: Lean Out

Objective: To make members realize the value of appreciating

success or achieve.

Materials and Procedure:

1. Paired with some sort of values activity before hand

a. Have students write out something important they want to achieve
on a notecard
2. Make a rope circle on the grass
3. Each person lies down with ankles on the edge of the circle
4. Place the notecard beside your ear, then go back inside the circle
5. Goal is to pick up your notecard without touching the ground or stepping
outside the circle (show that you can “achieve your goal”, but it might be
hard and you might need support from others)
6. The rest of the team must support you and lean you out

Station 13:

Activity Name: Tower Build

Objective: To test overall leadership and membership skills of the

team members.

Materials and Procedure:

1. Give each group a set of materials (cartulina, scissors, notecards etc)

2. Objective: each team will try to build the tallest tower that they can using
only the materials they have
3. Time limit (eg. 10 or 15 min)
4. Tower must stand on its own for at least 15 seconds