The PretzelA classic team bonding exercise- The Pretzel game is designed to help teams communicate and cooperate more efficiently. The team members all gather around in a circle and join hands with different team members not directly next to them. After the team makes an intricate "pretzel," the teammates must then try to unravel themselves and make one complete circle.
This challenge demonstrated the strong communication the members of our team have with each other. No one was too bossy or resistant, and we found that it was not difficult to get through the exercise. Though there was some issues regarding height (Brandon is pretty tall), this activity was a good way to develop communication skills between us all. |
Whose Shoes??
Throw everyone's shoes into one huge pile. One by one a member picks a shoe and describes the personality of someone who would wear that shoe. The purpose of this activity is to identify stereotypes and understand the individual beyond his/her stereotype.
From this experience we learned a lot about the individuals in our group based solely off their shoes. For example, if someone picked up an athletic shoe, they might say that the person who would wear that shoe would be really into sports. When we did it something that happened was we picked up Lindsay's sneaker and described a female athlete but then later found out she actually is a huge Potterhead and enjoys reading and other activities. |
Trust Falls (Random??) |
Each group member performs a trust fall with every other member. For those of you who do not know what trust falls are, they are when one person faces opposite of another person and falls backward and the other person has to catch them. What we learned from this activity is that Lindsay is not the best catcher, despite being a D1 athlete. Being the rambunctious group we are, we also decided that we will constantly be initiating random trust falls across campus to expand on the trust we have already developed.
***UPDATE- Lindsay still isn't good at trust falls in Dhall. |
Ninja Game (More for fun than anything)
Ninja is a game where players must be quick and fast to try to "chop" at the other players hands to eliminate them from the game. The group of players all stand close to one another and start at "ready position." After the game begins, one by one players get a chance to make a swift arm motion to try to hit one of the other players' hands and eliminate them from the game.
Although we all were pretty great Ninjas, in the end Carney was the first one eliminated (shocker since he was playing with a bunch of athletes) and Canyon was the ultimate victor. This game allowed us to socialize further in a relaxing, active way. |
Group Stand Up ActivityThis activity is very similar to trust falls. Two members of the team are seated back to back on the ground and have to stand up together as quickly and efficiently as possible. The results to this activity were relatively similar to the trust fall exercise- due to both revolving around physical sizes.
We did also do one giant group stand up, where instead of a duo the entire group sat back to back and we all had to stand up. This actually was easier than expected and we were able to do it successfully in the first attempt. |
"Fears in a hat" ExerciseCarney- Biggest fear is being buried alive. The group discussed this fear and decided that the greatest way to deal with it is to remember the likeliness of it happening. Being able to remember that this would be a rare occurrence helps ease Carney when he thinks about it.
Lindsay- Biggest fear is claustrophobia. The group decided that if or when Lindsay is in a small space she should remain calm and even her breathing to remain rational about the situation. Brandon- Biggest fear are house centipedes. House centipedes, as disgusting and quick moving as they are, are relatively harmless to humans and can be squished in an instant. Reminding Brandon that he can solve the problem somewhat helps him deal with seeing the insects. CITATIONS FOR THIS PAGE:
"Fears in a Hat"- icebreakers.ws Images: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup/pictures/7825096/Germany-v-Australia-World-Cup-Group-D-match-in-pictures.html http://thewanderingnarrative.blogspot.com/2011/10/do-you-remember.html http://justprompts.dreamwidth.org/2009/10/06/ http://www.recoverfromheartdisease.com/group/ http://kickingitin.com/your-first-marathon-get-whats-on-this-list-and-nail-your-first-26-2/ |
Ryan- Biggest fear is dark waters. For obvious reasons dark waters also seemed terrifying to the rest of the group. Our group's solution to this fear was to just avoid dark waters and there would be no issue. If you have to come in contact with dark waters just try to remain calm and swim swiftly to shore while thinking about other things.
Canyon- Biggest fear when Chik-fil-a is close on sundays/ fear of drowning. After the group scolded Canyon for putting in a joke fear while we all put in real ones, we decided to remind Canyon that if you're being conscious and responsible in water drowning should never be a serious issue. We also told him that if he wants to eliminate this fear even further, he should be exposed to swimming more often and hone his skills as a swimmer. Also, just go to Chik-fil-a on saturdays to avoid trauma. |