extreme ed: activity guide

EXTREME ED: ACTIVITY GUIDE NICK PALKOWSKI

PAGE 1 DURATION: 15-30 MINUTES

Welcome

Experience is the greatest teacher. Doing to learn creates a lasting impression. This book is designed to give you some proven activities that will help your students learn and discuss important leadership concepts.

Life is full of teams. You are on a team (multiple actually). You are on your work team, your school team, your family team. It is important that we take the time to learn how to work effectively on those teams.

Having been a part of both high and low performing teams, I am dedicated to figuring out what the difference between the two actually is and more importantly, how student organizations can increase their teams performance.

A big key to team success is to engage in discussion about some of the key topics of team performance. The Extreme Ed: Activity Guide is here to help your team bond through fun, high energy activities that can easily be lead by a student or an advisor, but in order to get the most out of this experience spend time after these activities discussing how the team reacted during the activity.



Ninja-teamness

Some stealthy way to get even more team awesomeness out of these activities. Feel free to be a little creative and come up with other interesting ways. Mix things up. Teens especially get bored if all you do is sit down after each activity and ask the same “so what did you think of this” debriefing questions

1 .) S-P-Ging

Sometimes it’s intimidating to be the first to throw out an answer to a question. So it is your job to make it easier for others. Give students some time to think, Solo, about their answer to the question. Maybe have them write it down. After the Solo time, have them turn to a Partner and share their answer. Here they are more likely to get agreement for their answer which will make them more likely to share it. Finally, ask some of the pairs if they would like to share with the whole Group.

2.) Add some bling

A great way to encourage debriefing that goes beyond the simple “how did you feel” type question asking is to add some debriefing tools. It could be as simple as having students draw a picture about something they learned from the activity. I always enjoy busting out the good old fashioned Play Doh and sculpting something that represents the strength they bring to the table. Another strategy is to have objects (different postcards, buttons, stickers, you name it) in the center of the circle and have people choose one that represents something that happened today. Be creative!!

3.) Bring it home

This is the home run of the ninja strategies and should be put to use every chance you can. After your team has spent some time discussing the valuable topics that come out of the activity it is essential that the team makes the transition into APPLICATION. How does this topic apply to their team or their daily lives? Go even further and have an application task. If the team was talking about communication, then create a communication plan. If they were talking about follow through, then create an accountability partner system (or accountabilibuddies as I like to call them).

You have the power to break through to your team and get them on the path to high performance. To motivate performance it’s important to provide a fun, safe atmosphere where students can discuss what is important to the team from THEIR perspective. Your job is to provide that atmosphere and facilitate the discussion. With the help of this book you can allow your students to:

Experience the Adventure



Ankle BitersObjectiveThe main purpose of this activity is for high energy, engaging fun.

1. Hit someone with a snowball

2. Hit individual knees down on one leg and has two options

- attempt to get back into the game by picking up a “spent” snowball off the ground

- try to tag someone’s ankle as they run by, essentially hitting them.

3. Last person standing wins

Materials• Scrap paper crumpled up to form snowballs

Procedures

1. Everyone receives a piece of paper and forms a snowball

2. Get into a large circle

3. Everyone turn to face the outside of the circle and on GO throws their snowball over their head behind them towards the center of the circle.

4. The rules - When the activity starts a “snowball fight” commences with players grabbing snowballs off the ground and attempting to hit other players. When hit the player goes down on one knee. They are able to pivot on their one foot to grab fallen snowballs. If they reach a snowball they must first stand up and are then back in the game (no throwing from the kneeling position). Kneeling players may also tag others on the ankle, a tagged person then must become on kneeling person. The last person standing wins.

5. The game begins on the signal FUZZY KITTEN



Extreme JengaDebriefing IdeasRelate the Jenga blocks as your values or non-negotiables (beliefs, actions or values you will not negotiate or give up).

• Create a personal list of their non-negotiables

• Create team non-negotiables

• Trust - as jenga blocks are removed from the tower it is more likely to topple. Once trust is broken it weakens the towers foundation

Materials• Jenga set with all blocks numbered 1-24 (one set for each team)

• Build a Jenga Tower as if for normal game play

• 24 activity stations.

• Activities written on sheets of paper and taped to a wall

• Example activities include: Shaking hands with 20 people and saying “I’m a beautiful lady”; Play leap frog from one end of the gym to the other; etc....

Procedures1. Goal is to be the team with the tallest tower at the end of the time period (Designate about

10-15 minutes)

2. As a team (4-10 people) play Jenga taking turns with one person at a time removing a block then placing it on top of the tower

• The player must read the number on the block before placing it back on top of the tower

3. Once block is placed on top of the tower the team runs to the station that was listed on the block and completes the activity. After completing the activity they run back to their tower and the next person removes a block.

4. If a tower topples before time runs out, the team must rebuild their tower as it would be for the start of normal game play then continue playing Extreme Jenga



LegoVisionDebriefing Ideas

• Importance of a collective vision

• Clear communication

Materials• An identical set of lego’s for each team (4-10 people)

• One pre built and hidden display lego structure

Procedures1. One volunteer from each team

2. Another volunteer from each team

3. The goal is for each team to build a lego structure exactly like the hidden one

4. The first volunteers are the only ones who can see the structure

• They can only go to a certain point back towards their team (far enough away so they cannot see the structure the team is building)

5. The second volunteers are the only ones who can talk to the first group

• They can only go up to the point where the first volunteers stop

• Cannot touch the legos

6. The rest of the team are builders. They are the only ones who can touch the legos

• For added challenges don’t allow builders to talk, blindfold some, etc.

• Color of legos does not matter



Clothespin TagDebriefing Ideas

• Importance of role models

• Mentoring

• Growing relationships - you need to be close to clip on the clothespin (influence) just like those close to you spread their influence to you

Materials• Enough clothespins for everyone in the room times 3-5

• Clothespins piled in several piles around the room

Procedures1. Have each student grab 3-5 clothespins

2. Players place clothespins somewhere on shirt so they are reachable

3. Players take a clothespin off and try to place it on another person

4. Goal is to have no clothespins by the end of the game



Partner TagDebriefing Ideas

• Goal setting

• Overcoming obstacles

Materials• A restricted play area

Procedures1. Have everyone partner up

2. In there pairs pick one person to be A and the other be B

3. Have pairs spread out within the play area

4. All player A’s are going to start out being “it” and try to tag their partners on the shoulders while all other pairs are playing tag at the same time

5. Once player B is tagged, player B spins around and then tries to tag their partner (player A)

6. Allow the activity to go on for a few minutes

Special Considerations

• The more restricted the play area the increased challenge

• If you use a bigger play area, for an added challenge don’t allow players to bend their knees when running



Mouse TrapDebriefing Ideas

• Trust is a major factor in this activity

• Giving clear directions

Materials• Mouse traps

Procedures

1. Students choose a partner and each pair receives a mousetrap.

2. One person closes their eyes and holds out their hand so that it is parallel to the table.

3. The other person tells the blind person where to put their hand in relationship to the mousetrap and then directs that person to lower their hand until it is on top of the mousetrap.

4. Once the person’s hand is lying on the mousetrap, they can open their eyes and roll their hand up and off of the mousetrap.



DetectiveObjectivesThis activity’s main purpose is for fun, high energy group interaction

• To find the killer and save your fellow group members

Procedures1. Go through rules first before selecting a killer

2. All players, killer included, begin to mill around one another in play area shaking hands

3. The killer will begin killing people. To kill when shaking another players hand the killer taps that individuals wrist twice with their index finger.

4. When the killer has tapped a players wrist that player continues shaking 2-3 more hands then (very dramatically, including thrashing on the floor) dies. Once dead you stay laying or sitting on that spot on the floor.

5. As this is happening players are trying to identify who the killer is. When someone thinks they know who the killer is, he or she throws their hands in the air and shouts “I have an accusation!!!!” The accuser must be seconded by another player who throws up their hands and says “I second that accusation” both players wait for the facilitator to count to three and then point to the person they are accusing. If both accusers do not point to the same person they both die. If they falsely accuse an individual both accusers die. If the accusers are correct, they win the game.

6. Game continues until all players are killed or the killer is discovered

7. To start the activity have all players close their eyes and with their heads down. The facilitator then selects the killer by taping someone on the shoulder.

* Variations

- Only one person is needed to make an accusation

- Have multiple killers



Team Name-that-TuneDebriefing Ideas

• Integrity - Have everyone put their head down and raise their hand if they saw someone that was not following the rules.

• Decision making

Materials/Set-up• Playlist of identifiable songs

• Teams sit in tight circle with at least 1 writing utensil and a paper

• 3 placing spots

Procedures1. Each team must choose a runner

2. Each person can only write one letter of the answer at a time before passing it to the next person in the circle

3. Once you have the complete answer written send your runner with your answer to receive your place.

4. First person with the correct answer to the first place spot will receive…first place and 5 points

5. The first person with the correct answer to the second team spot will receive second place and 3 points

6. The first person to the third place spot will receive 3rd and a point

7. Bonus points might be rewarded to teams based off of coordinated team loudness when your team name is called after the round



extreme ed: activity guide

Documents

work team

team bond

school team

team success

team awesomeness

family team

team multiple

key topics of team performance