Objective:

For each person to do his/her part when solving a problem as a group.

Group Size:

4 or more.

Materials:

Building blocks or something similar (i.e. Lego’s®, Popsicle® sticks, etc.)

Description:

Build a small sculpture or design with some of the building material and hide it from the group. Divide the group into small teams of two to eight members each. Give each team enough building material so that they could duplicate what you have already created.
Place the original sculpture in a place that is hidden but at an equal distance from all the groups. Ask one member form each team to come at the same time to look at the sculpture for five seconds in order to try to memorize it as much as possible before returning to his/her team.
After they run back to their teams, they have twenty-five seconds to instruct their teams how to build the structure so that it looks like the one that has been hidden. After the twenty-five seconds, ask each team to send up another member of their group who gets a chance to “sneak a peek” before returning to their team. Continue in this pattern until one of the teams successfully duplicates the original sculpture.
Build different sculptures for any additional rounds of this game.

Discussion Prompts:

1. What part of this activity involved teamwork?
2. What did each person in your group do to help?
3. Why is teamwork important when working with a group?
4. What are some important elements of teamwork?
5. How can being good at teamwork help you in your daily life?

Variation:

Give each team a pad of paper and a pen or pencil to take notes on for their five-second observation.

Have one person form each team look at the structure and then tell another team member what he or she saw. The second person may take notes and then go back to the team to relay what he or she was told. The person taking notes may return often for further instructions, but each person remains in the same role throughout the activity.