Do It Yourself Teambuilding- Frozen Bean Bag

Activity Name: Frozen Beanbag

Materials: 1 Beanbag per participant

Setup: Give each player a beanbag to place on their shoulder, and have them choose a spot to stand

Goal: For all players to circulate around the room without dropping his or her own beanbag

How to play:
Players keep the beanbag on their shoulder and circulate around the room. If a player drops the beanbag they need to freeze. This player remains frozen until another player unfreezes them by picking up the beanbag and placing it back on their shoulder. Younger groups can hold their beanbag as they pick up another player’s beanbag. Older groups have to unfreeze a player without holding their own beanbag. Modify the movement to increase difficulty during the game (instruct players to job, dance, hop, etc.)

The rules:
· Players cannot touch their own beanbags.
· Younger groups can only touch their own beanbag when helping another player pick up a beanbag.

Suggestions for discussion questions:
· How did you communicate during this game?
· Did you ever get frustrated? Why?
· What was your strategy for picking up beanbags?

We would love to hear how this game went for you! Share with us in comments or on Facebook!

Advice to Graduates: When in Doubt, Ask for Help!

Graduation is a huge milestone. Leaving high school behind means breaking out of the imposed structure of one’s teenage years and forming one’s own life as a young adult. This is indeed an exciting time of liberation and self-reliance. However, cherishing this newfound independence too much may become a hindrance to future success. This lesson was illustrated beautifully by some grade four students with whom I recently worked:

I split the class into three groups and had each group stand on their own tarp. The class’ goal was to flip over their tarps without anyone touching the floor or using anything in the room to balance. After a few minutes, the class informed me that this task was "IMPOSSIBLE!" No matter how carefully they began to flip over their tarps, there just wasn't enough room for the whole group and someone always ended up touching the floor. The problem was that everybody had put their blinders on; they were all looking down at their tarps, unaware of the other groups around them. I asked the kids to stop and look around. They glanced up and a few kids noticed how close the groups were to each other. One child asked, "Can I step on another group's tarp?" And with that, the magical moment I had been hoping for occurred. Each group took turns crowding onto the other two groups’ tarps so they could flip theirs over. By reaching out to each other and sharing their resources, the class was easily able to accomplish a task that they had just moments before deemed impossible. 

It is an ironic fact of human nature that we turn inward at the exact moment when we should be turning outward. Faced with a particularly hard challenge or trying circumstance, we put our heads down and attempt to work though our difficulties alone. We should instead be looking around for assistance. So while independence can be wonderful, it is sometimes not the most beneficial course of action. My advice to graduates is a simple phrase I often find myself repeating to younger students: When in doubt, ask for help!

 Written by Shira Lurie, Toronto lead facilitator.

Dynamix: Team-building for Kids and Teens, since 2002.

Picture source: http://amandadums.theworldrace.org/blogphotos/theworldrace/amandadums/comlife_strategy.jpg

Another happy group! Great feedback from St. Maria Goretti, TCDSB

“The Spirit Challenge [Assembly] which Dynamix delivered at our school was wonderful.  It was high energy and FUN (which the kids loved) and provided positive messaging (which the teachers and the admin team loved).  This is a great program for anyone who is interested in promoting the concepts of Respect, Cooperation and/or Team Spirit to a large group.  I highly recommend it!”

- Maureen Murphy VP, St. Maria Goretti

Do It Yourself Teambuilding - Chuck The Chicken!

Activity Name: Chuck the chicken

Materials: Rubber chicken

Goal: To get as many points for your team.

How to play:
Split your group into two teams with designated starting spots. Give team A the chicken. Team A launches the chicken as far as they can. Team B runs to the chicken and makes a straight line in front of it. The first player in Team B’s line picks up the chicken and passes it down the line backwards and overhead. The next person does the same, but passes it under their legs. This continues –over, under, over, under, and so on- until the chicken reaches the last person. The last person will throw the chicken as far away from the other team as possible and shout “Chuck the Chicken” to let them know the chicken is air-born. While Team B is passing the chicken, Team A makes a circle and the person who originally launched the chicken runs around the circle as many times as possible until the other team is done passing down the chicken. The team gets one point each time the chicken launcher runs around the circle. When Team A hears Chuck the Chicken, the game repeats with reverse roles for each team. Continue this game play for as many rounds as you would like!

The rules:
- Cannot block the person running around the circle
- The person who launches the chicken has to run around the circle.
- Have to have a different person both launch the chicken and run around the circle each round
- Each person has to get the chicken when passing it down

Suggestions for discussion questions:
- Did everyone have fun?
-What was your team’s strategy?
-How did you use teamwork in that activity?
-How does it feel to depend on your other teammates for your success?

A Guide for Discussing RESPECT in the Classroom

As Corey has mentioned, conversations about respect can be complicated. We want our children to be respectful and considerate of others, but not because we have bribed, begged, or punished them. Teaching children, especially young ones, the value of respect is difficult. My advice is to tackle this subject through an open discussion in which the class decides together why respect is important to your classroom community.

Here are some questions you can use to guide your discussion and some answers you can probe for:

What is respect? What does it mean to be respectful?

-Respect is treating others the way you want to be treated.

-Being respectful means being considerate of others’ needs and feelings.

Who or what should we respect?

-We should show respect to everyone and everything. This means our classmates and teachers, but also our classroom and playground.
-We should respect ourselves.

What are some ways we can show respect in the classroom and/or at recess?

-Raise your hand and wait to be called upon before speaking.
-Put classroom supplies back where you found them.
-Follow the rules of any game being played.
-Never tease or make fun of another person.
-Dispose of garbage and recycling properly.

How will it make people feel when we are respectful towards them?

-They will feel like their feelings matter and that they have friends who care about them.
-They will think that school is a fun and safe place to be.

You can wrap up your discussion by having your students come up with a contract or pledge to be respectful that they will all sign. Whenever your students need a reminder, you can point to the agreement you all made together.

For additional resources, remember our Full of Character program has an entire session devoted to respect in the classroom!


Written by Shira Lurie, toronto lead facilitator



Image: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/2/1/1328124903860/A-class-of-children-and-t-008.jpg

Do It Yourself Teambuilding- Follow The Leader!

Activity Name: Follow the Leader

Materials:  No materials needed

Goal: To have all participants follow their chosen leader.

How to play:
You can play this game anywhere -at home or in the classroom. Have your group stand in a circle. Everyone comes up with an action in their mind. This action has to be simple and easy to copy (like jumping up and down). Next, each person will pick a personal leader from the group and keep it a secret. On go, everyone will do their own action. The game leader will then call out ‘Follow your Leader’, and everyone will copy the actions of the personal leader chosen at the beginning of the game. The outcome will be different each time, so be sure to finish with a meaningful discussion about leadership, teamwork and non-verbal communication.

The rules:
-The action has to be a simple one that everyone can do
- Cannot change the leader you are following

Suggestions for discussion questions:
-Did you have fun?
-How did it feel to be a leader?
-How did it feel to be a follower?
-What are character traits of good leaders?

Happy International Women's Day!

At Dynamix, we celebrate women of all ages every day! Our team of truly great young women are out there in schools and daycares and youth groups every day, inspiring younger girls to be work together collaboratively, creatively and compassionately to help their communities! And every day, we meet great women educators and youth leaders who have a full-time commitment to the boys and girls in their classes. May we all celebrate together, the little and the big triumphs of the women and girls we love!