Two Rainy Day Activities - The Paper Chain and Skittles Challenges

Here are two team building activities that can be done when your classes are confined to their rooms on a rainy day:

1. The Paper Chain Challenge

• Divide class into 4 teams
• Provide each team with the following:
• 10 sheets of writing paper (I usually get this out of recycling), a sheet of mailing labels (a 100 sheet box costs about $13 at Staples) and a pair of scissors
• The Challenge:
• To build the longest paper chain in 10 minutes
• Teams have 2 minutes to plan, 10 minutes to build.  Teams must start each and finish each segment together
• The Catch:  
• Students may only use one arm.
• Rules violations result in time penalties.
  

The longest chain I've seen constructed was 24' long.

2.  The Skittles Challenge

• Divide the class into four teams
• Provide each team with the following:
• A bowl, or some other wide mouthed container, a blindfold, 5 different colored sheet of construction paper (I use foam pads from Michael's) and approximately 2 oz. of Skittles (32 oz bag of Skittles, $6, 2 oz scoop)
• Set the bowl containing the Skittles at one end of the challenge course and the construction paper at the opposite end.
  
• The Challenge:
• To sort the skittles by transporting them, one at a time, from the bowl to the appropriate colored sheet of paper
• The sorter is blindfolded.  Other teammates serve as guides
• Teams have 2 minutes to plan, 10 minutes to sort.
  
• The Catch:
• Guides may not use any form of oral communication
• Guides may not touch the sorter.
• Touching the sorter or use of oral communication results in time penalties
• Peeking from the blindfold results in disqualification.
  
• Scoring:
• Teams are awarded 5 points for every correctly sorted Skittle, but lose 5 points for every incorrectly sorted skittle.
• Bonus:  
• Kids divvy up, then eat the Skittles at the end of the challenge

Enjoy!

"Survivor" Team Challenges

Twice each school year, my classes do a week of team challenges. I call them “Survivor” weeks after the TV show. We do this on the first full week of school and on the first week after winter recess.

I’ve been doing this for about 8 years now. I’ve found it to be a really valuable way for me to establish, without a lot of lecturing, my standards for class behavior and serves as an introduction to character education.

Teaching the kids the value of teamwork is the obvious intent of this unit, but the actual benefits of it go much further than this. In a normal team game setting, the best athletes usually control the action. In Survivor, every child gets a chance to make a valuable contribution. This can give kids a great boost to their self-esteem and to their social standing.

For example, I once had one 3rd grade student who visibly flinched every time I called her name. She hated attention, always thought she was in trouble when I called on her and was the victim of bullying classmates.

By 5th grade her self-confidence had soared and she’d become an undisputed class leader. Her survivor experience wasn’t the sole reason for this, but it undoubtedly helped, for it seemed that she was always on the most successful team. Her ability to find creative, innovative solutions to challenges, and her willingness to share credit and accept fault was so pronounced that her teammates developed complete faith in her judgment.

Survivor works best with teams of 5 – 7 students. That usually translates into 3 teams for 3rd grade classes and 4 teams for 4th and 5th grade classes.

3rd grade students first experience Survivor with fairly simple to understand challenges like Pipeline or the Maze. I present the class with several challenges at once and let the teams complete them in any order.

See this slideshow for more details (click on pictures to enlarge):



4th and 5th grade classes are given one challenge per day. These are usually multiple part challenges. The first part is usually a physical challenge while the second part is a mental challenge. All four teams race to complete the challenge first. All challenges require teams to plan, communicate and cooperate for successful completion.

Here are some samples (see photo captions for challenge instructions):

A Knot Tying / Puzzle Challenge



Multiple Team Island Hopping



A Scooter Relay / Puzzle Challenge



A Maze / Tangram Challenge



Launcher Challenges



Travel Log Obstacle Course



Hope you can use some of these or that they inspire you to create your own.  They can take time to set up, but are well worth the time and effort.

The Tower Challenge

If my PE classes are confined to their classrooms, I will often give them a team challenge. I’ve used these challenges for grades 3 thru 5 with great success, because they encourage cooperation, collaboration and creative thinking. Each challenge must be completed within a specific time frame. This adds an element of urgency and a sense of competition to the challenges.

I use each challenge only once per year, but repeat them from year to year. This allows kids to learn from their previous experience with the challenges, which often results in new solutions.

The first challenge I use each year is what I call the Tower Challenge. Here’s how it works:

1. Divide the class into 4 teams.
2. Provide each team with one newspaper (my school gets the Marin I.J. everyday. Hardly anyone reads it, so I keep them) and one roll of masking tape.
3. Describe the challenge:
• Using only the newspaper and the tape, build the tallest structure you can.
• Teams will have 2 minutes to plan and 10 minutes to build
• At the end of the period, the team which builds the tallest structure that can stand on its own for 30 seconds will win.
• The tape may be used only to hold the structure together. It may not be uses to attach the structure to anything. In fact, the structure cannot be attached to the surface on which it is built, overhead wires or anything else. Teams may not build their structures around anything, such as a pencil box, in an effort to make it stronger.
4. Do not allow the teams to touch any of their equipment until the building period begins.
5. Teams which break rules will receive a time penalty in which they will be forced to stop building for a specified period of time.
6. Once everyone understands the rules begin the challenge.
7. At the end of the building period, have everyone step away from their structures.
8. Measure the structures, announce the height of the winning structure (the tallest I’ve seen was 52 inches, but I’ve had winners as short as 18 inches.
9. Debrief – have the kids share their successful ideas.

Click on image to enlarge.