The 2007 Annual Conference Event was hosted by Windsor Recreation & Leisure Services Department on March 3rd and a great day it was.

This Years Presenters…..JIM CAIN and JIM GROUT!!!!

Activities List

Thanks to everyone who was there and we open this up to all of you. We have listed and briefly described the activities of the day. But we know it was fast and furious so we may have missed something or a detail. Let us know anything we should include that you remember.

Here goes…..

Funderbirds (Featherball) active
Equipment: A Funderbird for each group
Groups of approximately ten and circle up. Group keeps batting (palming) the Funderbird like badminton as many times as possible without letting it hit the floor. Facilitator can set a goal of “x” for the number of times (or not). Adaptations include standing on one foot, clap three times, spin around, celebrate by giving a high 5 after each hit. A person cannot hit the Funderbird twice in a row. More rules and explanation about the actual game of Featherball can be found on Jim Cains website (Teamwork and Teamplay Link).

Energizer no props
Four participants to a group stand behind one another like a chain, hands on shoulders. The order of the participants changes on verbal commands of the facilitator. “Change” means the 1st of the group goes to the rear. “Switch” means the 2nd and 3rd change places. “Rotate” means everyone turns around, so fourth is now facing first. “Move” means move forward “Choo-choo” style. Facilitator calls the commands slowly at first then speeds them up. The group will have a lot of laughs as they get tangled up or not. Adaptation includes “eyes closed”, but the group doesn’t move.

Horseshoe Golf – Paired game – In Teamwork and Teamplay
Equipment needed – Two PVC horseshoe targets, shaped as a three rung ladder on a sturdy base, about 4 feet high, either made or purchased from a PE catalog. Two sets of three differently colored “Horseshoes” for each player. These consist of golf balls that are securely connected and glued to each other by about 12 – 16 inches of nylon cord.
The object is to score points by each player alternately tossing the “bolos” from a predetermined distance (20 feet) and having them wrap around one of the three rungs on the scoring ladder. Each rung has a different value. You can cancel out an opposing score by wrapping your bolo around the same rung on the ladder. Another option includes bouncing them onto the target.

NBA Statue – Small Group initiative
Each group is given an identical collection of PVC tubes and connectors. In a stated time frame (5-8 min.), they are to construct the tallest statue they can. At the end of the allotted time, the statue must be free standing. Some limits you can impose upon the group include only having a certain number of contact points with the ground (maybe 3), and that it has to be able to support an object (maybe a ball?)

Memory Relay – Game to teach or review a set of concepts
Equipment – sets of sixteen 8 x 11 cards for each team. The cards each have one of eight words or concepts printed largely on them. There should be eight pairs of words per set, making the 16 cards required. The cards should be laid out in four columns of four cards each, words facing down, about 20 feet in front of a common starting line.
Teams of six stand behind a start line. The object is for members to take turns running to the cards, turn over any two at a time, showing them to the group and then turn them back over where they originated. Return to the start. If two cards, having the same word on them, are turned over at the same time, they can remain face up, like “Memory”. Once all teams have all cards facing up, use the words or concepts on the cards to review concepts or debrief behaviors. For example, “If you could give one of the words on these cards to your best friend for their birthday, which would you choose and why”? “What four words would you pick to build a Full Value Contract around and why”?

Tarp Activities – Group initiative
Equipment needed – A tennis ball, a small tarp (4 x 6 feet) with four holes cut in it, slightly bigger then the diameter of a tennis ball. The holes should be located about one foot from each corner.
There are many levels to this activity. You have the group hold the tarp at waist level and without it falling off, try to control the tennis ball as it makes a lap around each hole without falling through. Other levels include each person using only one hand on the tarp, tossing the ball and catching, tossing and catching the ball on the under side of the tarp, etc.

Knot, or Not a Knot – consensus builder
Equipment needed – about a 30 foot length of retired rope
Arrange the rope in a pile with many turns, loops, bends, etc. Have about five feet of each end stretching out in opposite directions from the “knot”. Ask participants to study the pile and determine for themselves whether or not, when the ends of the rope are pulled in opposite directions, the pile will result in a knot or a straight line of rope. Have them arrange themselves one either side of the pile, according to their beliefs. At any time, you can change viewpoints and stand with the opposite side. Next, partner with someone from the other side and try to convince them of your viewpoint. Finally, after more deliberation, slowly pull the ends away from each other to reveal the result. People can change sides as you pull the ends.

Bull Ring Mergers – Large group initiative
Equipment needed – one Bull Ring (Space module), complete with “Cargo”, (ball) and “Docking Station” (cone that Bull Ring can fit over the top of and ball can rest on). This activity seems to lend itself to space travel terms. As lead-ins, have each group practice picking up and landing their cargo (ball) back on their docking station (cone). Then, pick up the ball and have group rotate 180 degrees before resting the ball back at the docking station. Do it again with one eye closed. Have the groups dock at other group’s stations. Finally, construct a PVC candelabra like station with multiple docking points. The object is for the whole group to land their cargo simultaneously, using different stations.

Most of the other Activites particiapnts engaged in throughout Jim’s session can be located on Jim Cain’s Teamwork & Teamplay Webiste under Downloadable Arcticles, Activites & Information:

Click here to go to his website

http://www.teamworkandteamplay.com/resources.html

Thanks for comming, we hope you had a great time!!!
The CCCP Board