Materials needed: several sets of various lego materials
Directions: Divide the group into 3’s. Assign a position to each person: designer, messenger, builder. It may be necessary to choose a team of three and guide them through a demonstration of the activity before launching. Each group will need two desks or tables placed a distance apart to prevent any peeking. The designer is at one table, the builder at the other table, and the messenger is in the middle. Give all designers 2 minutes to build a simple structure with their legos. Builders and messengers cannot look at the structures while the designer is creating. Lead builders and messengers in some gentle physical exercises so they have something to do while waiting. When designers have completed their design, messengers go to designers, look at the structure, go to the builder, and give them instructions on how to copy the design. Messengers can go back and forth as many times as they want between designer and builder but they are not permitted to touch the legos. Give the teams about 5 minutes to complete the task. Each team compares the two buildings to see if they are exactly alike. Repeat after switching roles on each team so everyone gets a chance to play all three parts. Students return to their desks for a discussion about the activity: (1) how difficult was it to complete the task on a scale from one (easy) - five (hard)? (2) was it hard for the messenger to tell the builder where to put the lego pieces? (3) was it hard for the builder to understand the messenger? (4) was the design easy or difficult to reproduce? (5) do you have any ideas about how to make it easier next time? (6) if it was too easy, do you have any ideas how to make it more challenging next time?
Wrap it up: This activity is good for practicing communication skills. During the activity messengers may have experienced how challenging it can be to explain to a team member what needs to be done. Or builders may have struggled to do what is being asked if it wasn’t stated clearly enough. Designers may have created something that was too complicated, or maybe too simple. Team members may have become frustrated with each other. Cooperative games like this help us to improve our ability to communicate well and respectfully with each other, which is an essential skill that all of us need to learn!
Lead a discussion about competitions and cooperative games: (1) how are they the same and how are they different? (2) which do you prefer and why?
Materials needed: several sets of various lego materials
Directions: Divide the group into 3’s. Assign a position to each person: designer, messenger, builder. It may be necessary to choose a team of three and guide them through a demonstration of the activity before launching. Each group will need two desks or tables placed a distance apart to prevent any peeking. The designer is at one table, the builder at the other table, and the messenger is in the middle. Give all designers 2 minutes to build a simple structure with their legos. Builders and messengers cannot look at the structures while the designer is creating. Lead builders and messengers in some gentle physical exercises so they have something to do while waiting. When designers have completed their design, messengers go to designers, look at the structure, go to the builder, and give them instructions on how to copy the design. Messengers can go back and forth as many times as they want between designer and builder but they are not permitted to touch the legos. Give the teams about 5 minutes to complete the task. Each team compares the two buildings to see if they are exactly alike. Repeat after switching roles on each team so everyone gets a chance to play all three parts. Students return to their desks for a discussion about the activity: (1) how difficult was it to complete the task on a scale from one (easy) - five (hard)? (2) was it hard for the messenger to tell the builder where to put the lego pieces? (3) was it hard for the builder to understand the messenger? (4) was the design easy or difficult to reproduce? (5) do you have any ideas about how to make it easier next time? (6) if it was too easy, do you have any ideas how to make it more challenging next time?
Wrap it up: This activity is good for practicing communication skills. During the activity messengers may have experienced how challenging it can be to explain to a team member what needs to be done. Or builders may have struggled to do what is being asked if it wasn’t stated clearly enough. Designers may have created something that was too complicated, or maybe too simple. Team members may have become frustrated with each other. Cooperative games like this help us to improve our ability to communicate well and respectfully with each other, which is an essential skill that all of us need to learn!
Lead a discussion about competitions and cooperative games: (1) how are they the same and how are they different? (2) which do you prefer and why?
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