Team Building: Pass the Cards Exercise

Brief Description/Purpose

This is a competitive team building activity that gets the group warmed up and open up  communication between them  and shows the value of collaboration between team members and planning to win and achieve success.

Type

Physical Movement, Game

Age Appropriate

Children, Teens Adults

Ideal Group Size

20 people split into two groups but up to 30.

Time For Exercise

25 minutes

Topic/Subject

Team Development

Detailed Instructions If Needed

You will need two decks of playing cards

Split the whole class into two equal teams  standing in two lines facing each other, Ask members of each team to line up next to each other shoulder to shoulder. 

Put  a deck of cards beside the foot of the players at one end of each line.

Rules : 
The players at one end of each line must reach to the floor  to take one card at a time off their pile(deck) of cards which is located on the floor beside him/her. When they have picked the card up they must pass it to the closest hand of the team member standing next to them. The second team member then places the card in the other hand and then passes it on to the third team member’s closest hand, and so on. When the final team member receives a card they must place it on a pile beside him/her on the floor.

If a team member drops a card the rest of the team must wait until the card has been picked up again before continuing. Each team member must not hold more than one card at a time.
All 52 cards must be used and are to be counted at the end of the game

Teams will have 5 minutes to plan their strategies before starting time. 

The team that completes the exercise first so declared the winner.

Discussion Questions and debrief :

How did the winning team win?
Who led the 5 minute planning session? Why?
Who dropped the cards? Why? (Pressure?)
Was the planning stage of any value? Why?
Can this exercise be related to the workplace?

Additional Information if Available

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