Intended for:
This free energiser is great for getting teams to work together and test their creative skills.
Training course contents:
A set of instructions for the free energiser, ‘Balloon Tower’ can be downloaded from the link at the bottom of this page or you can follow the instructions provided below.
Resources Needed:
Several packs of balloons.
Sellotape or other clear tape.
Tape measure.
Instructions:
1. Place participants into small groups.
2. Advise participants that you would like them to build a tower out of the balloons that they have been given. They can only use the balloons and tape to build this tower and it must be freestanding.
3. Explain that they have a total of 10 minutes to build their tower. The winning team will have built the highest tower.
4. After 10 minutes, you can give them extra time at your discretion (usually if they are nowhere near building a tower).
5. When the time is up, compare the towers and declare a ‘winner’.
6. Review the activity.
Review:
- Ask participants what their strategy was
- What challenges were there and how did they overcome them?
- Did the pressure of time affect the outcome?
- What approach did they take and why?
- What would they do differently if they did the activity again?
Variations:
- You could give participants additional points for the most visually appealing tower.
- You could award additional points for the highest tower using the least amount of resources.
- You could ask participants to build an arch rather than a tower.
- Once each team has built their tower, you could ask them to then work as one large group to combine their towers to one super tower.
- You can ramp up the pressure by giving less time and doing countdowns.
- You can make the activity more about communication by allowing them 5 minutes to plan and then not allowing them to talk while building.
Objectives:
This free energiser helps test participants creativity and gets them working as a team. You can use the energiser to probe communication skills, identify strong leaders, negotiators and participants with valuable skills. It also add a fun element to training and helps reinvigorate the participants.
