Trainers Warehouse Helium Stick

A quicksimple powerful and UPLIFTING team experience! The “stick” is a series of corded tent poles that fold up easily Participants: 8 20. Location: Anywhere Activity Level: Low. Time Needed: 15 to 20 Minutes plus debrief 45 to 60 minutes Facilitation notes included A simple powerful and QUICK team experience! This deceptively simple game is easy to facilitate and gives your group a common experience through which to discuss issues of teamwork and leadership. The “stick” is actually a series of corded tent poles that fold up easily so you can easily transport it. When extended fully it’s 10 feet long. How it’s Played Form two lines facing each other. Lay the “stick” on the group’s index fingers. Goal: Lower to ground. Reality: It magically rises up! Facilitation Line up in two rows which face each other. Introduce the Helium Stick. Ask participants to point their index fingers and hold their arms out. Lay the Helium Stick down on their fingers. Get the group to adjust their finger heights until the Helium Stick is horizontal and everyone’s index fingers are touching the stick. Explain that the challenge is to lower the Helium Stick to the ground. The catch: Each person’s fingers must be in contact with the Helium Stick at all times. Pinching or grabbing the pole in not allowed – it must rest on top of fingers. Reiterate to the group that if anyone’s finger is caught not touching the Helium Stick the task will be restarted. Let the task begin…. How Does it Work The stick does not contain helium. The secret is that the collective upwards pressure created by everyone’s fingers tends to be greater than the weight of the stick. As a result the more a group tries the more the stick tends to ‘float’ upwards What to Watch For As your group begins their challenge see how individuals react when the rod starts moving in the exactly the opposite direction than they intended. What do they do You may find that players start blaming each other. The more the stick rises the more they point

• A quicksimple powerful and UPLIFTING team experience!
• The “stick” is a series of corded tent poles that fold up easily.
• Facilitation notes included.