Wordles

These fun little word puzzles can be great ice breakers.  You can allow people to work together in teams of 3-5. 
 

Examples include:

1.         side  side

2.         you/just/me

3.         ban  ana

4.         once

            time

5.         noon  lazy

6.         deal

7.         ho

8.         Wheather

Answers to these examples:

1.         side by side

2.         just between you and me

3.         banana split

4.         once upon a time

5.         lazy afternoon

6.         big deal

7.         half an hour

8.         bad spell of weather

With a little creativity, you can create hundreds of similar Wordles. 

Enjoy,

Larry

This is a very clever puzzle.  It is inexpensive to make, and it is very effective at getting people to see the need to creatively “think out of the box.”

It consists of an assembly in a bottle.  The assembly is a wooden dowel with a hole through it.  A bolt and nut is assembled through the hole in the dowel, down inside of the bottle.

The challenge - To get the assembly out of the bottle, without breaking the bottle.

People will work and work at this, usually without a lot of success.  They will turn it, try to twist it, try to stick other thin instruments such as pencils in the bottle, spin it, etc.

The solution - The puzzle can easily be disassembled by simply turning the bottle on its side, and shaking or vibrating the dowel assembly. 

With the vibration, gravity will slowly but surely move the nut to the end of the bolt and off. 

The bolt can then be allowed to fall from the dowel, and the entire contents can be removed from the bottle.

Once this solution is observed, it seems simple and logical.  It is kind of like a screw or bolt can work loose in a car or truck.  People don’t typically key on this, however, because of the “mental model” that most of us have about how to assemble an disassemble nuts and bolts.  We typically do it with some sort of tool, such as pliers or wrench.

The solution requires a different mental model, thus the learning application to creativity.

The equipment:

Bottle - I like a bottle that is much wider at the base than at the neck.  I frequently use a bottle such as barbecue sauce is packaged in.  The neck needs to have an inside diameter of 1” or so, to accommodate the dowel.

Dowel - The dowel needs to be slightly longer (1/4-1/2” longer) than the bottle.  Its diameter needs to be close to the inside diameter of the bottle.  You don’t want a lot of slop in the fit, as it will allow participants to easily stick other objects such as pencils into the bottle, as they attempt the disassembly.  You don’t want a really snug fit either, as the dowel must have room to move.  The hole is drilled through the dowel approximately 1” from the end of the dowel.  The hole must be large enough for the bolt to easily move in and out of.  It can be 1/16-1/8” larger that the diameter of the bolt.

The bolt and nut -  Size isn’t too critical.  The nut should have a really easy fit on the bolt; i.e., you should be able to spin the nut on the bolt freely.  This is important. If any resistance or burrs exist, creating a tight fit between the nut and bolt, it may not be possible to disassemble it.  The bolt must be short enough to be assembled in the width of the bottle you have selected.

Assembly - The assembly is a greater trick than the disassembly.  In fact, if you have a group that quickly masters the disassembly, congratulate them on their accomplishment and creativity, and ask them to kindly reassemble the puzzle for you.  This will stimulate a lot more puzzle solving creativity.

Step 1 - Place the nut in the bottle.

Step 2 - Cut a thin strip of paper.  Make a small slit in one end of the paper, and gently thread the bolt through the slit as shown.  This tool gives you a way to place the bolt through the dowel, while inside of the bottle, (the most difficult part of the task).

Step 3 - Lower the bolt and paper into the bottle.

Step 4 - Insert the dowel into the bottle.

Step 5 - Manipulate the bolt into the hole in the dowel.

Step 6 - Pull the paper from the bottle, tearing it from around the bolt.

Step 7 - Turn the bottle on its side and manipulate the end of the bolt into the opening in the nut.  Vibrate the assembly only slightly in this position, just enough to get the nut to barely start on to the bolt.

Step 8 - Turn the dowel assembly over, so that the nut is on top.  Now, shake and vibrate it, allowing gravity to slowly work the nut down on to the bolt. 

Encourage your group to be creative.  Congratulate them as they think "out-of-the-box."

Enjoy,

Larry

Simple word puzzles, or riddles, can be great assets in creativity and problem solving classes.  The following is courtesy of Greg Michalak.
If you have examples that you have had great teachning experiencs with, please share them via your comments to this blog.

Crossing the Bridge 

There are four people who want to cross a bridge. They all begin on the same

side. You have 17 minutes to get all of them across to the other side.  Here are the facts about the challenge:

• It is night.
   
• There is one flashlight.
   
• A maximum of two people can cross at one time and any party who crosses, either one or two people, must have a flashlight.
   
• The flashlight must be walked back and forth. It cannot be tossed, thrown, etc.
   
• Each person walks at a different speed.  A pair must walk together at the rate of the slower person's pace.

     Person #1: 1 minute to cross

     Person #2: 2 minutes to cross

     Person #3: 5 minutes to cross

     Person #4: 10 minutes to cross

For example, if Person #1 and Person #4 walk across first, 10 minutes have

elapsed when they get to the other side. If Person #4 returns with the flashlight, a total of 20 minutes have passed and you failed the mission.

Be sure to give this puzzle a try before you look at the solution steps below.  Enjoy! 

Solution:

People 1 & 2 cross.                                           2 minutes

Person 1 returns with the light.                       1 minute

(the next move is the one usually missed)

People 3 & 4 cross.                                         10 minutes

Person 2 returns the light.                                2 minutes

People 1 & 2 cross.                                           2 minutes

                                                          Total         17 minutes 

Puzzles can expand how people  and teams approach problems, stretching them to consider solution steps that may hold important promise for their success.

Enjoy the learning experience,

Larry

This is a simple team building exercise that makes some important points. The props are inexpensive, and the preparation time will be brief.

• Have the group members stand next to each other in a circle.
• Have team members join hands. You need to participate as well.
• Put one of your arms through a hula hoop before joining hands with one of the partners next to you.
• Instruct the team that you, as a group, will now pass the hoop completely around the circle without releasing your hand grips with each other. (Caution them not to hurt each other’s wrist/fingers/etc. as they work to manipulate the hoop over each other’s heads, etc.) This is usually a humorous process, and the group will enjoy it. They will probably cheer when the hoop makes it entirely around the circle.
• After pausing, you can discuss what it took to succeed, and then move on to the next step.
• Quickly introduce one or two more hula hoops at equally spaced places around the perimeter of the circle.
• Give the team the instruction that now they are trying to catch each other’s hula hoops. (Don’t allow time for discussion. Say, “go" quickly and start moving the hoops.)
• Typically, the teams will frantically try to move the hoops around the circle, trying to catch the other hoops. What is interesting is that this sense of competition is self-defeating in the exercise. To solve the exercise, all they have to realize is that if they stop one of the hoops, the others will catch up and the objective will be achieved. Instead, they will probably continue to compete, and thus not accomplish the mission.

• What was necessary to successfully move the hoops around the circle without releasing hands? Cooperation, agility, assisting each other,….
• Are there examples in our real work/study together where cooperation and assisting each other is important? Examples? Why?
• What did we do when we introduced multiple objectives, and the new mission? Started competing with each other. Cooperation ceased, Etc.
• Are there times when competition can hurt our overall mission with work/study? What examples? Why?
• How do we prevent negative competition?
• When is competition positive? Why?
• When is competition negative? Why?
• Etc…..

Have fun as you learn,

Larry

There is just something fun about knocking a beach ball around with other people. It is really a natural engager.

• If in-doors, be cautious about obstacles in the room that might be hazards, or which might be damaged in the exercise.
  
• If out-of-doors, select a space free of tripping hazards, etc.

Happy New Year to you all.  I hope your recent Christmas and New Year celebrations were excellent.

I have not been repeating activities on this blog, but  there have been lots of requests and seaches for this ice breaker on naming football teams.  So, I will paste here for all of you that are planning your superbowl parties for next month.  Enjoy!

Ice Breakers are simple activities that can be used to kick off any number of events or meetings (even parties).  Here is one that is just-in-time for the upcoming Super Bowl.

Name That Team

Enjoy!

 Larry

This is a great team building activity which challenges a group to think together, plan together, communicate and work together. It involves the team in trying to tie a simple knot in a rope. With many teams, they will jump right in, expecting the solution to be simple, only to find that it is more difficult than it first appears. (This is a good comparison to real-life projects that are more complex than they seem at first.)