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Human Knot

Human Knot:

Props: Just Your Group

A.L.: 3

D.L.: 3

Focus: Communication Cooperation / Caring

Credit:,. Kimball Camp YMCA

Circle. Have everyone raise their right hand. (For some .groups,-this will take longer than the activity. (P.S. Hope everyone has deodorant on!)) They will reach out and take hold of another right hand, as long as the person is NOT standing right next to them! Then have everyone reach in and take hold of someone with their left hand! This CANNOT be someone next to them, OR the same person their right hand is holding onto! They are now tied into one giant human knot. They must untie themselves.

The rules are as follows:

1. They cannot let go of hands! (Watch for cheating on this!)

2. They must watch out for each other! (People will kick, step on, and abuse others! Be careful!)

3. They are allowed to slide their hands around! (In other words, if you and I are holding onto each other and I want to move, our hands may move around to get a new grip. The hands never stop touching each other! This is to prevent me from having to twist your wrist off in the attempt to move!)

4. When the group is done, they will be in either one large circle or two interlocked circles. The group must tell you when they are done. (But they can’t say it right at the start! They have to have the solution first!)

5. This can be a timed event. It makes it more challenging!

Note: If the group gets totally stuck, they can ask for a hint, let go and move one set of hands, OR let go and begin again! Don’t let them have a hint and let go. It makes it too easy. To give hints, simply pick one person as your starting point and follow where their right hand connects to. If you go through every person before getting back to your starting place, it will be one giant circle. If not, it will be two interlocking.

Knowing the pattern they will end up in, will enable you to tell where the biggest tangle is. (Don’t tell them the final shape!) If people separate into small clusters, they grabbed someone next to them! Talk to people during the activity. Get their feedback, and see if they then turn and relay your discussion to the group. I had one group solve it in 45 seconds, they were two interlocking circles, but they continued to work on it for an additional 15 minutes until someone realized that they were at the solution! (Whoopies!) If they weren’t paying attention to your instructions, let them go. You can drop hints that they are done, but let realize it!

Focus:

Communication. Most groups will all talk at the same time and not listen. BIG mistake, but they must work on it. Cooperation. They have to be willing to do what other people say. Caring. If you hear Ow! From the group, they lost caring points!

Processing:

Who was at the bottom? How did it feel? Who got into the most interesting (compromising?) position? For those who were freed right away, were you able to help out? Was it easier for you? You take it from here…)

Spotting Concerns:

“Hey! Let’s twist someone’s wrist off! Boy! That will be so funny!” Pull them out immediately if it’s a problem! Warn them once, if they continue, they are done! Make sure you watch out for people slipping during the activity. This is a problem which can’t be avoided, but be preps s: k activity if someone is injured. Finally, watch out for those on the outside goofing off and around rather than helping their group solve the puzzle.

-- Brandon Wirtz

Tags: Camp YMCA;
Filed in: Mini Lesson Plans