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5/8/2011 Helium Stick - Description of a Team Buil…

Games Index Helium Stick Wilderdom Store


Team Building
Desc ription of a Team Building Exercise gear, books, kits
Exercises

Helium Stick Equipment

1 thin, light- weight, 10 ft


Helium Stick with ac tivity
guide & fac ilitation notes

Summary

Deceptively simple
teamwork activity. Form
two lines facing each
other. Lay a long, thin rod
on the group's index
fingers. Goal: Lower to
ground. Reality: It goes
Deceptively simple but powerful up!
exerc ise for learning how to work
together and c ommunic ate in small to Group Size
medium sized groups.
8 to 12 ideal, but c an be
Line up in two rows which fac e eac h done with 6 to 14
other.
Time
Introduc e the Helium Stic k- a long,
Total time ~25 mins
thin, lightweight rod.

Ask partic ipants to point their index ~5 minute briefing and set
fingers and hold their arms out. up

Lay the Helium Stick down on their ~10-15 minutes of active


fingers. Get the group to adjust their problem-solving (until
finger heights until the Helium Stic k is suc cess)
horizontal and everyone's index fingers ~10 minutes disc ussion
are touc hing the stic k.

Explain that the c hallenge is to lower


the Helium Stic k to the ground.

The c atc h: Eac h person's fingers must


be in c ontact with the Helium Stick at
all times. Pinc hing 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 touc hing the
Helium Stic k, the task will be
restarted. Let the task begin....

Warning: Partic ularly in the early Links to Other Versions


stages, the Helium Stic k has a habit of
mysteriously 'floating' up rather than Helium Pole
c oming down, causing muc h laughter. A (Teambuilding USA)
bit of c lever humoring c an help - e.g.,
wilderdom.com/…/HeliumStick.html Helium Hoop/Stick 1/3
5/8/2011 Helium Stick - Description of a Team Buil…
bit of c lever humoring c an help - e.g., Helium Hoop/Stick
act surprised and ask what are they (Universal Challenge)
doing raising the Helium Stic k instead
of lowering it! For added drama, jump Helium Hoop
up and pull it down!
Acknowledgements

Preston Cline showed me


this ac tivity during his
guest lecture for
"Philosophy and Methods in
Outdoor Educ ation" at the
University of New
Hampshire, USA, 2001.

Partic ipants may be c onfused initially


about the paradoxic al behavior of the
Helium Stick.

Some groups or individuals (most often


larger size groups) after 5 to 10
minutes of trying may be inc lined to
give up, believing it not to be possible
or that it is too hard.
The fac ilitator c an offer direc t
suggestions or suggest the group stops
the task, discusses their strategy, and
then has another go.

Less often, a group may appear to be


suc ceeding too fast. In response, be
partic ularly vigilant about fingers not
touc hing the pole. Also make sure
partic ipants lower the pole all the way
onto the ground. You c an add further
diffic ulty by adding a large washer to
eac h end of the stic k and explain that
the washers should not fall off during
the exerc ise, otherwise it's a restart.
Eventually the group needs to c alm
down, c oncentrate, and very slowly,
patiently lower the Helium Stick -
easier said than done.

How Does it Work?

The stic k does not contain helium. The


sec ret (keep it to yourself) is that the
c ollec tive upwards pressure created by
everyone's fingers tends to be greater
than the weight of the stic k. As a
result, the more a group tries, the more
the stic k tends to 'float' upwards.
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5/8/2011 Helium Stick - Description of a Team Buil…
the stic k tends to 'float' upwards.

Processing Ideas

What was the initial reac tion of the


group?
How well did the group cope with this
c hallenge?
What skills did it take to be suc cessful
as a group?
What c reative solutions were
suggested and how were they
rec eived?
What would an outside observer have
seen as the strengths and weaknesses
of the group?
What roles did people play?
What did eac h group member learn
about him/her self as an individual?
What other situations (e.g., at sc hool,
home or work) are like the Helium
Stic k?
More information on Fac ilitation and
c reative debrief and processing tools

References

Booth Sweeney, L. & D. Meadows


(1996). The systems thinking
playbook: Exerc ises to stretc h and
build learning and systems thinking
c apabilities. The Turning Point
Foundation.
Gass, M. A. (1999). Lowering the bar.
Ziplines: The Voic e for Adventure
Educ ation, Summer, 39, 25- 27.
Gass, M. A. (2001). Lowering the bar.
In S. Priest & K. Rohnke (2001) 101 of
the best c orporate team-building
activities. eXperientia.

Last updated:
12 Oc t 2009

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