Team tidy
You’ll need
- Stopwatch or phone
- A mess to clean up
Make it tidy
- Everyone should split into small teams.
- Each team should be responsible for an area of the room or part of the mess that needs tidying up.
- One member of each team is the tidying director. They will be the only person in their team who is allowed to speak, but they can’t move.
- Everyone else is a tidier, who can move but can’t speak.
- Teams have five minutes to tidy their area, with the tidying director telling the tidiers what to tidy and how.
Reflection
This game was about communication and listening to instructions. Were the tidying director’s instructions easy to understand? What was the best way to deliver the instructions? How could communication skills be useful in other situations?
This game was also about being a team player and working together to get the job done in time. Did the tidiers work well as a team? What could you have could have done to clean the area more quickly and efficiently? How would the game have been different if the tidying director could move or the tidiers could talk?
Safety
All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.
Have more than one tidying director in each team if they are finding it difficult to direct everyone. Change the time limit for bigger or smaller messes.
This activity is best done after a messy session, but the requirement can also be completed at home. Use the living room cleaning checklist as a guide. All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.
All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.
