TP Shuffle On A Rope
Indoor (and outdoor) variation of a classic initiative.
At A Glance
A group standing on a straight line of rope attempts to re-order their positions, ensuring that all movements are made with at least one foot on the rope at all times.
What You Need
- Long piece of rope (say 10m for 25 people)
What To Do
The original TP Shuffle is a wonderful group initiative, but as it required a long 5 to 8 metre pole (TP = telephone pole) laying on its side, it was not always readily accessible. Until now…
Lay a long rope in a straight line on the floor (or relatively even ground) and ask your group to stand directly onto it with both feet.
Next, explain that you would like them to now re-arrange their current positions according to a particular sequence, for exmaple, the month and date of their birth. So, at one end of the rope it is possible that someone may be standing with a birth date of 1 January, and next to them, 2nd of January, and so on, through the days and months to 31 December at the opposite end of the rope.
However, here’s the kicker – all movements must be made with at least one foot always touching the rope. If at any time, one or more people involved in a move should discover that both of their feet are not touching the rope, they will incur a penalty. Penalties can also be incurred if any other part of the body (such as a hand or butt) shoudl touch the ground – often because they were used to break a fall.
Typically, penalties vary from simply counting the number of infractions, to requiring the offender to move to the end of the rope opposite to the direction they were travelling. For example, if a person with a birth date of September should come off the rope, they must start over from the January end of the rope. Yeah, tough, I know!
While clearly the task is not performed while balancing on a telephone pole, this variation does offer many of the benefits of the original, including the development of creativity, support and communication skills.
Variations
- Vary the sequence criteria, such as last two digits of their mobile phone number, street number, height, shoe size, length of hair, etc.
- Complete the task with several members of the group blindfolded.
If you know of a cool variation to this exercise, please add a comment…
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Who am I?
Hi, I'm Mark Collard.
This blog shares some of the most successful group games, team-building activities & programming tips I know.
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