Beach Towel Flip
This is one of several fun and meaningful Team Building activities that we used at the 2014 Georgia Teen Institute. Though this was called “Beach Towel Flip” to coincide with our theme this summer, it can be used year-round (and you don’t even need a beach towel!).
Time Needed: 20-30 minutes
Group Size: Any, split into groups of 8-12
Materials: Beach towel (or a plastic tablecloth, shower curtain or tarp), masking tape and permanent markers.
Directions:
Lay the beach towel flat on the floor. Distribute two strips of tape and a marker to each group member. Have group members gather around the edges of the beach towel.
Say: Let’s each think of one healthy behavior we would like to practice and one unhealthy behavior we would like to leave behind to reinforce our goals of living a healthy, drug-free lifestyle. Have each person write down these two behaviors, one on each of his or her strips of masking tape.
Each person should place their HEALTHY BEHAVIOR onto the side of the beach towel that is facing upwards, so that the other members of the group can see it. Take a few minutes for the group to share their behaviors with each other. This shouldn’t take more than 4-5 minutes.
Have your group flip the beach towel over to the other side. On this side, have participants place their UNHEALTHY BEHAVIOR piece of tape. You can allow these to be shared or not, depending on time and the maturity of your group.
Ask everyone to stand on the beach towel. Once they are all on, tell them that their challenge—as a group—is to get past their barriers, or unhealthy behaviors, to their healthy behaviors. In other words, they must flip the beach towel over…WITHOUT touching the ground underneath, around them or ANYTHING other than the towel and each other.
Encourage participants to act with safety in mind and, as the facilitator, keep an eye on those who are close to the edge to ensure that no one falls or gets hurt.
Debrief Questions:
How was your team successful?- What strategies did you access to support each other in turning over the beach towel?
- How was your communication affected by your physical closeness?
- How was your decision making affected by your physical closeness and the task at hand?
- How does the closeness of support impact your decision to practice helpful, healthy decision making?
- What are the challenges that you think you face in committing to a drug-free lifestyle?
- How can others support you in this commitment?