Continuing to work on developing their communication skills, Year 6 took part in a game of Snake this week. Snake is a trust based, team building game that focuses on non-verbal communication. The team must stand in single file, one behind the other and rest their hands on the shoulders of the person in front so creating a snake. Only the person at the tail end of the snake can see, all other members are blindfolded.
Using hand signals only, the person at the tail indicates the direction of travel by tapping on the shoulders of the person in front. That message must then be relayed, without speaking, forwards so the whole team can understand how they need to move. The aim is for the team to manoeuvre obstacles, pick up objects and place them into a central bucket. The head of the snake then becomes the tail and so the game continues until all members have found and placed an object.
First, following written instructions, the children set out the resources needed for the challenge. Using Christmas trees and tyres to form obstacles and coloured sticks as the objects for collection. It took some time to master a rhythm, very hard not to use verbal commands. They took pit stops to regroup and assess problems and with much perseverance the children executed the task amazingly well. By the end of the session the sense of achievement was visible to see in the delight on their faces.
