The Run of the Blob is often the most frustrating activity for the college student facilitators. Team members must join the blob once they are tagged. Individual team members join the blob by joining hands with the person at one of the ends of the blob. The team members must continue to hold hands as they move as a team to capture the remaining team members who attempt to evade the blob. Often times, the team of children get so excitable that the Blob starts moving in opposite directions and ultimately the blob splits apart in one section as each end of the blob heads in an opposite direction.
Shawn was the blob leader. As the game went on and on, the blob would get bigger and bigger with each person that was tagged. Ultimately, the blob would break apart in excitement causing the team to have to start over again. Shawn became more and more frustrated with the team each time they were forced to start over. After about three or four unsuccessful attempts, we talked as a class about how leadership could be important in this activity. As the blob leader, Shawn did not have any ideas about how he could demonstrate leadership in the blob. As a team, we talked further about how a leader gives direction to the team. Kathryn, age ten, said, “A leader is a person that has good ideas and listens to our team’s suggestions. It’s important to have a leader so your team stays in order.” Shawn began to listen to the suggestions of his classmates. Vinisha said, “Since you’re the leader, why don’t you call off where you want us to go, say left, right, faster, slower.” Shawn liked this idea and the activity began again. Shawn began calling out left, right and so on.
Then something amazing happened. I noticed that the blob was getting bigger and bigger, about fifteen or so children and they were having a hard time hearing Shawn’s direction. Remarkably, Shawn remembered a lesson from a previous week about strategy. As a result, Shawn called the blob in for a huddle at which point the team made a strategy. This sounds pretty logical to professionals, but a group of screaming fourth graders forming a strategy, unprovoked by the college facilitator, was truly amazing.
Because the facilitators had used experiential learning through the team builders, the lesson was ingrained in the children and they followed the lesson without direction from the facilitators. This was a testament to the power of experiential learning. Business managers can talk for hours to their employees about the importance of strategic development, but if it is emphasized through activities and demonstrated in practice, these “single acts” ultimately become “behaviors” that are a part of the team character. “A leader is someone who not only leads the team but is a person who listens and respects the ideas of the team members,” added Vinisha again.
photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/reway2007/3015952841/sizes/s/
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