Team Activity: Belonging Life Raft

Kids need to belong. Being part of a group is an important part of their development. Unfortunately, sometimes the need to belong leads some teens to seek membership in groups that are destructive to themselves and to others. This activity will help kids understand how important being part of a group is to teens, and how important working together to take care of each other can be.

Time: 20 minutes

Materials needed:

• An area marked off by masking tape, a piece of cardboard or a piece of carpet. Try to calculate an area just large enough to make it a challenge to get all the group members within the space.
• At least 6 willing teens. If you have a really large group, it might be a better experience if the group is divided.

Challenge:

To get the entire group onto the life raft (the identified space)

How To:

The group is in a jungle area of deadly migrating quicksand. The entire group is in danger of being swallowed up by the quicksand. They know that the quicksand is about 2 minutes away from the position of their "life raft" (the marked off area, or piece of cardboard). To save the group, every member must be on the life raft (the identified area). The group members can use their creativity and ingenuity to save themselves. If even one member does not make it onto the raft, the entire group will be lost.

Debriefing questions:

• What was the purpose of this activity?
• What was this activity like for you?
• Were you able to get your whole group onto the life raft?
• What was it like to make sure that everyone in your group was included?
• Did anyone get left out? How did you feel about being excluded?
• Can any of you remember a time in your life when you were excluded from a group?
• What groups exist in your school?
• Are they careful to include anyone who wants to join or are they exclusive groups?
• What is good about being part of a group? What is difficult about being part of a group?
• How can Peer Support help everyone in their school to feel as though they can belong and be part of the school culture?