Get Active: Traffic Jam

Wednesday 18th December 2019

This is a great game that requires a lot of thinking and communication.

Instructions
Mark 9 spots/spaces on the floor in a line with a cone or piece of tape, you could number them to make it easier to know exactly where each person is. The game is played with 8 people, if you have less than 8 people place an object to represent a person in the space and a leader can move the object as required.

Start out with participants on spaces 1-4 and 6-9, leaving 5 (middle) empty. Participants on each side should face inwards looking towards the empty space.

Rules
The object of the game is to move the participants on each side to the other side following the rules set out below:

• Participants can only move one person at a time.
• Participants can move forwards only and must stay facing the same direction for the entire game.
• Participants can move to unoccupied spaces in front, only one person can be at each space.
• Participants can jump (move past) a participant from the opposite side as long as there is an unoccupied space in front.

When the group gets stuck, creating a ‘traffic jam’, where no one can move, then they should start again. You can make the game easier by allowing participants to leave the line to look at what is going on from a clearer perspective, other than that participants facing one way should not turn around to look behind them.

Solution
You can find a video which will show you the solution at bit.ly/2dn4f4A. After the group has solved the challenge have a discussion on how it went, did a leader emerge, how did they work as a team, etc.