Impact

Communication is a very important for teams to work and this is emphasized in this team building game.

Groupings

Groups with 8-10 members are the ideal number for this game, but will also work for large groups with members ranging in 16-24.

Materials Needed

• Markers or lines to indicate the boundaries of the “mine field”
• Objects that will represent “mines”; can also be masking tape marked “X” on the ground
• Blindfolds (optional)
• Facilitation Notes

Activity

In this team building game, every member of the group has to cross a “mine field” in the least possible time. To do the land mines game, the step by step instruction is as follows:

1. The facilitator groups the participant with each team having 8-10 members each.
2. One member of each team will close his/her eyes and will try to cross the mine field without hitting or stepping into a “land mine”. If blindfolds will be available, blindfold the member instead of just closing his/her eyes.
3. Another member of each team will try to navigate the blindfolded teammate through the “mine field” so that he/she won’t hit any of the “land mines”.
4. When the blindfolded person reaches the end of the field, another member will be blindfolded while another member will serve as a new navigator.
5. If the blindfolded person steps on the “land mines” or touches any while navigating trough the “mine field” they then start from the starting line again.
6. The first group to completely navigate its entire members across the “mine field” in the least possible time will win the game.

Notes

• This activity is made more challenging when two or more teams simultaneously use the land mine activity. They will be distracted by other team’s navigators giving instructions to their team mates.
• At first glance, this could be a challenging task but later on when they get the technique, they’ll breeze through the “mine field”.
• Another way to keep this task challenging is to keep the “land mines” closer so that the participants have more chances of stepping on it.

Processing Questions

After the game, the facilitator asks the following questions. This is to make them understand the game and as a way of evaluating whether or not they did learned something from the activity.

1. If given a scale of 0 to 10 with 10 as the highest, how do they describe their trust to their navigator?
2. How was it like to be blindfolded?
3. How was it like to be a navigator?
4. How did your navigator assure you to give them their trust?
5. Do you have any other way that your navigator could have done?
6. How does this activity relate to actual situation in life?

Just like any other team building game, this is a unique way for participants to appreciate how important communication is in a team. Even though you don’t know which way to go, as long as you have a healthy communication with your team, then there is no problem that can’t be solved.

Resources

Mine Field – Description of a Communication & Relationship-Building Activity

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