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Large group game – The Connecting Game

The story of creation with breeze blocks and a picture by Michelangelo as a large group team game to be experienced with up to 2000 youths.

We are pleased to welcome you into a team of N Connecting Groups. You all, as a group, will receive a job with unbelievable importance which will give the world it's story of creation back.

The members of staff welcome the participants with these words. With a map of the area the youths will split into small groups to find the "four continents", to complete the team games and to win stones, brushes and paints.

In between times the groups can receive further tasks and instructions by text. At the end all of the groups meet up at a collective point for the "creation". Singing or a barbecue might also take place in the meantime. For the final conclusion all of the small groups bring their masterpiece and find the place where their stones fits in a frame.

To the music „And Zaratustra Spoke“ Michaelangelo’s most famous masterpiece slowly emerges „The Creation” is the collective production of all participants. Then the secretive contractor lifts the big secret: "This picture from Michelangelo testifies our origin that we are the creation of God. You have worked together to produce such a great masterpiece. Through this collective challenge the contact among us has been cemented. Stay in contact and spread your creative possibilities.

The Connecting Game

We played this game within different youth camps afternoons with between 200 and 2000 participants. Obviously other events, times and number of participants are possible.

  • Team: 5 people for planning, purchasing, preparation and building

  • Staff: For the 4 stations with at least 2 members of staff and 1 member of staff per small group

  • Participants: desired number of connecting groups with 6-9 people (tested with 200 – 2000) The groups are named after towns in 4 continents.

  • Program: describe the start positions beforehand

    • 13.30-14.30 letter 2 with text 2 at the start positions – hand out the materials (stones, brushes, paints), build the stations with the members of staff and try out the team games
    • from 14.30 hand out letter 1 with text 1 (start positions) among the groups
    • 14.45 all stations are occupied
    • 15.00 start the „Connecting Game“
    • 18.00 back to the meeting point, painting event & barbecue
    • 19.30 Final (music, put the stones together, speech, etc.)

Connecting Game – the stations:

Each station should be staffed by two members of staff so that 2 groups can be taken together! The small groups should spend approx. 5 minutes at each station.

The „materials“ will be handed out on stations 2 – 5 once a “team game” has been successfully completed.

  1. Hand out letter 1

    Hand out letter 1 with text 1 and description of the starting positions from 14.30 to the groups

  2. Place letter 2 at the start

    Place letter 2 with text 2 (groups names, map of the area and descriptions of the tasks) at the start position before 14.30.

  3. Station Africa: Team game A

    Conquer an obstacle (The Luther River) together and try to keep as many people dry as possible.

    Material: Flock, rope, Tarzan rope, etc.

    Question: How deep is the river ....... at this point?

    Prize: Each group receives different colour shades

    Bonus question: How did the river get it’s name?

  4. Station Europe Team game B

    The whole of the small group must complete a distance of 7 meters together. In doing this only N – 1 body part may touch the ground. (N = number of group members!)

    Material: Chalk, obstacles??

    Question: How many houses are found on the Trischen Road?

    Prize: Each group receives a brush

  5. Station America Team game C

    Make a mark (sticky tape or chalk) as high up as possible on tree without branches.

    Material: Chalk question: How large is the circumference of the tree on which you have made the mark?

    „Prize:“ Each group receives instructions on how to paint the stone.

  6. Station Asia Team game D

    Split yourselves into 2 groups and one team stands left and one team stands right of the bench/beam or edge. Swap positions (from left to right and right to left) without touching the ground.

    Material: Bench from the sports hall approx. 3 m long, 12 x 12 cm

    Question: How many litres fit into the large barrel in the distillery?

    Prize: Each group receives a breeze block

  7. Addition I: Question sheet “Connecting Facts”

    (can be done but is not vital)

  8. Addition II: Text for breaks & tasks

    a) Sing the song “If you’re happy and you know it..“ at exactly 17.30 as loudly as possible.

    b) What does Michelangelo have to do with us?

    c) Conclusion: Be at your meeting point with your group at 18.00.

  9. Painting event & evening meal

    18.00-19.30 location: camp

    Little stage, e.g. tables put together or a stage

    • Upon arrival: Hand out the question sheet „Connecting Facts“ (1-2 members of staff)
    • Paint the stones (everyone)
    • Hand out paints and swap them (2-3 members of staff)
    • Barbecue and enjoy the evening meal with the group (everyone)

Final event

  • Position the stones – the picture is made (2-3 members of staff)
  • Music in the back ground (music or CD)
  • Interview with players + station workers (host)
  • Solution to the Connecting Facts (host)
  • The picture is finished and music is blended in ( And Zaratustra Spoke, Camina Burana ) (technician)
  • The contractor’s speech (1 member of staff)
  • Flash Film – The little Michelangelo by Silvia Mursch (technician) see: http://mursch.de/mainintro.htm
  • Songs, games, info, events

Connecting Game - Material & “To Do” list:

  • 1-3 concrete stones e.g. breeze blocks 25 x 62,5 x 5 cm
  • Picture of the „Creation by Michelangelo“
  • 1-3 brushes per group, 1 – 8 cm
  • Plastic beakers for the paints
  • Mix the shades & different tones beforehand
  • One envelope per group with a description of the starting position
  • One envelope per group with the group name (outside) and tasks and map (inside)
  • String, double sided sticky tape, chalk, crepe band,
  • Mobile phone, computer, access to internet, CD-player,
  • 1 program for sending messages e.g. D-Mail
  • A little announcement system for the host, the music and to accompany songs

Text 1:

Hello to you, our Connecting Group,
There is a job of utmost importance! In order to perform this job you must find the POINT X described in the attachment on day X the 0x.0x.200x at exactly 15.00 CET with your complete Connecting Group! You will receive more instructions from an undercover agent there who you will recognise by the mark of your Connecting Group! Please only take the envelopes with the correct marking for your group on them (otherwise complete Determination of the group can follow)!

To accept the task please send a text with your group name to 0178-xxxxxxx! The mobile phone used for this task must remain reachable at all times!

AS ALWAYS THIS JOB REQUIRES COMPLETE SECRECY! IF OUY OR ANOTHER MEMBER OF YOUR GROUP IS TAKEN PRISONER THE MINISTER WILL, AS ALWAYS, DENY ALL KNOWLEDGE OF THIS JOB!

(A typewriter document – requires no signature)

Text 2:

We are pleased to welcome you into this TEAM which is made up of xx Connecting Groups. As a group you will undertake an interesting partial task and will work together with other Connecting Groups to give the world her creation back. At this point in time (now) YOU have now taken on the job! Please work through the following task sheet!

Attached you will find a map with different markings which we cannot explain. We have understood that it must deal with 4stations which are to be found in four continents! It is now your job to visit a station on all four continents, to inspect and to complete any further tasks if required!

There is a deadline for these tasks which is 18:00 CET.

In addition our department, the statistical origin data collection, requests some facts from your Connecting Group! For this reason we ask you to fill out the attached „Connecting Facts Handout“ during the completion of the jobs.

Obviously we expect that we can reach you at all times by mobile phone texts using the phone with which you accepted the job!

Names of the Connecting Groups

New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Houston, Washington D.C., Hollywood, Miami, Pensacola, Seattle, Denver, Honolulu, Nashville, Phoenix, Lansing, Springfield, Atlanta, Richmond, Green Bay, Salt Lake City, Toronto, Oklahoma City, Lincoln, London, Paris, Oslo, Budapest, Athens, Berlin, Lisbon, Madrid, Rome, Milan, Helsinki, Ankara, Bucharest, Reykjavik, Amsterdam, Brussels, Dublin, Glasgow, Prague, Stockholm, Thessaloniki, Marseilles, Turin, Vienna, Bratislava, Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Alice Springs, Perth, Broome, Halls Creek, Exmouth, Brisbane, Launceston, Tokyo, Jakarta, Delhi, Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Hanoi, Peking, Seoul, Kyoto, Taipei, Sapporo, Calcutta, Bombay, Kathmandu, Casablanca, Mogadishu, Durban, Cape Frio, Benguela, Pagalu, Kananga, Lubumbashi, Lagos, Tananarive, Mocambique, Addis Abeba, Dakar, Cape Town, Lusaka, Asmara, Khartoum, Assuan, Dakhla, Algiers, Pretoria, Cairo, Tripoli, Timbuktu, Darussalam

CONNECTING FACTS

  1. How many years of “youth work experience” do you have in total in your Connecting Group ??

  2. Counting them up, how many church services have you attended??

  3. How many church services have you taken part in??

  4. How many confirmees, youths and members of staff are in your groups in total??

  5. What is the average age of your Connecting Group (years and months)??

  6. How many pieces of underwear (underpants, pants, knickers, tangas) do you all have together on this EVENT?

  7. Make a sentence using all of your initials!! Example: Sigi Inholte; Nobi Greiner; Evchen Nontschev = SINGING IS NOT GOOD END NOISE!

  8. In how many different countries and continents have you been – add the groups results together??

    Countries :

    Continents:

  9. Translate this into letters – there are 7 words:

    9274286424352643566486654298886

  10. Question: How many litres fit into the large barrel in the distillery? (Asia)

  11. With which words and in which book of the bible is the creation of man described?

Painting with numbers

The Connecting Game The Connecting Game

A frame is put over the picture so that each group has one or more fields (= stones). In this example we used 105 but it can also be 32 or even less. Each field then represents one stone. Depending on the size of the stones you choose the size of the final picture will be determined (our examples were between 2 x 3 and 3 x 5 meters). Each group then receives a print out with the painting instructions for their stone(s). We then arranged the painted stones on the floor (and then transferred it with a camera onto a canvas) or on plywood slightly leaned against a wall.

Author and copyright:
Kai, Hardy, Günter and teams from TEN SING and the CVJM-Westbund Wuppertal (Germany) 2001 - 2006

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