Line Up

Introduction

At the beginning of a training (start of an FFS) the participants do not know each other. It is useful to have an exercise which helps them to familiarize with each other and to get some information about the other participants in the group.

Objectives

1. To acquaint the participants with one another with regard to both physical and personal characteristics
2. To exercise group collaboration.

Duration

• 10 minutes

Materials

• None

Methodology

1. The participants form two groups. If the number of participants is odd, the smaller group should be complemented by one of the facilitators.
2. Before starting, the facilitator explains the rules and makes sure that everyone understands them.
3. The two groups will compete with each other to see which can line up most quickly according to personal or physical characteristics following the instructions of the facilitator.
4. After giving the instructions for how to form the line (e.g. the characteristic is height: line up from shortest to tallest, or the characteristic is age: line up from old to young), the facilitator will blow the whistle and the competition starts. The facilitator counts very slow to 10.
5. The group who has finished the task first (before reaching the count of 10) will indicate this by raising their hands (or agree on another movement to make).
6. The first group to finish will be the first to check whether the sequence they made is correct.
7. The facilitator checks with each group if the sequence they made is correct.
8. The group that lined up most quickly and with the fewest errors is the winner.