Collaboration Games: The Marshmallow Challenge

How do you get students to work together in a creation? Try this pre-exercise to have students practice collaborating to make a finished product. It’s an exercise that has been around for years but the instructions have always been the same.

The Challenge:

• Divide students into groups of four
• Give each group 18 minutes to build the tallest freestanding structure
• Supplies include:
  • 20 sticks of uncooked spaghetti
  • masking tape
  • string
  • a single marshmallow.
• See who finishes with the tallest structure.

Why This Exercise Works

The time limit is important because it forces students to collaborate quickly. The competition aspect is also important as it pushes groups to work at their best.

This exercise will let you know really quickly how adept your students are at working together quickly. Some may get too frustrated to complete the challenge. Some may turn into leaders. Some may refuse to collaborate at all. How does all of this impact the group dynamic? This type of exercise will also tell you about students' self-management skills:

• How do they manage their time?
• How well do they stay on task?
• Do they distract easily?
• Do they distract others?

These are all good things to know before you take on a collaborative theatrical project.

Reflection

Discuss the exercise afterward. How did your group work together? How did students feel about the time limit? How well did they work under pressure? Were they able to work together? Why or why not?

Want to Take It Further?
Want to take it further and perhaps down a more theatrical path? Get students to build a marshmallow set. Give them the same parameters, work with unlikely materials within an 18-minute time frame, and see what they create.