Last week, groups of students were tasked with the challenge to move plastic cups from one location on the table to another. They were given a number of cups and one elastic band with four attached pieces of string. Each group member was responsible to control one string. No hands were to touch the cups!

Upon first attempts, they realized how much there was a give and take with controlling the elastic band in the middle. It was more difficult than it first appeared so they had to use their communication and critical thinking skills. Their first task was to move all of the cups from one side of the table to the other side. Once successful, they were to try the challenge of stacking cups like a pyramid. I wish you were there to see how happy they were to work together, how well they persevered when they weren’t successful yet, and how elated they were when they were eventually successful. A few were jumping up and down excitedly and one exclaimed as she jumped in celebration, “We did the challenge! We did the challenge!” What a positive bunch of children with great communication and teamwork skills! 

During our debriefing, we discussed what went well in our groups as teammates and the strategies to get the work done:

• Myel: We did planning.
• Mehr: We stayed focussed.
• Olivya: We talked a lot and tried to communicate a lot.
• O: We communicated with other people.
• Priscilla: Being nice with your words.
• Sasha: We used tools properly.

It helps when we use positive language to support and encourage our teammates. These were some examples of what we heard:

We can do it! Good work! Yay, we did it! Good teamwork! Go team!

Isla summed it up nicely: We enjoyed learning through playing.

Core Competency – Communication: I can work with others to achieve a common goal; I do my share.