Activity Goal: To encourage teamwork, creativity, planning, experimentation, and communication among participants. Through a playful challenge, participants are observed as they collaborate, solve problems, and make decisions under pressure.

Preparation: Distribute the participants in smaller groups of 3 to 5 persons, the ideal number is 4 in a team. Do not create bigger subgroups, as this will not be effective for the exercise.

Start of the activity: Start by explaining that they are about to face a creative team challenge. They will have to build the tallest tower possible using only the materials provided. The marshmallow must go at the very top of the tower.

Here is an example of the explanation you can give: “Today we’re going to build something as a team. You’ll need to construct the tallest tower possible using only spaghetti, tape, string, and a marshmallow. It might sound easy, but there’s one condition: the marshmallow must be at the very top! This challenge will help us discover how we work as a team, whether we plan or improvise, and how we respond when things go wrong.”

Explain the clear rules of the challenge:

• Each group will receive the same materials (you can hand them out in envelopes or bags).
• The tower must stand on its own – it cannot be taped to the table or the floor.
• The marshmallow must be whole and placed at the very top of the tower.
• No other materials may be used apart from what has been provided.
• Teams have exactly 18 minutes to build.
• You can use a visible timer to keep track.

Make sure everyone understands that the marshmallow cannot be on the side or at the bottom – it must go on top of the tower.

Implementation:

Distribute the materials to each group and start the 18-minute timer.

You can play some background music if you want to create a focused or energetic atmosphere. You can walk around the room and observe how each group is organizing itself:

• Who is taking the lead?
• Are they talking a lot or just a little?
• Are they trying out different ideas or sticking to just one?
• Is anyone being left out?

Wrap up/Debrief: Once the time is up, go around group by group to measure each tower. Only measure towers that are standing on their own with the marshmallow on top. Hold a small symbolic celebration with applause for the tallest tower.

Then, invite the group to reflect with questions like:

• What worked well in your team?
• What do you wish you had done differently?
• Did someone suggest an idea that wasn’t tried? Why not?
• How did you handle mistakes or moments when something fell apart?
• Who planned before building? Who jumped right into it?

Then also ask each participant to reflect on how they worked within the group and what they learned about themselves or teamwork. You can give them these two questions to write about or discuss:

• What role do you usually take when working in a group? How did you feel about that role today?
• What could you try differently next time to collaborate more effectively?

Materials: (per group of 4 people):

• 20 pieces of uncooked spaghetti (unbroken),
• 1 meter of masking tape (uncut),
• 1 meter of string or tape (uncut),
• 1 marshmallow,
• Scissors.