Floating pole

The Floating Pole is a group dynamics game. It can be played with groups of about 10 to 20 players.

Required equipment
You need one long, inflexible pole to play the game. The length depends on the number of participants, assume something like 30 centimeters per player. It shouldn't be too heavy, try a tent pole or an avalance probe.

Rules
The players stand next to each other looking in one direction, or in two lines facing each other if there are more players. They strech their arms in the height of their chest, form a fist on each hand but strech their forefingers. The referee puts the pole on their fingers.

As soon as the game starts, each player has to touch the pole with both fingers (on the pole's "bottom side"). The group may not talk with each other (adjourn that rule if the group is not yet well-established, of if the task proves to be too hard for the group). Their task is to lay down the pole on the floor.

The task sounds simple, but as everybody has to touch the pole, there is a natural tendency that the pole starts to rise instead of moving downwards. Groups can seldomly solve the task on the first try.

Schwebende Stange