The Blind Polygon Activity

Blind Polygon is an ideal activity for small and large groups to improve communication skills and encourage collaboration.

In advance, tie the two ends of a long rope together to form a closed loop. Gather your group and ask them to close their eyes or distribute blindfolds for them all to wear.

When ready, lay the rope at the feet of one of the participants. Instruct your group to manipulate the rope to form a perfect square, ensuring that all participants hold the rope tautly and off the ground to complete the task.

At no time is anyone permitted to open their eyes to view the position of the group or the shape of the rope. Allow up to 30 minutes for the group to solve the problem.

When the group believes it has formed the square, ask everyone to stand still and open their eyes/take off their blindfolds. Review the accuracy or otherwise of the final shape.

Allow time to invite your group to reflect on the result and their process.

Moment of Reflection

• What were the most difficult challenges your group needed to overcome?
• Describe one of these challenges and how you solved it? Or not.
• What did you notice about your communication as a whole?
• Describe some of the emotions you experienced during the exercise?
• What types of leadership were exhibited during the task? Were they effective?
• If you could ask the group to focus on just one thing to do well, what would that be?
• What helped or hindered your communication from being effective? Example?
• What lessons about collaboration have we learned from this experience?

The topics of this publication: interactions, active listening, cooperation, leadership, collaboration, teamwork, adaptability skills