A Ship in the Sea

In the Sea is a fun, suspenseful, and high-energy large group game to work on active listening and quick response skills.

Gather your group in the centre of the playing space, and ask them to imagine they are standing on the deck of a ship. First of all, point out where or along which boundaries of your playing space are the bow (front,) stern (rear,) port (left) and starboard (right) sides of the ship can be located.

As a form of warm-up, test your group’s reaction by making a series of commands, inviting your group to move to those positions as quickly as possible. When you call a command, each person is expected to respond as quickly as possible, for example move to the stern.

In addition to instructing your group to move to the “BOW,” “STERN,” “PORT” and “STARBOARD” positions, other calls may include:

• “ATTENTION” – individuals stand to attention, saluting with their right hand.
• “SWAB THE DECK” – individuals get on their hands and knees and scrub the deck.
• “SAILOR OVERBOARD” – everyone lies on the floor and wiggles their arms and legs in the air.
• “LIFEBOATS” – three people form a single file line, sit down and pretend to row a boat.
• “RIG THE SAILS” – two people join hands and pretend to be setting up the sails.

Start the game by making your first of a series of commands in quick succession, waiting a few moments between each command. Basically, keep them moving.

Send people forward, then aft, to rig the sails, then back forward, to port, to clear the deck, all in 30 seconds. This high-energy exercise is ideal for large groups, is suspenseful and fun, and comes with no particular ending.

Continue for several minutes, or try a variation.

Moment of Reflection

• What did you notice as you attempted to respond to all of the commands?
• What was necessary to help you respond successfully to each command?
• Where else in your life/work do you need to respond quickly and accurately?

The topics of this publication: integration, interactions, active listening, adaptability skills, disinhibition, distension, energize, focus