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Exercises/Reflection and Learning/Cone Guardian
Team Reflection · Reflection and Learning

Cone Guardian

On the magic word, any player in the game (player with a cone) can pick up a dodgeball and try to throw it to knock over another player’s cone.

5 to 15 minutesTIME
Small group (4-8)GROUP SIZE
ActiveENERGY
In personSETTING
Low cognitive loadCOGNITIVE LOAD
Strengthens Learning Transfer This reflection and learning exercise strengthens Learning Transfer, one of the eight Gathering Effectiveness pillars.

How to run it

  1. On the magic word, any player in the game (player with a cone) can pick up a dodgeball and try to throw it to knock over another player’s cone.
  2. If a player’s cone is knocked over, they get high fives and go to the end of the line. The next person in line enters the game and takes their cone.
  3. Players may protect their cone by using their hands to shield it. If the dodgeball hits the player, nothing happens, they are only trying to knock over cones.
  4. Players may NOT step on any part of their cone to try to to protect it.
  5. If a player does accidentally knock over their own cone, they still get high fives and go to the back of the line.
  6. At any point, a player may leave his/her cone to go get a dodgeball, but any other player may still try to knock his/her cone over while s/he is away from it.
  7. DEBRIEF: How did you decide when to leave your cone to get a dodgeball? Could we still be positive to our friends when they got out?
Live facilitator

Run this exercise live

The facilitator console stays in this browser. Its QR handoff is a short-lived participant snapshot containing only public exercise instructions, phase, prompt, and timer state.

Prompts to use +

If a player’s cone is knocked over, they get high fives and go to the end of the line. The next person in line enters the game and takes their cone.

If a player does accidentally knock over their own cone, they still get high fives and go to the back of the line.

At any point, a player may leave his/her cone to go get a dodgeball, but any other player may still try to knock his/her cone over while s/he is away from it.

DEBRIEF: How did you decide when to leave your cone to get a dodgeball? Could we still be positive to our friends when they got out?

Run this with your AI assistant +

Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or your own local model: paste this prompt and your AI will co-facilitate this exercise with you.

Adapt this exercise for my exact room. Exercise: Cone Guardian. Readiness: Publishable Draft. Core moves: If a player’s cone is knocked over, they get high fives and go to the end of the line. The next person in line enters the game and takes their cone.; If a player does accidentally knock over their own cone, they still get high fives and go to the back of the line.; At any point, a player may leave his/her cone to go get a dodgeball, but any other player may still try to knock his/her cone over while s/he is away from it.; DEBRIEF: How did you decide when to leave your cone to get a dodgeball? Could we still be positive to our friends when they got out?. Return a concise facilitator script with timing, wording, safety notes, and remote/in-person adjustments.

Origin unverified

  • Where we observed it: The strongest current observations come from Playworks; aggregators are listed as additional observations, not origin proof. (1 source observed, including Playworks.)
  • What that means: we track where an exercise has been observed in public sources. We do not claim to know who created it, or how popular it is.
  • No efficacy claims: appearing in this library is not a claim that the exercise is proven effective. Facilitator judgment and context decide whether it works for a given room.
  • Corrections: if you have evidence of an earlier or more accurate source, read our methodology and trust boundary and tell us.

Pairs well with