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Exercises/Reflection and Learning/Hilariously Fun Challenge Game for Groups - Paper Bag Pick Up
Team Reflection ยท Reflection and Learning

Hilariously Fun Challenge Game for Groups - Paper Bag Pick Up

Hilariously Fun Challenge Game for Groups - Paper Bag Pick Up is a team reflection exercise for reflection and learning: it helps participants reflect on experience and turn observations into learning.

15 to 30 minutesTIME
Small group (4-8)GROUP SIZE
ActiveENERGY
In person, RemoteSETTING
High 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. Place an empty paper bag, standing upright and stiff, in front of your group.
  2. Challenge one person at a time to attempt to lift the paper bag off the floor using their mouth only, with their feet only ever touching the ground.
  3. Invite a small group of no more than 10 volunteers to start the first round of attempts.
  4. To stay in the game, a participant must be standing fully upright with the bag in their teeth or between their lips.
  5. An attempt is deemed unsuccessful if at any point a participant falls forward or uses their hands (or any other part of their anatomy) to brace themselves.
  6. If a person does not successfully lift the bag after three consecutive attempts (at the same height) they are eliminated.
  7. Once every person in the group has made an attempt, invite one of them to tear a portion off the top of the paper bag walls, ie to make it shorter for the next round.
  8. When ready, commence the second round of attempts with the remaining successful participants.
  9. Paper Bag Pick Up Fun challenge game to test balance, flexibility & determination skills.
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 +

Place an empty paper bag, standing upright and stiff, in front of your group.

Invite a small group of no more than 10 volunteers to start the first round of attempts.

Once every person in the group has made an attempt, invite one of them to tear a portion off the top of the paper bag walls, ie to make it shorter for the next round.

When ready, commence the second round of attempts with the remaining successful participants.

Paper Bag Pick Up Fun challenge game to test balance, flexibility & determination skills.

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: Hilariously Fun Challenge Game for Groups - Paper Bag Pick Up. Readiness: Publishable Draft. Core moves: Place an empty paper bag, standing upright and stiff, in front of your group.; Invite a small group of no more than 10 volunteers to start the first round of attempts.; Once every person in the group has made an attempt, invite one of them to tear a portion off the top of the paper bag walls, ie to make it shorter for the next round.; When ready, commence the second round of attempts with the remaining successful participants.. 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 Playmeo; aggregators are listed as additional observations, not origin proof. (1 source observed, including Playmeo.)
  • 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