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

Help me prepare and run the exercise below. First ask for my participant count, time, setting, access needs and intended result. Check these against the stated limits. Use the supplied rules and materials. Explain any proposed changes before using them, and label them as adaptations. Do not invent source claims or require personal disclosure. Give me one step at a time when I say start. I manage the people, physical activity and clock; do not claim to observe the room. Ask me what happened before choosing a next step.

Reference revision: 2cb4c98b8c844a046cf2ad8fb085fda8895bd59f3b09b369b653a8b0d27dfed2

# Kick the Duck, Red Rover

Participants build a silent, improvised group game from scratch by moving, copying poses, and repeating cause-and-effect patterns without speaking. The group pauses to name the implicit rules they created, then replays and refines the sequence.

**Time:** 15 minutes. UWT suggested 15-minute pacing based on the multi-iteration progression observed in Improv Does Best.
**People:** 6 to 20. Whole room moving together in an open area.

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Establish shared behavioral patterns and silent consensus through physical mirroring and repetitive cause-and-effect moves.
**Use it when:** Use when an ensemble or team needs to practice outward awareness, nonverbal alignment, and simplifying chaotic group dynamics.
**Skip it when:** Skip when participants require low-mobility activities, verbal-only communication, or when explicit written protocols are needed rather than emergent physical play.

## Materials and tools

- Countdown timer or stopwatch for the facilitator
- Open floor space free of tripping hazards

## Before participants arrive

1. Clear chairs and tables to leave an open floor space where everyone can stand and move safely.

## Say this to open

On the count of three, we are going to play a game with no words. You will collaborate silently to establish focus and discover the rules of your game through movement and reaction. No talking or gibberish. One, two, three, go!

## How to run it

### 1. Launch silent play (3 minutes)

Say the opening script and let the group move without talking. Observe their initial chaos. If anyone tries to talk, use gibberish, or explicitly direct others with gestures, stop them gently and prompt them to lead by following. After 90 seconds, call freeze.

### 2. Analyze and identify symmetries (3 minutes)

Keep everyone frozen in their current postures. Ask participants what they noticed in the room right before the freeze. Introduce two principles: seek symmetries (mirror the posture, stance, or motion of people near you) and empower asymmetries (notice contrasting subgroups and let one group's action trigger the other's reaction). Ask them to walk back to their positions when you said 'go'.

### 3. Repeat and establish cause and effect (5 minutes)

Call 'go' for round two. Participants play silently, actively matching posture with neighbors or responding to distinct actions across the room. After 2 minutes, call freeze. Ask two or three participants: 'When X happened, what was the reaction Y?' Then instruct the group to reset to their starting spots and replay that exact sequence from the top to solidify the emerging pattern.

### 4. Debrief the emerging rules (4 minutes)

Gather the group in a loose circle to unpack how unspoken rules formed. Take three brief observations from volunteers on how repetition turned random moves into clear group direction.


## Debrief questions

- What made a random movement turn into an understood rule for the group?
- How did following someone else's posture help clarify what the rest of the room should do?
- Where did overcomplicating or trying to direct others stall the group pattern?

**Finished output:** A shared, repeatable sequence of silent physical movements established entirely through group consensus.

## Remote

Run in gallery view with all microphones muted. Participants stay on camera. Instead of moving around a room, players use upper-body gestures, head positions, and framing near their webcams. Round one starts on 'go'. The facilitator freezes the call to point out mirrored hand positions or head tilts, then restarts play so the gallery can repeat and build cause-and-effect hand or body patterns.

## Hybrid

Hybrid delivery is not recommended because spatial awareness and physical proximity drive the mechanic. If hybrid is necessary, have remote participants pair with a dedicated on-camera buddy or run two parallel groups (one in-room, one online) and compare their emerging patterns during the debrief.

## Access and participation choices

- Participants with limited physical mobility can play using seated upper-body gestures, facial expressions, or stationary arm poses.
- Anyone uncomfortable moving in the space may act as the Pattern Observer, tracking and naming the cause-and-effect sequences during debrief without needing to explain their choice.

## If the session gets stuck

**A dominant participant uses charades or bossy gestures to order others around.**

Pause the room immediately. Remind everyone that leadership here happens by mirroring and supporting existing movements, not by dictating actions.

**The room dissolves into random, frantic running or flailing with no discernible pattern.**

Call freeze. Ask everyone to look around and match the posture of the person closest to them. Restart with the instruction that copying existing poses takes priority over inventing new moves.


## Terms used here

- Seek Symmetries: Matching the physical posture, stance, or repetitive motion of nearby participants to reduce chaos.
- Empower Asymmetries: Using visible differences between subgroups to create a call-and-response or cause-and-effect interaction.

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in Improv Does Best (2013) as an improvisational comedy exercise for group game mechanics and nonverbal agreement.

Retained core mechanics from Improv Does Best: silent emergence, seeking symmetries, empowering asymmetries, cause-and-effect repetition, and restarting sequences from the beginning. Added explicit time limits, remote webcam adaptation, and non-physical observer access options.

[Improv Does Best](https://improvdoesbest.com/2013/01/30/kick-the-duck-red-rover-exercise/)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/kick-the-duck-red-rover-exercise/