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: 77092244f20acad84f0901ef1d01d824396c908869c94eccc47f68b536686b1d

# Freeze Frame

Participants move silently around an open room and freeze in place as soon as they notice anyone else freeze. The facilitator times how many seconds it takes for the entire group to stop moving across repeated rounds.

**Time:** 10 minutes. Evidence supports multiple short rounds within 5 to 15 minutes. UWT standardizes on 10 minutes.
**People:** 6 to 24. Whole group moving in a shared open space.

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Track and reduce the seconds required for an entire room to notice and mirror a frozen participant without speaking.
**Use it when:** Use this as a quick physical warm-up to sharpen room awareness and observation before collaborative tasks.
**Skip it when:** Skip when the space is cramped, when participants cannot navigate open walking safely, or when physical energizers do not fit the working context.

## Materials and tools

- 1 stopwatch or digital timer on a phone or wall clock

## Before participants arrive

1. Clear chairs, bags, and cables to create an open, unobstructed walking perimeter.

## Say this to open

We will walk silently around the room in random paths. After about ten seconds, anyone may choose to stop completely and freeze. If you see someone frozen, freeze immediately right where you are. I will time how many seconds it takes from that first stop until the whole room is still. No talking or pointing.

## How to run it

### 1. Set boundaries and explain rules (2 minutes)

Explain the boundary of the walking area. Share the opening script. Emphasize that anyone may initiate the freeze at any point after ten seconds, and that participants must freeze without calling out, clapping, or pointing.

### 2. Run baseline round (2 minutes)

Signal participants to begin walking silently in random directions. After about 10 seconds, watch for the first person to stop. Start the timer immediately when the first person stops. Stop the timer when the final moving person freezes. Announce the elapsed freeze time.

### 3. Run practice rounds (4 minutes)

Reset the group and invite everyone to walk again. Run 2 to 3 additional rounds. Prompt participants to rely on peripheral vision rather than direct staring. Announce the time after each round so the group can track whether their response time improves.

### 4. Debrief group awareness (2 minutes)

Gather the group in place. Ask two reflection questions. Hear brief responses from two or three volunteers within the remaining time.


## Debrief questions

- What visual cues helped you notice someone had frozen across the room?
- What habit made it harder to spot a frozen person quickly?
- How did your focus shift between the baseline round and the final round?

**Finished output:** Recorded group freeze times across several rounds demonstrating group responsiveness.

## Remote

This activity depends on physical co-presence in a shared room. For online teams, run a seated webcam alternative: everyone moves their hands or bodies gently in their video frame; any person freezes on camera without warning, and participants freeze their movements as soon as they spot it. A timer tracks room freeze time in gallery view.

## Hybrid

Split into distinct parallel pods or run the seated webcam alternative for everyone. Mixing in-person walkers with remote video callers creates an uneven visual field that breaks the peripheral vision mechanic.

## Access and participation choices

- Participants with mobility limits can roll, walk at a self-selected pace, or participate while seated by raising and lowering a hand or making continuous arm gestures that freeze.
- Any participant may opt out of moving and instead serve as the official timekeeper alongside the facilitator.

## If the session gets stuck

**Participants bunch together or walk in a predictable circular line.**

Remind everyone to spread out evenly across the entire floor and vary their walking paths across the middle.

**People whisper, snap, or tap neighbors to alert them.**

Remind the group that the challenge requires visual awareness only and that all vocal or sound cues invalidate the round's time.


## Terms used here

- Peripheral vision: What you see outside your direct line of sight without turning your head.

## Sources and adaptation

Observed on Playmeo, where the activity is attributed to Mark Collard.

Preserved Mark Collard's core mechanic from Playmeo: participants walk silently, someone freezes after roughly 10 seconds, others freeze upon noticing, and the facilitator times room completion across rounds. Added specific setup safety checks, time allocations, a neutral seated access option, and a gallery-view remote option.

[Playmeo](https://www.playmeo.com/activities/energizer-warm-up-games/freeze-frame)

[Playmeo](https://www.playmeo.com/activities/energizer-warm-up-games/freeze-frame/)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/quick-group-awareness-energiser-for-team-connection-freeze-frame/