Down By The Banks

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Coordinate collective timing and physical rhythm through a shared circle game.

Use it when: Use during in-person meetings to restore alertness and reset group attention between seated sessions.

Skip it when: Skip when participants prefer to avoid physical touch, or during fully remote or hybrid meetings where latency disrupts shared timing.

Group arrangement: Single circle for 4 to 12 people; split into two separate circles of roughly equal size (such as 6 and 7 for 13 people) for 13 to 24 people to run simultaneous rounds.

Timing: UWT suggested duration of 15 minutes to allow setup, chant practice, and complete elimination rounds for groups up to 24; source notes 1 to 2 minutes per chant run.

Materials and tools

• One flip chart or display board showing the chant lyrics and beat markers
• One dry-erase or permanent marker

Before participants arrive

1. Write the chant text and beat markers on a flip chart or display board visible to the room.
2. Clear sufficient open floor space for participants to stand or sit in a circle without crowding.

Say this to open

We are going to play a traditional rhythmic circle game called Down By The Banks. We will hold our palms open, pass a light tap around the circle to the beat of a chant, and keep steady time together. If the tap lands on your palm on the final beat, you step out to help lead the chant. Let us set up the circle and learn the rhythm first.

How to run it

1. Set hand positions and teach chant 3 minutes

   Form a circle of 4 to 12 people, or two separate circles if over 12. Speak the opening script. Everyone holds out their left hand, palm up. Each person places their right hand, also palm up, gently on top of their right-hand neighbor's open left palm. Point out the chant on the flip chart. Recite the words together line by line with the room until everyone knows the cadence and steady clapping rhythm.

2. Practice passing the rhythm 2 minutes

   Pick one person to start. On each beat, that person brings their right hand across their body and lightly taps the upturned left palm of their left-hand neighbor. They immediately return their right hand back to its resting spot on their right neighbor's left palm. The receiving player keeps their left hand flat and upturned. Run one complete practice circle without elimination so everyone feels the mechanical reset and timing.

3. Run elimination rounds 8 minutes

   Start official play. The circle chants aloud, passing the tap on every marked beat. The player whose palm is tapped on the final word 'DONG' steps back from the ring. They join the outer singing chorus to keep time. The player to their left starts the next round. Continue until two players remain in each circle. Those final two settle the game with a single round of Rock, Paper, Scissors.

4. Debrief the rhythm 2 minutes

   Bring everyone back together. Ask the whole group two debrief questions: what helped keep the circle's rhythm steady, and how did anticipating the final beat affect focus? Take three brief responses from volunteers, then transition to the next agenda item.

Debrief questions

• What helped your circle maintain a steady tempo instead of rushing?
• How did the anticipation of the final word change your physical focus?

Finished output: A completed sequence of rhythmic elimination rounds concluding with a final two-player resolution.

Remote

This physical hand-passing game cannot work online without becoming a different method due to latency and missing touch. A complete remote alternative is Zoom Name Rhythm: participants tap their laps twice and clap their hands once on camera to hold a shared tempo. The first speaker calls their own name on the clap, then calls another colleague's name on the next clap. The called person repeats their name on the subsequent clap, nominates another peer, and passing continues without breaking beat.

Hybrid

Hybrid delivery is not recommended because audio lag prevents synchronized clapping between remote and co-located participants. If hybrid execution is necessary, keep in-person participants in the physical circle. Assign remote participants as visual timekeepers who observe on video, with their microphones muted to avoid acoustic feedback. In-person participants manage all singing and tempo leadership directly in the room.

Access and participation choices

• Participants may sit in chairs in the circle rather than standing.
• Anyone who wishes to avoid physical touch may opt out of the circle without explanation to act as chant caller, lyric display keeper, or referee.

If the session gets stuck

Players slap too hard as excitement increases.

Remind participants that each contact must be a light flat-hand tap, not a strike. Pause the game immediately if someone hits forcefully.

The group rushes the tempo near the final words.

Step in as primary tempo caller. Tap your foot audibly and chant clearly at an even pace to ground the circle.

Terms used here

• Reset: Returning your right hand, palm up, to rest upon your right-hand neighbor's upturned left hand immediately after tapping your left-hand neighbor.