---
title: "Spider's Web"
description: "Teams pass members through distinct openings in a woven string web without touching any strand. Successful crossings close holes, while any contact resets the attempt."
last_updated: "2026-09-07"
canonical: "https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/spiders-web/"
---

# Spider's Web

Teams pass members through distinct openings in a woven string web without touching any strand. Successful crossings close holes, while any contact resets the attempt.

**Time:** 35 minutes. Evidence specifies a 25-minute action round; UWT adds 5 minutes for briefing and safety setup plus 5 minutes for debrief.
**People:** 6 to 15. Single team of 6 to 15 participants working together.

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Test collective coordination, physical spotting, and role assignment under tight operational constraints.
**Use it when:** Use in outdoor or spacious indoor workshops when a physical initiative is needed to examine group planning, safety accountability, and handling setbacks.
**Skip it when:** Skip when participants have mobility restrictions, wear professional business attire, lack consent for physical contact, or when space lacks secure anchor points.

## Materials and tools

- 1 large ball of strong string or yarn
- 1 roll of heavy-duty duct tape
- 1 pair of scissors
- 1 countdown timer
- 1 printed copy of team rules

## Before participants arrive

1. Requires 20 to 30 minutes before the session starts.
2. Select two solid anchor points 8 to 14 feet apart, such as sturdy posts, trees, or structural columns.
3. Weave string between the anchors to create a taut grid with openings of varied heights and dimensions.
4. Ensure the web contains at least two more openings than the total participant count, including low crawl openings and large central spaces.
5. Inspect the ground beneath the web to ensure it is level, dry, and clear of tripping hazards.

## Say this to open

Before us is the web. Your group's goal is to move as many people as possible from this side to the far side through separate openings without touching any string. Once an opening is used, it is closed. If anyone touches a strand, everyone returns to the start and your score resets. Safety comes first: no diving headfirst, and anyone being lifted must have their head, neck, and shoulders supported by spotters. Anyone who prefers not to be lifted or touched can serve as a primary web observer or ground navigator.

## How to run it

### 1. Brief rules and assign safety roles (5 minutes)

Read the opening script and hand out the rules sheet. Clarify that diving headfirst is strictly banned. Invite participants to state their comfort level with lifting or crawling. Designate observers who monitor string touches alongside the facilitator.

### 2. Strategy and testing phase (5 minutes)

Give the team 5 uninterrupted minutes to inspect opening sizes, plan which person targets which hole, and organize lifting spotters. Participants may not cross the web plane during this planning time.

### 3. Execute the crossing (20 minutes)

Start the 20-minute crossing timer. Participants move members through openings one at a time. Each successful crossing earns 1 point and closes that opening. If any string is touched, sound a stop: all participants return to the starting side, the score resets to zero, and all openings reopen. If all participants cross successfully before time expires, all openings reopen and the team may continue crossing back to accumulate additional points until the timer stops.

### 4. Debrief (5 minutes)

Gather the group at the web. Ask the debrief questions and take 3 to 4 quick observations from different participants on planning versus execution.


## Debrief questions

- How did your original plan change after the first physical attempt or reset?
- How did the team decide who would cross through which specific opening?
- What made it easy or difficult to speak up when someone noticed an accidental string touch?

**Finished output:** Total number of clean individual crossings completed within the allotted time.

## Remote

This activity depends entirely on physical navigation and spotting through a structural grid. It cannot be run online without turning into an unrelated digital puzzle. For remote groups, substitute an online communication activity such as a shared grid-mapping challenge.

## Hybrid

Hybrid delivery is not recommended. Remote participants cannot spot or lift physical participants. If necessary, remote participants can act as rule monitors via video feed, tracking open holes on a digital diagram.

## Access and participation choices

- Participants may opt out of being lifted or touched at any point without explanation.
- Non-lifting roles include active spotting, official string-touch tracking, and strategy timekeeping.
- Ground-level crawl holes must be large enough to accommodate participants who prefer low-clearance stepping or crawling over lifting.

## If the session gets stuck

**String touches happen constantly, leading to frustration and disengagement.**

Pause the timer for 60 seconds. Remind the group to slow down, double the number of spotters around the person crossing, and pick larger openings first.

**Participants attempt to dive headfirst through high holes.**

Immediately call a hard stop. Enforce the mandatory feet-first or torso-supported rule and do not allow the attempt to proceed until full neck support is in place.


## Terms used here

- Spotter: A participant positioned beside an active climber to physically support their torso, neck, and limbs to prevent falls.
- Closed hole: An opening in the web that has already been traversed by one participant and cannot be used again until a complete reset or full-team completion.

## Participant material: Spider's Web Rule Sheet

GOAL: Earn the highest final score in the allotted time.

RULES:
1. All participants begin on the starting side of the web.
2. A point is scored each time a person passes completely through an opening without touching any string.
3. Once a person goes through an opening, that opening is closed. No other person may use it.
4. You may use openings between the ground and the lowest string, or between the anchor and the string.
5. If anyone touches any string at any time, all participants return to the start, the score resets to zero, and all openings reopen.
6. No person may walk around or go over the structure, except when walking around to reset after a touch.
7. You may not modify, untie, or slacken the web.
8. Safety: No diving headfirst. Any person being lifted must have full support under their head, neck, and shoulders at all times.

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in TrainerBubble training materials under the title 'Spiders Web'. Originates in traditional low-ropes challenge course facilitation.

Retained core mechanics from TrainerBubble evidence, including the hole-closure rule, string-touch reset, score reset, ground/wall opening allowances, and mandatory prohibition on diving headfirst. UWT structured the timing into explicit 5-minute planning, 20-minute action, and 5-minute debrief segments, and added non-lifting observer roles for physical accessibility.

[TrainerBubble](https://www.trainerbubble.com/downloads/spiders-web/?currency=USD)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/spiders-web/