The Spider Web
The Spider Web is a visual thinking exercise for relationship mapping: it helps participants build useful connections and understand how people, roles, or ideas relate.
How to run it
- Explain to participants that they will work together to build a web that symbolizes their connections, roles, or ideas.
- Emphasize that the activity requires attention, active listening, and collaboration.
- Ask each participant to introduce themselves or share something about themselves (e.g., an interest, a role, or a personal value).
- Start by handing the ball of thread to one person.
- The first person holds onto the end of the thread and throws the ball to someone else while responding to a question or completing a prompt. Examples:
- “I choose because we both share an interest in…”
- “My experience in this topic connects with because…”
- “I choose \ because we both share an interest in…”
- “My experience in this topic connects with \ because…”
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.
What participants need now
Materials:
This is a participant-safe snapshot, not a response form. It sends nothing back to the facilitator.
Prompts to use +
Explain to participants that they will work together to build a web that symbolizes their connections, roles, or ideas.
Ask each participant to introduce themselves or share something about themselves (e.g., an interest, a role, or a personal value).
Start by handing the ball of thread to one person.
“I choose because we both share an interest in…”
“I choose \ because we both share an interest in…”
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: The Spider Web. Readiness: Publishable Draft. Core moves: Explain to participants that they will work together to build a web that symbolizes their connections, roles, or ideas.; Ask each participant to introduce themselves or share something about themselves (e.g., an interest, a role, or a personal value).; Start by handing the ball of thread to one person.; “I choose because we both share an interest in…”. 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 Participatory Methods; aggregators are listed as additional observations, not origin proof. (1 source observed, including Participatory Methods.)
- 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.