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Exercises/Psychological Safety/Tunnel Ball
Psychological Safety Opener · Psychological Safety

Tunnel Ball

Both teams can move freely within their areas, but cannot cross over into the other team’s zone.

5 to 15 minutesTIME
Medium group (9-25)GROUP SIZE
ActiveENERGY
In personSETTING
Low cognitive loadCOGNITIVE LOAD
Strengthens Participation Architecture This psychological safety exercise strengthens Participation Architecture, one of the eight Gathering Effectiveness pillars.

How to run it

  1. Divide the group into two teams - offense and defense.
  2. The offense stands outside of the large circle. The defense must remain in between the two circles. Both teams can move freely within their areas, but cannot cross over into the other team’s zone.
  3. The offensive team is given three dodgeballs. They are attempting to knock over the cones in the middle circle. Once all three cones have been knocked over, the teams switch roles.
  4. The defensive team can block the balls and defend the cones with any part of their body, as long as they remain in their zone.
  5. If the ball is stuck in the middle, the defensive team must go get it and throw it outside the circles.
  6. Both teams can move freely within their areas, but cannot cross over into the other team’s zone.
Live facilitator

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.

Prompts to use +

The offense stands outside of the large circle. The defense must remain in between the two circles. Both teams can move freely within their areas, but cannot cross over into the other team’s zone.

The offensive team is given three dodgeballs. They are attempting to knock over the cones in the middle circle. Once all three cones have been knocked over, the teams switch roles.

If the ball is stuck in the middle, the defensive team must go get it and throw it outside the circles.

Both teams can move freely within their areas, but cannot cross over into the other team’s zone.

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: Tunnel Ball. Readiness: Publishable Draft. Core moves: The offense stands outside of the large circle. The defense must remain in between the two circles. Both teams can move freely within their areas, but cannot cross over into the other team’s zone.; The offensive team is given three dodgeballs. They are attempting to knock over the cones in the middle circle. Once all three cones have been knocked over, the teams switch roles.; If the ball is stuck in the middle, the defensive team must go get it and throw it outside the circles.; Both teams can move freely within their areas, but cannot cross over into the other team’s zone.. 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 Playworks; aggregators are listed as additional observations, not origin proof. (1 source observed, including Playworks.)
  • 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.

Pairs well with