A popular and engaging game involving communication and trust.
The task is very flexible, works for groups of various types and
sizes, and can be adapted to youth, adults, corporate, etc.
Select an appropriate area. Go outside, if possible. Can be
done inside, even in rooms with fixed furniture (which can become
objects to be avoided).
Distribute
"mines" e.g., balls or other objects such as bowling pins, cones,
foam noodles, etc.
Establish a concentrating and caring tone for this activity.
Trust exercises require a serious atmosphere to help develop a
genuine sense of trust and safety.
Participants operate in pairs. Consider how the pairs are
formed - it's a chance to work on relationships. One person is
blind-folded (or keeps eyes closed) and cannot talk (optional). The
other person can see and talk, but cannot enter the field or touch
the person.
The challenge is for each blind-folded person to walk from one
side of the field to the other, avoiding the "mines", by listening
to the verbal instructions of their partners.
Allow participants a short period (e.g., 3 minutes) of planning
time to decide on their communication commands, then begin the
activity.
Be wary of blindfolded people bumping into each other. The
instructor(s) can float around the playing area to help prevent
collisions.
Decide on the penalty for hitting a "mine". It could be a
restart (serious consequence) or time penalty or simply a count of
hits, but without penalty.
It can help participants if you suggest that they each develop a
unique communication system. When participants swap roles, give
participants some review and planning time to refine their
communication method.
Allow participants to swap over and even have several attempts,
until a real, satisfied sense of skill and competence in being able
to guide a partner through the "minefield" develops.
The activity can be conducted one pair at a time (e.g., in a
therapeutic situation), or with all pairs at once (creates a more
demanding exercise due to the extra noise/confusion).
Can be conducted as a competitive task - e.g., which pair is the
quickest or has the fewest hits?
The facilitator plays an important role in creating an
optimal level of challenge, e.g., consider introducing more items or
removing items if it seems too easy or too hard. Also consider
coaching participants with communication methods (e.g., for younger
students, hint that they could benefit from coming up with clear
commands for stop, forward, left, right, etc.).
Be cautious about blind-folding people - it can provoke trust
and care issues and trigger post-traumatic reactions. Minimize this
risk by sequencing Mine Field within a longer program involving
other get-to-know-you and trust building activities before Mine
Field.
Variations
Minefield in a Circle: Blindfolded people start on the outside
of a large rope circle, go into middle, get an item ("treasure",
e.g., a small ball or bean bag), then return to the outside;
continue to see who can get the most objects within a time period.
Metaphorical Framing: Some set ups for minefield get very
elaborate and metaphor-rich, e.g., hanging objects which
metaphorically reflect the participants' background and/or issues.
For example, items which represent drugs, peer pressure, talking
with parents about the problem, etc. have been used in a family
adventure therapy program (Gillis & Simpson, 1994).
Participants can begin by trying to cross the field by
themselves. In a second round, participants can then ask someone
else to help them traverse the field by "talking" them through the
field.
To increase the difficulty, you can have other people calling
out. The blindfolded person must concentrate on their partner's
voice amidst all the other voices that could distract them from the
task.
Be aware that some participants may object to, or have previous
traumatic experience around the metaphor of explosive mines which
have caused and continue to cause much harm and suffering. It may
be preferable to rename the activity, for example, as an "obstacle
course" or "navigation course". Alternatively, the activity could
be used to heighten awareness about the effect of land mines on the
lives of people in countries such as Afghanistan and Nicaragua (see
UNICEF information
on land mines).
Processing Ideas
How much did you trust your partner (out of 10) at the start?
How much did you trust your partner (out of 10) at the end?
What is the difference between going alone and being guided by
another?
What ingredients are needed when trusting and working with
someone else?
What did your partner do to help you feel safe and secure?
What could your partner have done to help make you feel more
safe/secure?
Markers or lengths of rope to indicate the boundaries (e.g., 50
yard rectangular field)
Bowling pins or many soft objects, such as larger balls - the
more the better
Blind folds (can be optional)
Summary
Objects are scattered in an indoor or outdoor place. In pairs,
one person verbally guides his/her partner, whose eyes are closed or
blindfolded, through the "minefield".
Time
~20 minutes to set up
~5-10 minutes to brief
~5 minutes planning/discussion
~15-30 minutes activity
~5-30 minutes debrief
Group Size
2 to 30 is possible; works well with larger
groups e.g., 16 to 24.
Links to other descriptions of Mine Field
Karl Rohnke is usually credited with this activity (p.24
Silver Bullets), although there are many adaptations, including
Midnight Crossing).
Minefields [useful detail and variations]
(Rob Benson, First Steps Training & Development)
Until now, we have been doing activities without purposeful
reflection. But we know from Dewey that experience alone may or may not be
educative. Sometimes we need to further analyze an experience in order to
derive the most valuable learning.
“Minefield in a Circle” involves complex activity,
communication, coping with stress, motivation, and many other personal and
interpersonal qualities. You experienced this firsthand, blindfolded and not
blindfolded, and you observed the way others handled the situation. There is
much going on during “Minefield in a Circle” that it seems important to further
analyze one’s experience in order to derive greater meaning.
In groups of 4, each person is to share their responses to these
three questions:
1. What did I
learn about myself?
(e.g., Did the exercise show that you have characteristics ways of relating
to others that are distinctive, or similar, to those of others?
Did the exercise
show that in a particular type of situation you act in a particular way, or
that when others act in a particular way, you typically feel happy or
anxious or angry, etc.?)
2. What did I
learn about someone else in the exercise?
(e.g., Did you
see something new about Lucinda? – she seems capable of feeling more
deeply than I imagined, or she becomes inattentive when things are
stressful)
3. When I
think about what I did during the exercise, were there other options
for action on my part that:
(a) I did
not see at the time?
(b) I saw
but chose not to pursue at the time?
What were
the consequences (a) for myself, and (b) for others for what I chose
to do?
Source: Wilderdom.com
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Distribute
"mines" e.g., balls or other objects such as bowling pins, cones,
foam noodles, etc.