Egg dropping challenge or “Save the egg” classic team building activity promotes critical thinking, collaboration and develops communication skills. Beside those really important 21st century skills it is a fun activity that can be used with upper primary students.
As the activity has different benefits it could fit into various parts of the year.
I have just tried it as a fun, communication activity this year but I intend to use it as a collaborative game at the beginning of next year. It helps students trust each other and shows the importance of cooperation which is one of the PYP attitudes we want learners to improve in. It also develops their decision making skills. It this case what and how to use different materials to protect the falling egg from breaking.
It could be used at the beginning of a new theme as a provocation or tuning into a particular topic under the transdisciplinary theme “How the world works.” This activity promotes makers culture incorporated into the inquiry cycle.
Egg dropping challenge activity could be a stand alone inquiry into what to change, modify to save the eggs from breaking. Why some ideas worked and the others didn’t. Groups can research, prove their theory, explain the science behind their work using different key concepts questions and finding answers.
Or as this year I did it when we had some time, simply as an activity to promote communication, improve listening and speaking skills.
We already know that cooperative games offer kids fun opportunities to develop collaboration and critical thinking. Students happily cooperate and eagerly communicate with each other helping to achieve a mutual goal and solve a problem. They have different solutions trying to be merged together, in this case to save their precious egg. Kids learn the value of teamwork whilst improving their creativity and stay motivated. They develop some problem solving skills alongside with communication skills. We can find endless benefits of these sort of games.
Our most recent challenge is a classic team building activity, I tried with the kids a couple of days ago. We needed some eggs and our recycling bins with all sort of recycled materials. So a day before the challenge I went to the school kitchen to check if they could “lend” us some eggs. I consider ourselves fortunate as we have a kitchen on-site. The other lucky thing was our recycling bins were almost full, we went there just before they were emptied.
Kids got all excited as soon as I announced the challenge. They started thinking of solving the problem in different ways, making their little groups they were planning to work with.
As they had their groups ready, I gave them the eggs and the challenge has started. I let them use anything they could find in the recycling bins. I don’t say it is not messy and noisy as students got loud, debating, finding the perfect solution, a device, some material or soft landing for the eggs that would be dropped from about 2 metres heights. But it definitely worth it. The great ideas, their enthusiasm, watching their creative thinking, negotiating, their reasoning and collaborative thinking was a reward itself. Debating and “making” something new out of “nothing” guided them towards the best option to save the eggs.
I let students’ creativity work, no instructions were given and honestly, it worked really well. 5 out of 6 eggs were saved! I loved watching their faces, their excitement, their wonder when they were trying to find out if the idea worked or not. And the pleasure when they saw their eggs are safe and sound. Funny moment when one of the girls just couldn’t hold back and kissed her egg. 😂😂😂
“Rubik's cube just makes sense”
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