The Moment Makers

COVID-19 has changed lives all over the world in many ways. We are very grateful that FIRST LEGO League will be able to continue this year. Obviously, though, the season this year is going to look very different for all teams.

One aspect of FIRST LEGO League that has always been fun is doing core values challenges within our teams. Core values challenges are great ways to build teamwork skills and grow closer as a team. However, social distancing makes it hard to participate in many of the standard ones. In this article, we will share with you 3 core values challenges that we came up with for our own team that can be completed virtually (such as over Zoom, Facetime, etc.) or in-person (with masks and social distancing of course!).

Mask Charades

Summary: Team members each try to portray an emotion while the rest guess. This will be a fun way to learn about communication. It be completed in-person or virtually. It is especially a challenge when wearing masks!

Supplies: Team members will need a list of emotions (happy, sad, bored, angry, tired, confused, surprised, etc.) circulated to team members in advance. Each team member will also need to be wearing their mask, even if home alone in a virtual meeting with the team.

Instructions:

One at a time, each team member will act out an emotion without using sounds and while wearing a face mask. If your team is meeting…

• Virtually – a list of emotions can be sent to each team member. Team members will pick an emotion (that is not already done).
• In-person – team members can be secretly shown an emotion written out on a card, either by another team member who is leading the challenge or by a coach/mentor.

The other members of the team will guess which emotion it is. Once someone has guessed correctly, the next team member can take a turn acting. The challenge is over when each team member has had a chance or whenever the team runs out of emotions.

Things to think about:

• How does understanding emotions help us grow as a team?
• How did we go about guessing? How could we improve this process?
• What core values were most important for this challenge?

Building

Summary: Team members will take turns instructing how to add LEGO pieces to a model. They will try to be as descriptive as possible so each member builds the same structure. This can be completed both in-personally and virtually.

Supplies: Team members will have to each gather the same pieces (from their personal supplies, if possible). Every team member should have the same amounts of each part (could be basic LEGO, LEGO Technic, etc.). Each team member having their own personal new LEGO polybag set could be a way of accomplishing this.

Instructions:

Team members should be in places where they can be heard, but the others cannot see what they are building. On a visual conference call, you can adjust the camera appropriately. Team members will then take turns instructing the others on adding a piece to a model in any way they creatively want to build using the pieces available. Each member will be building the same model based on everyone’s contributions. Though the job of instructing where to place the first piece will be simple, the locations of any pieces after that will need to be communicated clearly. It does not matter what model the team is making. After a while, team members will share their models and see how well they match.

Things to think about:

• How did we do? How could we have communicated better?
• Why is it important to communicate clearly?
• What core values were most important for this challenge?

Color List Memory

Summary: Team members complete an oral sequence memory game, by naming colors in an ever-lengthening list.

Supplies: No supplies are needed.

Instructions:

Have team members decide upon an ordering of themselves for taking turns for this challenge. The first student will say aloud the name of a color. The second student will need to repeat the color the first student said and add another color. This process will repeat through the team as many times as possible.

Some variations could involve making specific rules regarding colors not being repeated at all, colors not being repeated immediately after each other, etc. You could also use the same memory list game with categories other than colors.

Things to think about:

• Was everyone always respectful and supportive towards each other?
• Are there ways your team could plan ahead of starting the challenge to be more successful next time?
• What core values were most important for this challenge?

Thank you for reading our article. Best of luck to all teams this season!