Easy icebreakers: Spaghetti and marshmallow towers
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EmailFun icebreakers to build your team.
Every meeting should include learning, fun and business. Through icebreaker activities, you can build trust, learn about group members’ strengths and weaknesses, and gain insight on how to work together. This Michigan State University Extension article is part of a series on icebreakers that can be done with simple supplies that group facilitators often already have on hand or could be acquired easily. A video of the activity is also available on MediaSpace.
Spaghetti and marshmallow towers
Supplies needed
NOTE: There is not a defined number for either item; however, facilitators should have enough of both to ensure that each group receives an equal amount of both:
- Uncooked spaghetti noodles
- Marshmallows
Directions:
- Instruct participants that they need to build a tower that is tall, beautiful and strong.
- Break the group into teams. NOTE: if teams are too big, it can be difficult for everyone to participate. Give each group their spaghetti and marshmallows and have them construct their tower as a team. The length of time can be flexible, based on how much time is available.
- OPTIONAL - Ask participants to name their structure and provide an origin story for the building.
- OPTIONAL - Evaluate the towers based on the criteria of tall, beautiful and strong.
- Tall - Measure the height of the tower.
- Beautiful - Ask participants to vote for which tower is the most beautiful. You may or may not wish to allow participants to vote for their own tower. Talk about what characteristics might make a structure beautiful and how that varies between people.
- Strong - Create several “natural disasters” for the tower and try to destroy it. Below are some examples. This can be extremely silly and fun. Have a camera ready!
- Wind - Use fans or a leaf blower to try to knock it over.
- Rainstorm - Spray the tower with squirt guns or a hose.
- Flooding - Dump a big bucket of water on the tower.
- Earthquake - Put it on a tray or table and shake it to see if it can withstand the forces.
- Meteor shower - Throw rocks at the tower.
- Kaiju (a Japanese term for giant monsters from science fiction) - Have a human or other animal walk over the towers.
- Fire - Have an adult with a cooking torch attack the tower. NOTE: Make sure this is done in a safe environment, like a fire circle. Also make sure adequate fire-fighting equipment is nearby.
- Alien attack - Drive over the tower with a toy (or full-sized) vehicle.
- Debrief the session:
- Talk about if it was difficult to build a tower that had all three qualities or if it was easier to just pick one. Which did they pick for their tower or did they try to do all three?
- Did any natural leaders emerge from within the group? What characteristics make a good leader?
- Did everyone participate fully? If everyone didn’t participate, what could group members do to encourage their participation?
- If you had to do it over again, what would you do differently?
MSU Extension and the Michigan 4-H Youth Development program help to prepare youth as positive and engaged leaders and global citizens by providing educational experiences and resources for youth interested in developing knowledge and skills in these areas. This article is part of the 4-H Advisory Groups Toolkit. For more information about 4-H learning opportunities and other 4-H programs, contact your local MSU Extension office.
