Escape the Island

Escape the Island is a great team building game that incorporates strategy and some healthy activity into a fun race against each other.

PREP TIME – 5 Minutes

ITEMS NEEDED – Car Dolly & 10′ Rope per Team, Large Space to Play (make sure the dolly will move smoothly on the surface you are playing on)

GAME TIME – 20-30 Minutes

PARTICIPANTS – Minimum of 2 Teams of 5-10 (the more teams the better!)

INSTRUCTIONS

If you are looking to activate your group’s minds and bodies, Escape the Island is just the ticket. Before you begin, you will need to mark off your “islands”.

Get some tape and mark out a 5′ x 5′ box (you can make it round if you would like) for each team to start on. Approximately 20 feet from there, mark off a smaller, 3′ x 3′ box, this will be the second island they must go to before they reach the shore. Tape off the shore with a straight line that every must race to.

The goal of Escape the Island is to do just that. Let everyone know that the volcano on the island is going to erupt and they have 30 minutes to escape to safety (or whatever time you would like).  Teams must work together to use their car dolly and rope to first reach the second, smaller island. From there, they must then go an additional 20′ feet to get to the safety of the shore.

The catch is that no one can touch the floor/ground on their way to the island (they are shark infested) and they can only use their dolly & the piece of rope they were given to move toward the shore. If they touch the ground, each team member must go back to the last island they were on (if you want to make it really hard, make them return to the beginning no matter where they are!).

The only safe zones are within the confines of the taped off islands. If they step out, they must go back an island.

The first team to reach shore wins or simply race against the clock and have teams cheer each other on!

Note:

The best way I’ve seen the game work is to have one team member be pushed out into the “water” toward the next island and then scoot the rest of the way. Once they are there, they must push the dolly back to the others.

The next person takes the rope with them as they are pushed out into the water. They then toss the rope to the person on the island and they are pulled to safety. The dolly and rope are then sent back (or just the dolly if the person on the island wants to toss the rope) to the beginning.

If your team has a creative work around, let them go with it. It’s all about teamwork!

BONUS TIPS

1. If you have limited space, just use one island. If you have more space, you can add one additional island that is super small. This makes the game far more difficult, but it definitely increases the strategy needed.

2. If you want to mix it up, you can add bonus islands with random items that they can use. Let them pick one thing that will help them speed up the process. If you do this, make sure that it is far away so they have to weigh whether or not it’s worth it. Suggested items are a 3′ rope, hula hoop, skateboard, life preserver ring, etc.

3. Award the winning team a life preserver ring and have them sign it as the champions. Hang it somewhere for everyone to see.

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