The Human Knot

Here at GEO 9, one of our missions is to get students to realize their potential through group activities and teamwork. Today I’d like to tell you about a great activity called, The Human Knot.

Here’s a brief description - Standing in a circle, group members reach across and shake hands – each hand connects to a different person. The only instructions are to make sure they don’t connect both hands with the same person or connect with the person immediately to their left or right. Group members may change their grip so as to be more comfortable, but they are not to unclasp and re-clasp so as to undo the knot.

Let the Human Knot challenge begin.

Students reach out for the hands of other team members.

The ideal group size is 10, but can be done with as few as 5 or as many as 16. The more members you have, the more difficult the knot is to unravel. You can also have a competition between groups.

The group then tries to unravel the "human knot" by unthreading their bodies without letting go of each other’s hands. Many reactions immerge - laughter, excitement and a suspicion that it can’t be done.

Everyone's so serious trying to unravel the knot

At first, it seems impossible, but as the group begins trying to untangle, they soon realize that it is possible. It also quickly becomes clear that language plays an important part in getting the group unraveled.

Team members interacting with each other,

trying different options to untangle the knot

In the end, the group usually ends up as one circle, but sometimes two or three circles may break out. The task is to untangle to knot to its simplest form.

I highly recommend giving The Human Knot a try. You will find yourself tangled up in fun!

Strategizing... Everyone's paying attention and exerting their best effort...

Aja.. Fighting!!!

by: GEO Class 3-2 (Professor Greg & TA Maricris)