Title of Activity:

Colour Blind

Number of Teams & Group Size:

Minimum 4 people per group
Maximum 12 people per group
Recommended 6 people per group
No limit on the amount of teams

Logistics Needed:
For each group:
Sufficient Blindfolds / Sleep Mask for all
6 sets of irregular shapes, each set comprising the same shape, but in 6 different
colours

Time Allocated:
30 60 minutes

Goal:
Correctly identify the shape and colour of the 2 missing shapes

Preparation & Set-Up:

Remove 2 shapes (any shape of any colour) and set them aside.
Participants are to be seated, and blindfolded.

Directions for Conducting the Activity:

1. All participants are to be seated and blindfolded, in their teams.
2. Inform participants that you will distribute to each of them an irregular sized
shape, and then proceed to do so.
3. Once you have completed distribution, inform participants that there are a
total of 6 different types of shapes, in 6 different colours.
4. Tell participants that you have removed 2 shapes. As a team, they must
discuss amongst themselves, and ultimately guess what is the shape and
colour of the 2 missing shapes.

5. Tell participants that they can only ask the facilitator 1 question: What colour
is this?, while holding up their shape. They may ask this as many times as
needed.
6. Also inform participants that they cannot peek, neither can they exchange
shapes.
7. Begin the activity, and observe how teams communicate amongst
themselves. When asked the 1 question, answer truthfully with the colour.
8. About halfway through the activity (depending on your allocated time), ask
each team for their guess on the shape and colour of the 2 missing pieces.
9. If their answer is incorrect, ask them to proceed as before. Continue until they
get the right answers, then proceed to debrief.

Specific Rules:
1. Teams are to identify the shape and colour of the 2 missing shapes.
2. Participants are to be blindfolded at all times. No peeking!
3. Participants may only ask the Facilitator 1 question: What colour is this?,
while holding up their shape.
4. Participants may ask the 1 question as many times as needed, the Facilitator
will truthfully answer with the correct colour.
5. Participants are to hold on to their shape. No exchanging of shapes is
allowed.

Variations:
1. Each participant gets 2 shapes, instead of only 1 shape.
2. Place all the shapes on an empty table, with participants seated around it. As
a team, they must each feel around the table (while blindfolded), and take
hold of a shape, before they begin discussing.
3. Time the activity. After 1 round of successful completion and debrief, have
teams / groups perform another round, to see if they can complete it quicker
and more efficiently.

Learning Points:
Teamwork
Communication
Questioning techniques
Active listening
Managing frustration
Leadership
Clarification / Eliminate ambiguity
Ability to recall
Integrity
Organisation of information
Focused debate

Facilitator Notes:
Be aware of participants who may feel uncomfortable being blindfolded for a
length of time, in such cases, you may ask them to close their eyes and look
down instead.
Alternatively, give them short breaks while blindfolded, but cover / hide all the
shapes first.
You have to answer truthfully with the correct colour when asked.
The bigger the group, the more complicated the activity becomes, as it
requires more discussion and clear communication.
If you have more than 1 team / group, you may appoint 1 participant to be the
facilitator for the other group, while you oversee a team / group yourself.
You will have to brief this person before the activity begins.
Points to note for debrief include: how teams communicated, was there clarity
/ confusion, how did they manage frustration / conflict, how leadership was
displayed, how teams arrived at their conclusion, etc.