This Activity is meant for Boy Scouts.

10 to 40 scouts.
a tennis ball or nerf ball or similarly sized object.

Re-arranging scouts so they are next to each other and passing the ball is a big improvement.
Dropping the ball down through everyone's fingers is a very fast solution.

Have group circle up.

As leader, start with the ball. Say you are going to toss it to someone in the circle. When you receive the ball, you should toss it to someone NOT right next to you and that has not had it yet, and then fold your arms.
The last scout should toss the ball back to the leader. Then, go through the cycle once more to make sure everyone knows who they are tossing to.

OK, let's try to speed it up. I'm going to step out so I can time the group. When the last scout gets the ball, that will stop the clock.

Here, let me state the objective and rules to make sure they are clear...

Objective: Have the ball pass through the group as fast as possible.

Rules:

• Each scout touches the ball only once.
• The same order of scouts is used on every attempt.

See how fast the group goes. They may try a few times to improve their times incrementally.
At some point, someone may ask about moving out of a circle or if they have to stay in the same positions. If not, you might want to re-iterate the rules and mention it says nothing about moving.

If they are stuck at a certain time, you could mention that a group of 24 should be able to get less than 3 seconds.

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Reflect:
Who took leadership?
How many different ideas did you try?
Did anyone have an idea that was not considered?
When did a big improvement occur? (completely different way to do it)
How will this affect the way you approach problems you encounter?