Divide the class into teams of five to seven people. Provide each team with 40 spaghetti strands, 25 miniature marshmallows, 15 macaroni pieces, 10 toothpicks, 4 straws and 5 adhesive mailing labels. Each team will have seven minutes to build a structure out of these materials. At the end of the seven minutes, give each team a pint-sized container and have them place the container on top of the structure. The structure must be eight inches long for the team to score. They will have two minutes to test the structure by placing one penny nail into the container for three seconds. The test ends when the structure breaks or when there are no more nails.
Divide the class into groups of five to seven people. Their problem is to think of creative responses to the following problem: You are a patient inside the operating room and you hear a conversation. What would you like to hear and what would you not like to hear? The teams have one minute to think and two minutes to respond.
Divide the class into groups of two to five. Each group has six minutes to make tug-of-war links, using only the following: one tissue, four toothpicks, one adhesive mailing label, one rubber band, one straw, one Styrofoam cup and one sheet of 8 ½" x 11" paper. Each link should be big enough for a one-pound can of coffee to pass through. Have the students attach two ropes to the ends of the links. Test them in a game of tug-of-war.
Each person has to think of a word that can be used as a first and last name and relate the name to an occupation. For example, Jack Hammer is a construction worker, or Cliff Hanger is a mountain climber. Teams have one minute to think and three minutes to respond. All members are required to give an answer and may not skip or pass.