Step-by-Step Instructions
- Form a circle in a way that brings everyone’s legs (knees) close to their neighbours.
- Everyone extends their arms out in front, palms facing down.
- Place your left hand on your left-side neighbour’s knee, and right hand on your right-side neighbour’s knee, ie all arms are crossed with their neighbours.
- To start, one person taps one of their hands on a neighbour’s knee to initiate a series of taps.
- The impulse travels from left to right in sequence of the group’s knees.
- Your group aims to tap all knees in sequence around the circle as quickly as possible.
- Repeat several times, then reverse direction.
Video Tutorial
Video Transcript for Knee Impulse
presented by Mark Collard
Feel free now to change position in which you’re seated. Your butt will still be on be on the ground perhaps, but if you’re comfortable I think it’s called like indian style. Whatever you need to do, it’s just so that your knees are accessible. So if this is comfortable feel free, otherwise this works well. Doesn’t really matter, but perhaps something like this.
Does anyone… Just first of all put your hands out like this with your palms facing down. And has anybody been part of a seance before?
(Yes)
You have? We’re not going to have a seance.
But now move your own hands apart so that they cross the arms of the people left and right of you. So you come on in there.
Now take your own hands and place it onto the knees of the people right next to you. Just their knees. Alright, okay. Adjust your position accordingly. There you go, beautiful.
Alright your hands should be on their knees. Beautiful, excellent! Here’s what’s going to happen…
(Knees, knees, knees.)
Just knees. Focusing on Steve’s right hand on my left knee we are going to create a series of impulses, and I’d like you to just practice the impulse of tapping. It doesn’t mean this looking at my right hand. It looks like that, but not GRRRR, not a slap. So it’s just a simple tap.
Just practice that tap for a second. Alright, beautiful, okay stop.
So Steve starting with your right hand on my left knee we’re going to create an impulse of taps going this direction in accordance of knees not hands. So this one gets tapped then this one, then that one, then that one, then that one, then that one, and away we go in sequence.
So when you’re ready Steve, Go!
(Group starts tapping the knees in order of Knee Impulse)
(Laughing)
Keep it going.
(Group continues tapping around the circle as part of Knee Impulse)
(Laughing.)
Alright, good job. Try it again keeping it in sequence. See if we could just pick up the pace, but keep the sequence.
(Group starts tapping the knees in order.)
Oh, good start folks.
That’s the A Team. We’re now going to do the B Team going the other direction. This time starting with this hand on my right knee going this direction. Okay, you good to go? When you’re ready.
(Group starts tapping the knees in order.)
Good job.
(Ah, sorry.)
So it’s exactly the opposite now starting with Helen. Where’s it up to? If you’re not sure just start again.
(Group continues tapping the knees in order as part of Knee Impulse)
Okay now I’m not quite sure which one was quicker. There’s only one way to find out. This time both of them are starting at the same time. A direction, B direction, cross in the middle, come back. Whichever one returns first.
Moral of the story never sit right in front of the facilitator. But it will need to cross. So be aware they’re coming from both directions. Don’t concern yourself with just one, there will be two.
Alright, so it’s going to be on the GO we are starting here and it zips around and comes back. See who comes back first. You ready? And go!
(Each side starts tapping the knees in order.)
Oh, it’s gone through. Alright which way is it coming? I’ve got to look both ways now.
Oh! Clearly more knees going around the B direction. Alright it took a little longer. Well done.
How To Play Narrative
Form a circle in a way that brings everyone’s legs right up next to their neighbours. They can be seated in chairs or sitting cross-legged on the floor, so long as their legs (and knees) are visible.
To begin, ask your group to extend their arms out in front of themselves with their palms facing down. Then instruct them to take their left palm and place it gently onto the right knee of their left-side neighbour, and place their right palm onto the left knee of their right-side neighbour.
Each person should have the palms of their left- and right-side neighbours resting on their knees. Did you get that? There should be a tapestry of crossed arms as you look around the circle.
Now, starting with your own left hand, gently tap the knee on which it rests. This triggers an impulse, which is passed to the left causing the very next hand in sequence (of knees) to tap, and then the next, and the next, and so on.
Here’s where it gets tricky. The ‘impulse’ is created by tapping the knees in sequence, not your hands. For example, there should be two taps (the hands of your left- and right-side neighbours tapping your knees) between a tap of your right hand and that of your left hand.
Send the impulse around the circle a few times, and then change directions.
Encourage your group to pass the impulse of taps as quickly as possible around the circle. Time how long one rotation takes if you feel so inclined.
Practical Leadership Tips
Notice the deliberate use of the word “TAP” and not “SLAP” in this exercise. A subtlety that makes all the difference between getting hurt and building trust in one another.
You can do this activity standing up. However, while this set-up is possible, I find that after about two minutes my back starts to get tired leaning over my knees, and I’m not the only one.
On occasions, I like to use a stop-watch to time how long it takes for an impulse to travel all the way around the circle. I nominate the clockwise direction as the A Team, and counter-clockwise as the B Team, as if there is some form of competition.
Clearly, consider the appropriateness of this exercise for your groups needs and abilities. Touching someone’s knees is a sensitive subject, and like all trust, must be managed with care.
Popular Variations
- Two Directions: Send the impulse both directions at the same time, by simultaneously tapping your left- and right-side neighbour’s knees. The impulses will have to cross somewhere near the half-way point of the circle before returning to you. The looks on the faces of those involved as they struggle to tap in sequence is priceless.
- Table Top Impulse: Invite people to sit around a large table, or lie on the floor, and create the same cross-armed formation with palms face down onto the table top or floor. Works a treat, and minimises the discomfort some people may have to being touched by others.
- Elimination Rounds: Regardless of variation, add this fun twist – when someone taps their hand two times in rapid succession – tap-tap – the direction of the impulse reverses. For elimination purposes, if someone taps in error (ie where they anticipated the direction would not change, but it did,) that person is asked to remove their hand from the game. Game continues with more and more hands being eliminated, until you are left with only three contestants. Beware, the next knee or hand in sequence maybe on the other side of the circle.
- Take a look at Name Impulse and Galloping Hands for another two impulse-style activities.
Useful Framing Ideas
Let’s start by extending your arms out in front of you, like this, with your palms facing down. Oh, while we’re in this position, has anyone participated in a séance before? No? That’s okay, we’re not going to do that anyway…
The world’s record was set for this next activity in 1957 by a group of Russian students who, I am told, possessed exceptional eye-hand coordination. It’s doubtful that we’ll even come close to breaking this record, but let me describe what they did…
Reflection Tips & Strategies
Coupled with one or more reflection strategies, here are some sample questions you could use to process your group’s experience after playing this large group circle-based energiser:
- How did you feel when you were first asked to place your hands on the knees of another person?
- How difficult was it for you to maintain the correct sequence of hand taps? Why?
- Where else in our lives do we find it difficult to keep to a sequence?
Program Templates
Fun ‘Community-Building’ Games Session
What You Need: 12+ people, 60 mins
Props: sheets of paper, pens
I Pass This Shoe – silly circle game to warm-up your group
Knee Impulse – ideal siting-in-circle game to generate plenty of laughs
Finding Nemo – quick, addictively fun group game which develops observations skills
Pruie? – more difficult, follow-up variation to Finding Nemo
Pictionary – one of the most successful small-group activities I know
Source
Great chilled activity that does require a bit of focus. Definitely for a new group, would use the table top/impulse variation described for the groups comfort level.