One Duck

1. Form a circle.
2. Ask your group to repeat the words of a four-part stanza – “ONE DUCK – FELL IN – THE POND – KERPLUNK.”
3. Repeat the verse, one person at a time in a clockwise direction around the circle, saying one part of the stanza each.
4. Once complete, the next person in the circle re-starts the verse, but now, each part of the stanza is repeated by two people in a row, eg one says “ONE DUCK” and their neighbour says “ONE DUCK,” and the next person says “FELL IN..,” etc.
5. Next, the full stanza continues around the circle with each part repeated by three people in a row, then four people in a row, and finally five people in a row.
6. A round ends when someone makes a mistake, or pauses for too long before adding to the sequence.
7. When a mistake is made, the next-in-line starts a new round with a confident “ONE DUCK….”
8. Challenge your group to successfully recite each of the four parts of the stanza by five people in a row in a single round.
9. Continue play for as many rounds as your group’s focus will allow.

Video Transcript for One Duck
presented by Mark Collard

So for this exercise, there’s just one phrase we need to repeat, and I don’t think I’ve ever had a group get to five on this. So you’re going to repeat the phrase up to five times, but let’s get really clear on what the phrase is first of all.

There are four parts to it and you can repeat them after me. The first part is, one duck.

(One duck.)

Fell in.

(Fell in.)

(Sorry, say that again.)

Fell in.

(Fell in.)

So one duck…

(Fell in.)

Fell in.

(Fell in.)

The pond.

(The pond.)

Kerplunk.

(Kerplunk.)

One duck.

(One duck.)

Fell in.

(Fell in.)

The pond.

(The pond.)

Kerplunk.

(Kerplunk.)

Got the four bits? Okay. Here’s how it works. One pond… One duck, fell in, the pond, kerplunk. Okay. So there’s basically two bits or two syllables if you had to really understand it for each piece.

Now here’s how it works and this is how difficult and easy it is. On paper honestly you go how hard could this be, and you turn the page thinking there’s not a challenge in that until you actually do it.

One person will start with one part of the piece, so I’ll go “One duck”, and then you say “fell in”, and then you say…

(The pond.)

And then you say…

(Kerplunk.)

Now that’s the first level. Now we move on to level two. We then… we start again always from “one duck”. So we go…

(One duck.)

But now we’re on to the second level, everything now needs to be said twice. So it goes “One duck, one duck”, “fell in, fell in”, “the pond, the pond”, “kerplunk, kerplunk”.

Guess what happens now?

(Three.)

Three. “One duck, one duck, one duck”, and you’ve got the rest of it.

Okay, so do your best to move your head around this and see if you can do it.

Now as I’ve said I’ve set you up. No group has ever successfully got to the end of fifth round. Okay. So we’re going to have several goes at this. I’m not saying you can’t do it. I’m just saying it’s a tough gig. So let’s see what happens here.

So who would like to kick off? Just raise your hand. Okay, so Claire, you’ve got it. You’re going to start with… Remember it’s the first level so it’s only one. You start when you get ready.

(One duck.)

(Fell in.)

(The pond.)

(Kerplunk.)

(One duck.)

(One duck.)

Fell in.

(Fell in.)

(The pond.)

(The pond.)

(Kerplunk.)

(Kerplunk.)

(One duck.)

(One duck.)

(One duck.)

(Fell in.)

(Fell in.)

(Fell in.)

(The pond.)

(The pond.)

(The pond.)

Kerplunk.

(Kerplunk.)

(Kerplunk.)

(One duck.)

(One duck.)

(One duck.)

(One duck.)

(Fell in.)

(Fell in.)

(Fell in.)

(Fell in.)

(The pond.)

(The pond.)

(The pond.)

(The pond.)

Kerplunk.

(Kerplunk.)

(Kerplunk.)

(Kerplunk.)

(One duck.)

(One duck.)

(One duck.)

(One duck.)

(One duck.)

(Fell in.)

(Fell in.)

(Fell in.)

(Fell in.)

(Fell in.)

(Kerplunk.)

That’s good. It was such a great first attempt. It was awesome.

Alright. Okay. So typically it then just moves on to next person as it happens to be me. So here we go. One duck.

(One duck.)

Now we start here.

(One duck.)

(Fell in.)

(The pond.)

(Kerplunk.)

(One duck.)

(One duck.)

(Fell in.)

(Fell in.)

(Fell in.)

(No.)

(One duck.)

(Fell in.)

(The pond.)

(Kerplunk.)

Try not to, shhh…

(One duck.)

(One duck.)

(No.)

(We’ll start from the start again.)

(I was kerplunking)

It doesn’t matter. Whatever it is we’ll now start, so we’ll begin with you, Meagan, from the first level. Go.

This contagiously fun exercise is another one in a long line of hilarious it-should-be-so-easy-to-do activities.

Form your group into a circle and ask the participants to repeat the words –

“ONE DUCK – FELL IN – THE POND – KERPLUNK.”

The punctuation is deliberate and should be reflected in the way you recite the verse the first time, ie it goes something like this “ONE DUCK” (pause) “FELL IN” (pause) “THE POND” (pause) “KERPLUNK.” Consider it a stanza comprising four parts.

Instruct your group that you would now like them to repeat this verse – one person at a time in a clockwise direction around the circle – saying only one part at a time. For example, the first person will say “ONE DUCK,” and the person to his/her left will then say “FELL IN”, and so on.

Now for the tricky bit.

When you get to “KERPLUNK,” the verse is repeated again, but this time, each part of the stanza is said twice, by two people in a row. So, the next person in the circle (ie fifth person in turn) says “ONE DUCK” followed by their neighbour repeating “ONE DUCK”, then passing to the next person who says “FELL IN”, and the next person says “FELL IN,” etc, etc. Keep going, until you get to the “KERPLUNK” and “KERPLUNK” parts.

No prizes for guessing what happens next (I told you this was easy.)

The verse continues around the circle, this time with each part being repeated by three people in a row, then four people, and to achieve the all-time world’s record, a climactic five people in a row!

Naturally, a round ends every time someone makes a mistake or pauses for too long before adding to the correct sequence. When this happens, the next-in-line starts a new round with a confident “ONE DUCK….”

One duck, One duck, One duck, One duck, One duck, Fell in, Fell in, Fell in, and so on and on it goes. If your group can make it to this level, you all deserve a huge round of applause, or a long lie down!

A good game’s a quick game. Good luck!

It’s really useful to arrange your group in a manner that everyone can see (and hear) at least their immediate neighbours very clearly, if not everyone.

Ideally, discourage your group from offering any verbal or non-verbal gestures to indicate to the next person what part of the stanza to recite. While supportive at one level, this type of assistance strikes at the heart of why this exercise is so much fun.

Explosions of incredulous laughter will break out when someone, typically, forgets how many of which part of the stanza has already been uttered. It seems so easy to count to five, yet after many failed world record attempts, I totally understand why the record is so elusive.

Encourage your group to recite the verse as quickly and as accurately as possible.

To this end, there’s no hard and fast rule, but long pauses between responses are unconstitutional. Most groups or ruthless leaders (you?) have a good sense of what is reasonable and won’t tolerate sluggishness for too long.

Yes, you could drive this exercise as an initiative, but really, would you want to? Call on this activity for the sheer pleasure it will elicit from your group. There’s no inherent prize for insisting that your group gets it ‘right.’

You could integrate One Duck as part of a well-designed SEL program to develop your group’s ability to manage their emotions, thoughts and behaviours effectively in different situations and to achieve goals.

Specifically, this activity offers opportunities to explore and practice the following social & interpersonal skills:

Self-Awareness

• Demonstrating Self-Confidence, Honesty & Integrity
• Experiencing Self-Efficacy

Self-Management

• Demonstrating Self-Discipline & Self-Motivation
• Setting Personal & Group Goals
• Taking Initiative
• Use Planning & Organisational Skills

Social Awareness

• Demonstrating Empathy & Compassion
• Understanding & Expressing Gratitude
• Recognising Strengths In Others
• Respecting Others

Relationship Skills

• Communicate & Listen Effectively
• Seeking and/or Offering Support
• Build Positive Relationships
• Work Collaboratively

Responsible Decision-Making

• Demonstrating Curiosity & Open-Mindedness
• Making Reasoned Judgements
• Anticipating & Evaluating the Consequences of One’s Actions
• Promoting Personal & Collective Well-Being

You can learn more about SEL and how it can support character education here.

There is no specific health & wellness perspective to this activity other than promoting the benefits to one’s well-being of enjoying a fun cognitive challenge and a raucous laugh.

In a small way, you could argue that the focus required to successfully monitor and maintain the sequence of the four parts of the stanza may speak to the benefits of being resilient and mindful because the desired result can take a long time for some groups to achieve.

If you can think of more explicit ways in which One Duck could be purposefully integrated into a health and wellness program, please leave a comment at the base of this page.

• Opposite Direction: When each of the stanzas is complete, instruct your group to recite the next stanza in the opposite direction. This option works very well with small groups of 5 to 10 people.
• Elimination Round: When an individual makes a mistake or pauses too long before adding to the correct sequence of phrases, they are eliminated from the circle. Play continues until you have two people remaining – way too much fun!
• Create Your Own: Make up your own little verse, with perhaps five, six or even seven parts. Arghhhh…..
• Chaotic Characters: Take a look at Wah, Speed Rabbit and King Frog to explore three more totally chaotic and entertaining group games.

Look, I don’t want to set you guys up for failure, but I have to tell you that not one group has ever been able to accomplish this next task – perfectly – since 1942. Now, I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, but just know in advance that I told you it was very difficult to do…

Do you know of a task that appears very easy to achieve on paper, but once started, is a lot harder to do in practice? Remember the first time you learned to ride a bike, or drive a car. There’s a reason why you have to do more than sit a written test to get your driver’s license, otherwise, you would be a reckless maniac as soon as you stepped inside your car for the first time. But, with plenty of practice, the task usually gets a lot easier. Such is true of this next activity…

Coupled with one or more reflection strategies, here are some sample questions you could use to process your group’s experience after playing this hilariously funny, group game:

• Why is the pinnacle of this task so difficult to complete successfully?
• What did you notice when someone made a mistake?
• In our ordinary lives, is this the reaction one receives when they make a mistake? Why?
• What is necessary to create an atmosphere in which people are willing to ‘have a go?’

Fun & Interactive ‘Community-Building’ Games Session

What You Need:
12+ people, 45 mins, chairs for everyone

• Copy Claps – brilliant, non-verbal opener which to attract your group’s focus
• Name Impulse – very simple name-game which seeks to set a new world record
• One Duck – contagiously fun circle game which is harder than it seems
• All My Neighbours – fun circle game which will reveal more than just laughs