1. Tie the two ends of your rope (forming a circle) and place on the ground.
2. Invite your group to stand on the outside of the rope circle.
3. Explain that when the activity starts, the group will be challenged to manipulate the rope to form a prescribed number of loops (eg ten) and pass an object through all of the loops as quickly as possible.
4. Clarify that a loop is defined as anytime the rope crosses over itself to form an open shape, eg by twisting the rope on itself, or when two sections of the rope are pinched or knotted together.
5. Announce that the timer will start when the rope is first picked up and will stop when all of the loops have been removed from the rope and it has been placed back on the ground.
6. Invite your group to assign two people (only) as responsible for touching and passing the object.
7. Once all questions have been answered, allow up to 5 minutes of planning time before recording the first attempt.
8. Allow multiple attempts with ample discussion for problem-solving between attempts.
9. Aim to record the fastest time possible to complete the task.

While an innovative group initiative, this exercise is a wonderful activity to help your group focus on and develop their goal-setting skills.

I also love this exercise because there are no shortage of variations to help me design a challenge that is ideally suited for my group.

In advance, tie the two ends of your rope and lay it on the ground in a circle. If you have a group of more than 25 people, consider using two or more ropes.

Assemble your group around the rope and explain the basics of the task: your group is challenged to pick up the rope, form a prescribed number of loops in it, pass an object through every one of the loops, unfurl the loops, and finally reset the rope back on the ground.

Explain that from the moment the rope is picked up to when it is placed back on the ground, you will time their attempt. Naturally, this is a task focused on continuous improvement, so the quicker the better.

At some point, you will need to clarify exactly what a ‘loop’ means. In essence, any time the rope passes over itself, it will form a loop. A loop may also be formed by pinching two sections of the rope together or even by tying a knot, eg Figure 8.

One final thing – explain that the group must choose two people (only) who will be responsible for touching and passing the object. The number two is arbitrary, so feel free to adjust this to vary the challenge.

Once you have dispensed with the obligatory questions and clarifications, allow your group some time to talk among themselves to work out how they are going to solve the problem.

Over the course of the next 20 to 30 minutes, allow your group to tackle this task multiple times. With each attempt, your role is to observe the interactions of the group and to time how long the task takes to complete.

Ideally, invite your group to set a specific goal (time) to achieve in advance of each attempt. These discussions will feed helpfully into your debrief (see Reflection Tips tab) to understand what worked (and what didn’t) about their goal-setting process.

To be clear, “passing the object through a loop” means physically moving the object from one side of the rope to the other. It is also understood that the rope is always elevated off the ground, so “passing” does not mean placing the object inside the open space (imagine the rope lying on the ground) and moving on.

Note, that the two (or more) people permitted to touch and pass the object may also be involved in other parts of the problem-solving task. Some groups don’t think of this.

Ideally, request that the group return the rope to the ground in a circle at the end of the task. Often, groups rush their efforts at the end and simply drop the rope when the last loop is unfurled.

When the activity was first invented, I wondered how a single rope tied in a circle could be manipulated into a maze of openings such as a Spider’s Web. Some groups follow this strategy while others are inspired to complete the task in very surprising ways.

There are no rules prohibiting the use of knots to create a loop, but often, this strategy will inhibit performance, ie takes too long to tie and then untie.

You could integrate Loop de Loop as part of a well-designed SEL program to help your group make caring and constructive choices about personal behaviour and social interactions across different situations.

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

Self-Awareness

• Recognising Strengths, Prejudices & Biases
• Demonstrating Self-Confidence, Honesty & Integrity
• Experiencing Self-Efficacy
• Having A Growth Mindset

Self-Management

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

Social Awareness

• Taking Other’s Perspectives
• Appreciating Diversity
• Recognising Strengths In Others
• Respecting Others

Relationship Skills

• Communicate & Listen Effectively
• Seeking and/or Offering Support
• Build Positive Relationships
• Work Collaboratively
• Showing Leadership
• Resolving Conflict Constructively

Responsible Decision-Making

• Demonstrating Curiosity & Open-Mindedness
• Identifying Problems
• Making Reasoned Judgements
• Identifying Solutions
• Anticipating & Evaluating the Consequences of One’s
• Actions

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

Behavioural Norms

The complexities of this fun group initiative will invite your group to interact and engage with each other in a manner that would necessarily speak to the benefits of having developed a set of supportive and healthy behavioural norms in advance. Or, if not, you could focus on any less-than-desired interactions or outcomes to explore what sorts of behaviours your group would prefer to see and commit to in the future.

For example, in addition to those described in the Reflection Tips tab, you could invite your group to reflect on the following questions to explore a variety of full-value behaviours such as:

• How did the group demonstrate its ability to care for self and others?
• Generally speaking, how did the group make decisions? How were all members involved?
• Describe your group’s goal-setting process.
• Was everyone fully aware of the group’s goal? If not, why not?
• What types of leadership were demonstrated during the exercise? Were they effective?
• Was adaptability a key component of the group’s success? How?
• Were there moments of accountability that concerned you? Why?

Goal-Setting

If you choose to lead this activity as a continuous improvement exercise, you will have lots of opportunities for your group to explore the process of effective goal-setting. In addition to the questions listed above, also consider discussing topics such as:

• Contingency plans,
• Success/failure; and
• SMART Goal guidelines.

• All Hands On Deck: Challenge all members of your group to keep their hands on the rope from the moment it is picked up until it is placed back on the ground.
• No Touching: Challenge your group to pass the object through each of the loops without ever touching the rope. ‘No touching’ includes the object or any part of a person.
• Open Roles: Invite your group to choose how many people are permitted to touch and pass the object through the loops. Note, as with the original task, this number of people cannot change during the various rounds.
• Common Start: Identify where the knot in the rope is located (perhaps on a poly spot) and instruct your group to return the knot to the same location when the task is complete.
• Graduated Challenge: Start the task with only two or three loops, and then with each successful round, add one more loop. Challenge your group to pass the object through as many loops as possible in a defined time limit. Encourage your group to challenge themselves, ie the more loops the more challenging the task will be.
• A to B: Challenge your group to start the task in one spot, complete it, and place the rope on the ground in another pre-defined spot.
• No Crossing Over: Redefine the creation of a loop as never crossing over itself, ie an open space is only ever created by pinching two parts of the rope together (multiple times.)
• Take a look at the Spider’s Web and in particular its object-passing variations to ramp up the challenge of this exercise.

This next exercise will provide us with an opportunity to discuss what it means to set goals. Some topics we’ll explore include how we make and update goals. What information is important to make the most of our goals and what is important when attempting our goals?…

Often, when we take responsibility for something, we are also responsible for putting it back the way we found it. For example, we all use cutlery and crockery. Choosing to use them means that we must also be responsible for cleaning them (so we can use them again.) The same is true for some of the tools we use – once we have used them, we are well-advised to put them away. You will notice that this next exercise will practice this important task…

Coupled with one or more reflection strategies, here are some sample questions you could use to process your group’s experience after playing this problem-solving exercise:

• Did the task appear more or less difficult in the beginning than it did towards the end?
• What did you notice about your group’s planning and decision-making processes?
• Did you achieve your initial goals? Why or why not?
• In what ways did you need to adjust your goals or planning processes?
• Did you need to adjust the ‘challenge’ to achieve more success? What’s an example?
• Did practice help, and if so, for how long?
• What does your experience tell us about goal-setting?
• What is an example of a goal you have frequently revised or updated?