Turn Over A New Leaf

1. Place a large tarp (approx 1.2m x 1.8m) on the floor.
2. Ask your group to stand directly on it.
3. Challenge your group to stand on the other side of the tarp, but without anyone touching the ground in the process.
4. If anyone touches the area outside of the tarp, ie the ground/floor, this will require the group to start over.
5. Allow ample time for trial and error and encourage as necessary.

Video Transcript for Turning Over A New Leaf
presented by Mark Collard

Your next exercise is to be able to simply stand on this tarp.

(It’s a magic carpet.)

It is a magic carpet, exactly. So could you all stand on the blue tarp? There should be no overlap.

There’s plenty of room I would imagine for a group this size. I think there’s about 13 or 14 of you. So some of you will have had experience of this perhaps before. If not, certainly you would not have done the experience with this group.

So here’s your task.

Your object is to be able to have as a whole group, without ever coming off the blue tarp, and stand on the other side of the tarp. So right now you’re standing on one side of the tarp. It’s blue on the other. But your object is to actually finish the exercise where all of you are standing on the other side of the tarp. So what you’re standing on is faced down.

Got the idea? If at any point someone should step off into the carpeted area, it’s an honour system, simply make the group alert of that and then just simply start back over again. I doubt that that needs to happen but that’s often one of the principles of the activity. So anything stepping out off off the tarp will require the whole group to start again.

Unless there’s any other questions, your task starts now. The object is to find a way without coming off the tarp to stand on the other side. Over to you.

(people discussing, playing Turn Over A New Leaf))

Are you still on the tarp Josh, just beware of the overlap. There’s quite a bit of overlap there.

(people discussing, playing Turn Over A New Leaf)

You can start again if you need to. Alright, starting again.

(people discussing, playing Turn Over A New Leaf)

Alright, spread yourselves out. You got a bit more real estate to work with now. Excellent.

(There’s a catch, isn’t there?)

No, there’s no catch. However step back onto it. You might want to give yourself the full squareness. So if there’s any sort of doubling up, pull it out. Jump back onto it. So jump back onto the tarp.

Final challenge before we take a break. So jump back onto the tarp.

So note the orientation of the tarp right now. If there was a long ways, it’s basically sort of diagonal between these two corners here.

So that’s different to how you first started. Remember it was actually almost like a cross. It was running a different direction. Your object now is that when you finish and you can’t shuffle it like going (shuffling feet) at the end, you now need to place it in the same orientation from which you are now starting. You can’t adjust it once you’ve turned it over.

(As we’re turning it, it has to…)

Yes. It needs to maintain the same orientation.

Yes, you’re going to go stand back on the other side and the orientation needs to be like this.

(Right)

Exactly. Alright. Maintain the orientation.

(people discussing, playing Turn Over A New Leaf)

Pull all the way out. Give yourselves lots of real estate.

(people discussing, playing Turn Over A New Leaf)

Yeah, absolutely. Good job. Have you done it? I think you got it. I think you got the orientation too. Great. Just take a step off your tarp. Well done. Give yourselves a hand. Well done.

Place a large tarp (approx 1.2m x 1.8m or 4’x 6′) on the floor, and ask your group to stand directly on it.

Ideally, there should be very little open space to be seen on the tarp, otherwise, fold the tarp as necessary.

Explain that you would now like the group to stand on the other side of the tarp, but without anyone touching the ground in the process. Announce that if anyone touches the area outside of the tarp, ie the ground/floor, this will require the group to start over (or another appropriate penalty).

Other than responding to any questions, that’s it.

FYI, the most common technique is for the group to huddle at one end of the tarp as someone positioned towards the front twists the other end 180 degrees, and one by one, each person crosses the twist to step on the underside.

Watch for unintended touches with backs of heels and toes. Be ruthless, after all, this is meant to be a challenge.

Sometimes, you may have to demonstrate what you mean by “standing on the other side of the tarp.” Some folks may think you have asked them to crawl under the tarp!

Given the weight and foot traffic, the tarp will experience, you are strongly recommended to use a non-rip or tear-resistant tarp. Anything less sturdy will likely tear quickly, or at a minimum, have to be replaced regularly.

How big should your tarp be? You only want a small amount of open space to be seen once your group is standing on the tarp. Fold a large tarp to a size that will be more challenging. Too much space makes the activity too easy, but err on the side of challenge.

Caution your group about stacking people on others’ backs, shoulders, etc, and require that all lifting is spotted by others.

You could integrate Turn Over a New Leaf 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 ample opportunities to explore and practice the following social & interpersonal skills:

Self-Awareness

• Linking Feelings, Values & Thoughts
• Identifying Personal, Cultural & Linguistic Assets
• 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
• 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
• 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
• Promoting Personal & Collective Well-Being

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?
• 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?

• Turn The Tarp: Challenge your group to re-orient the tarp 90 degrees from the direction it started from.
• Time Trial: Give a time frame within which the task must be completed. You may choose to issue a time penalty if a touch is made outside the tarp, rather than restart the activity.
• All Jump: Challenge your group to coordinate a simultaneous jump together as you pull the tarp out from under their feet. Expect that it will take several attempts, but the aim is to clear everyone’s feet in one swift pull.
• Take a look at Madagascar Rescue, which combines Turn Over A New Leaf with Stepping Stones.

Have you ever been given a second chance? Have you had the opportunity to start over when your first attempt didn’t go so well? This is sometimes referred to as ‘turning over a new leaf.’ Before we move onto this next exercise, I would like you to consider a time in your life when you turned over a new leaf, or better still can think of a circumstance in which you would like to turn over a new leaf and start over…

We have explored many aspects of working successfully as a team in this program. We have also identified lots of behaviours that have been unhealthy for our group and have hindered our performance. Right now, I would like each of you to think personally of one healthy behaviour you would like the group to continue doing, and one unhealthy behaviour you would like the group to leave behind. [allow time for discussion, if necessary…] Now, I would like you to remain focused on these behaviours as you take on this next challenge…

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

• What did you notice occur as soon as the exercise started?
• How might you describe the effectiveness of your group’s communication?
• What types of leadership were exhibited during the activity? Were these effective?
• How did your group manage all of the ideas which were generated during the exercise?
• What was the most challenging part of the task? Why?