1. Ask your group to stand in a circle.
2. Ask one person to start numbering off by calling out “ONE.”
3. The person to their left calls “TWO” and so on around the circle until every person has called a number in sequence.
4. When ready, instruct every person to mingle with five other people in the group and exchange numbers with them.
5. For example, if my number is 5 and the person I interact with is 12, I will become 12 and they will become 5. Then, in my next exchange, I will swap 12 with the number of my next partner, etc.
6. Reiterate that each person will exchange numbers only five times with five different people.
7. Challenge your group to not use any forms of visual cues to communicate or record their number, ie all communication must be verbal.
8. Instruct each person to stop mingling with others when they have exchanged numbers five times.
9. When all movement has ceased, invite your group to reform the circle in numerical order according to the last number they received, ie from 1 to the highest number.
10. Advise your group that they are permitted to communicate verbally to achieve this task.
11. Once the circle has formed, ask your group to call out their numbers starting from 1.
12. Review the success or otherwise of the task.
13. Repeat one or more times if required, and/or invite your group to reflect on their performance.

This simple, no-props exercise is ideal for exploring the critical nature of listening, especially with large groups. That is to say, it can work with a group of 12 people, but it works better with 2x, 3x, or 4x this number.

But note, while it appears simple, it is actually very difficult to achieve.

Start by forming a large circle with your group.

Inviting one person to start by calling out “ONE,” number off around the circle until every person has been assigned a number in sequence.

Next, explain that you will shortly invite everyone to mix and mingle with five other people to exchange numbers. A quick demonstration often helps at this point.

For example, if the number I called is 5 and the person I interact with is 12, explain that I will become 12 and they will become 5. Then, in my next exchange, I will swap 12 with the number of my next partner, and so on.

Reiterate, that each person is to exchange numbers five times, and five times only. If possible, encourage people to seek out those who they have not interacted with (but this is not critical to the success of the game.)

As some people will complete this part of the task quicker than others, ask those who have exchanged their numbers five times to move outside the area where people are interacting and wait for all others to do the same.

When ready, challenge your group to reassemble the circle in numerical order according to the last number they received, ie each person is more than likely to be standing in a different spot in the circle between two different people.

To verify the success or otherwise of their task, number off from 1 around the circle.

In an ideal world, where everyone is listening and short-term memories are working well, the circle will reform perfectly. In this case, you may wish to reflect on the processes and strategies that allowed the task to be completed so effectively, before moving on.

However, it is not uncommon to see a group struggle to reform the circle accurately because, inevitably, some numbers go missing or others are duplicated in the circle.

In these instances, invite your group to review their processes and attempt a second, third (or more) rounds to achieve numerical success. Then lead a conversation that invites your group to review what was and was not working when it came to their listening and organisational skills.

Sometimes, if I sense there is confusion after the five number exchanges, I check that everyone has one number in their mind before the circle reforms.

If confusion occurs when the group is reforming the circle (and this is highly likely,) ask everyone to stand in the circle according to the last number they received, ie stressing that they assemble “in order” will only prolong the confusion when numbers are missing or duplicates exist.

If your group has an odd number of participants, either jump into the activity to even things up or invite a few people to exchange numbers more than five times to ensure everyone has exchanged at least five times.

I have observed that most groups reform their circle in roughly the same place as their earlier attempts. That is to say, as creatures of habit, the #1 person will stand in the same position where the #1 person stood last time the circle reformed. This makes sense, but… this process often starts even before everyone has completed their five exchanges. To prevent this from happening, advise your group that you will wait until all exchanges have occurred before indicating where the #1 person will be asked to position themselves.

You could integrate Verbal Number Exchange 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

• Demonstrating Self-Confidence, Honesty & Integrity
• Experiencing Self-Efficacy
• Having A Growth Mindset

Self-Management

• Setting Personal & Group Goals
• Taking Initiative
• Use Planning & Organisational Skills

Relationship Skills

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

Responsible Decision-Making

• 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 of sharpening one’s listening skills.

In a small way, you could argue that the focus required to interact and engage physically with others may speak to the benefits of having developed a set of supportive and healthy behavioural norms in advance. Or, if not, you could use these less-than-desired interactions or outcomes to explore what sorts of behaviours your group would prefer to see. For example, you could invite your group to reflect on the level of support offered to those who lost track of the numbers they were exchanging and relate this to a set of observed impacts on others.

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

• Assign Numbers: Start by distributing numbers randomly to each person via index cards or small slips of paper in advance of exchanging numbers. Necessarily, you will need to instruct people to keep their cards or papers hidden during the number exchange process.
• Different Series: Use a different sequence to form your circle such as the alphabet, a deck of cards, etc.
• Fewer Exchanges: Invite your group to exchange their numbers only two times, or some other number fewer than five. Achieve success at this level and you may be able to ramp up the challenge.
• Two In A Row: You know what they say – ‘First-time success is luck, two in a row is skill.’ So if your group aces the challenge on their first attempt, try it a second time to test their prowess.
• Take a look at Change Up and consider asking your group to verbally describe their (playing) card to the people they exchange with, ie each person keeps the first card they are given and never shows it to anyone. With two attributes to describe (suit & value,) this challenge can be significantly more difficult for a group to get right.
• Take a look at Quick Shuffle to enjoy another line-up-in-order problem-solving exercise.

Listening is often overlooked as an integral part of the communication equation. Yes, clear communication helps convey what you are trying to say more effectively, but if the person or people you are talking to are not listening, then the message is unlikely to be sent. Your group will do well to keep this in mind…

Hearing is not the same as listening. You may well hear the words that come out of my mouth, but for my message to be effective, it requires a certain amount of active listening for these words to make sense. This next activity is designed to test your listening skills. Are you ready?…

My mother always told me that I have two ears and one mouth for a reason – to listen twice as hard as I talk. Now, this could be useful advice for 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 simple problem-solving exercise:

• What led to your success or otherwise in this exercise?
• What strategies did you use to help you remember five different numbers?
• What happened if you failed to listen carefully?
• Do we always listen with just our ears?
• Whose responsibility is it to be sure that all numbers are shared correctly?
• Can you think of another example where everyone is responsible for the health or success of the group?