C-TB4 - Egg Tower Challenge (1 hour)

Description: This session is designed to help peer groups get to know each other on a
deeper level and begin bonding.

Objectives:
By the end of the session, I will be able to:
● I will learn more about my colleagues.

Key points:
● Your colleagues are important. Sharing with them, working with them, and bonding
with them is essential.

Behavioral ● N/A Mindsets ● N/A

skills

Keywords ● Relationships Materials ● 300 sheets of paper

● 5-7 rolls of tape
● Boiled eggs for each
group of participants
(approx 13-15 boiled
eggs)
● Camera (you can use your
iphone)

Performance ● N/A
Goals

Session ● Observe participants during the Egg Tower Challenge to assess if

Assessment they are learning about their colleagues and participating in the
activities.

Icons ☞ Activity ⟲ Debrief ✔ Assessment

© 2016 McKinsey Social Initiative, Inc.

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 Time Activity
5 minutes Opening
50 minutes Content: Egg Tower Challenge
● Activity
● Debrief

5 minutes Debrief and Closing

● Thank everyone for participating.

PREPARATION
● Ask the participants to arrange their chairs in in a circle
● Write the learning objective on the board
● Ask participants to put their notebooks under their chairs.
● Hard boil eggs (1 egg for every 4 participants)

OPENING (5 minutes)
Instructor note: This section is designed to introduce participants to the objectives for the
session.

● Explain that in this session participants will continue to work on their relationships as a
team.
● Objectives: Review objectives and provide rationale for the value of the

CONTENT – EGG TOWER CHALLENGE (50 minutes)

Instructor Note: This activity allows participants to work in groups to complete their first team
building activity.

☞ Egg Tower Challenge

● Give Directions:
❏ Divide participants into groups of four.
❏ Explain that each team will have 20 pieces of paper and 35 minutes to
build a tower.
❏ Mention that they should want their tower to be:
❏ The highest in the room
❏ Capable of holding an egg
❏ Self-supporting and must sit on the floor
❏ Tell them that they can use chairs to stand on while they are creating
the tower but the tower can only be made of paper and tape.
❏ DO NOT TELL PARTICIPANTS THAT THE EGG IS HARD BOILED.

● Monitor time and Walk Around.FT Give 15, 25, and 30 minute warnings. After 35
minutes, call time.

© 2016 McKinsey Social Initiative, Inc.

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 ● Tell participants that it’s time to test the strength of their towers to declare a winner.
● Ask participants to sit by their tower with their entire group.
● Test each tower to see if it can hold the weight of an egg.
● Ask each group to share the following with the whole group:
○ What was your strategy for building?
○ What challenges did you face in building your tower?
○ What is your favorite part about this tower?

● Allow groups to take pictures of their towers if they would like. These pictures can later
be combined into a poster for the group to view at a later date.

⟲ Debrief
● Ask students to stand up if they liked working on a team or stay seated if they would
prefer to complete a challenge like this on their own.
● Ask: How was your tower affected by your group’s ability to work together as a team?
○ Cold Call FT
● Explain that teamwork, communication, and collaboration are key values of Generation
and give examples of situations where they might need to put them in practice during the
program.

CLOSING (5 minutes)
Instructor note: During this section, participants reflect on what they have learned.

● Ask the following questions. Share Out FT

○ What was something that you learned about someone else during these
activities?
○ What is something that you learned about yourself while completing these
activities?

-- End of Session --

© 2016 McKinsey Social Initiative, Inc.

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