A Man Down

Team Building Excercise for leaders or teens.

This activity is designed to help students or leaders appreciate the importance of working as a team.

Synopsis: A student or leader goes and hides while another activity is running. Those participating are told that the person is hurt and requires emergency medical attention (without calling 911!) Teams must treat the person and move them to safety. Discussion afterward focuses on the importance of each team member and their contribution to the team.


Have the students involved in an active game. Choose one from Egad! their are tons of them! While the game is playing send a student or a leader out discretely. After about ten minutes stop the game and say, “Wait some one is missing!”

At that point instructions are given that the “man down” has a spinal injury and must be moved on a solid object back to the meeting room. The group will fan out and then find the missing person. The activity can be timed, with the instruction that the area is filling with poisonous gas. Another twist can be that members of the team going out to get them have also been given injuries and others have to compensate. If you have a larger group send out more injured people that need to be brought back to the room

Discussion Questions:

1. When did you notice that someone was missing?

2. How did you feel when you were looking for the injured person?

3. What has this experience taught you about team work?

4. How can we improve ourselves as a team?

A time to look at scripture concerning the parts of the body would be good to focus on the meaning of the experience.