Blindness

I had a really interesting experience while I was at BYU. In one of our breakout sessions at Aspen Grove our facilitator blindfolded us, connected us by putting out hands on the shoulders of the person in front of us, and then led us to a new location and announced that we had 20 minutes to figure out what we were supposed to do in that room.

Feeling vulnerable, most people dropped to their knees and began to grope around the room. We began to find objects that had been scattered on the floor. There was a lot of talking and communicating. Finally someone said, "It's a tent. We're supposed to put it together." Using our fingers, we began to try and figure out what to do -- where are the corners? How do you put these poles together? Where are the loops and seams for the poles? Can anyone feel where the gromets are? By the time the 20 minutes were up we had successfully put the tent together, but could never figure out what to do with the rain fly.

We spent another hour processing the experience and learned some interesting things about the dynamics of our group. Some people were very aggressive. Others felt excluded. At one time two people were vying for the same pole, both having found the same set of loops, but each trying to insert the pole from the opposite direction.

I think this could make a very interesting Family Home Evening activity. Young children probably couldn't figure a tent out even with their eyes open, but you could think of a different task they would have to accomplish and perhaps learn a lot about the dynamics of your own family. It was a great learning tool and lots of fun too!