From time to time, I plan to post directions for a favorite activity. First up is Balloon Tower.
Supplies
* 10-12 balloons per participant; ideally various sizes and shapes.
* 1 Sharpie marker per participant.
* 1 roll of masking tape for every 3-4 participants.
* A few small balloon pumps; optional but nice.
The Activity
PART ONE - Distribute 10-12 balloons to each participant, with the instruction to inflate them. It isn't necessary for participants to keep track of their balloons. Just add them to the collective stash of blown-up balloons. As the facilitator, blow up some additional balloons. The inflating of the balloons can take a little time, so you might want to plan a discussion or didactic talk during this part, ideally something related to the purpose of the activity.
Once all the balloons are inflated, distribute a Sharpie marker to each participant, with the instruction to write a trigger for using on each balloon. Encourage them to use triggers that are real for them, but if they run out they can use “general triggers.” Continue until all balloons are labeled. (If you don't work in a substance abuse treatment setting, see the notes below for alternative framing ideas for this activity.) Participants don't need to keep track of the balloons they labeled. Just add them to the collective stash of labeled balloons.
When all the balloons are labeled, explain that the group is going to “practice managing their triggers” by making the balloons into the tallest possible free-standing tower using nothing but the balloons and masking tape. Give a roll of masking tape to every third person, set a time frame (I usually give 15-20 minutes), and have them get to work.
If the group is large enough, I suggest splitting into teams of 4-5 participants each, and have the teams compete to make the tallest free-standing tower within the given time frame. Once the time is up, declare a winner and process the activity thus far. Use lots of metaphoric language related to controlling/managing triggers.
PART TWO - Instruct participants to find one balloon labeled with a trigger that they did not write, but is true for them, and then pull the balloon out of the tower causing the least harm possible. When everyone has a balloon, sit in a circle. Ask a participant to share the trigger/balloon selected, why, and something he/she could do to make the trigger less triggering. Encourage feedback from other group members as appropriate.
One the participant has a plan for managing the trigger, instruct her/him to pop the balloon. I usually say something such as, “Now that you have a way to control this trigger, instead of it controlling you, go ahead and pop that balloon. Continue around the circle until everyone has shared his/her trigger, described a strategy, and popped the balloon. Once everyone has done so, allow the participants to pop all the balloons… and then clean up the mess!
Processing
The majority of the processing for this activity occurs at the end of Part One, since Part Two is basically a discussion. As such, I almost never do any significant post-activity processing with this activity. Often, though, I’ll follow the activity with a discussion about the difference between managing balloons with masking tape and strategies for dealing with Real World triggers. I typically start that discussion with a question such as, “In this activity, we managed triggers with masking tape, but is it that easy in the Real World?”
Notes
As written, this activity is meant for substance abuse treatment groups. However, I believe you could easily adapt it to other settings. Anger management and stress reduction are obvious examples of other clinical contexts. Instead of “triggers,” you could have participants label balloons with obstacles relevant to the setting. And, you could forgo the labeling (and the entire clinically focused Part Two), and simply have this be a tower building activity.
