The Human Knot game is an oldie but a goodie for many youth workers, but for those that don’t know how to play this youth group game, here are the directions:
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Objective
Untangle the circle without letting go of each others hands
The Human Knot Rules
- Have your group stand in a circle (n.b. This game is difficult to play with more than 12 young people. If you have a larger youth group, split them into several smaller groups to play)
- Everyone puts their hands into the center
- Instruct them to grab 1 other person’s hand with one hand and then grab another person’s hand with the other. The rules for grabbing hands:
- It cannot be the person directly beside them
- It cannot be both the hands of the same person
- Once everyone is holding hands, they need to try and untangle themselves without letting go of anyone’s hands – they may need to duck down, climb over and spin around.
- Everyone may not be facing inward at the end and that’s OK; as long as the circle is untangled and everyone’s hands are linked but by their sides, it is complete.
I’ve also had it suggested, by youth workers in Rwanda, that it would be a good game to play with young people dealing with issues of HIV and AIDS (it would also work well with other types of prejudice and intolerance). In Rwanda, some of the youth are unwilling to touch or be near young people with HIV/AIDS because they’re afraid they would ‘catch it’. This could therefore be an excellent game to get them touching and interacting in an appropriate and fun way.
If you like this game idea, check out our other youth group games.
Question: How has playing The Human Knot game benefited your youth group? Do you use it to teach any lessons? Let us know in the comments below.
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