During this years Semester Break Program at the BCI Academy, there were many games, activities and exercised designed to teach – as well as amuse. An especially fun team exercise was the lavalava exercise. A lavalava is basically a Samoan cultural skirt of sorts.
The point of this exercise is to get the kids to think as a team and to work strategically and creatively so that they can win the competition by getting all of their team onto the lavalava as it gets smaller and smaller. So the lavalava started on the floor, laid flat, fully open and all the team has to stand on it without touching the ground. Then Asaua, a BCI Intern, got the group leaders to fold their lavalava in half and do the same, then in half again and then again and each time the teams had to all get on the lavalava without touching the ground.
The winning team was the one who was able to get the whole team on as it got smaller. What made it more fun was that the social workers, who were a part of the teams also, had to get on the lavalava but they weren’t allowed to touch the lavalava or the ground so the kids had to lift the social workers off the ground at the same time. The winning team had 12 children fit onto one small lavalava. A good time was had by all, those watching and participating!
Team Lavalava Exercise
Blessing the Children International 