The Marshmallow Challenge

The Marshmallow Challenge

I first discovered The Marshmallow Challenge while watching this TED Talk and I couldn’t wait to try it! I love a good team building activity that encourages creativity, problem solving, and collaboration, and this is one of my favorites. It’s a fun way to develop some essential skills for this constantly changing world we live in.

The Marshmallow Challenge uses inexpensive materials, requires very little prep, and generates lots of excitement. Students enjoy the challenge to think creatively and work as a team, and so much learning happens in the process. This would make a great team building activity for the beginning of the school year or a fun end of school year activity.

Invented by Peter Skillman and popularized by Tom Wujec’s viral TED Talk, The Marshmallow Challenge gives students an introduction to collaboration and product development. Click here to read about Tom Wujec’s experiences with thousands of participants, from Kindergarteners through CEO’s of Fortune 500 companies. It’s fascinating! 

Materials (per group of 2-3 students):

• 20 – sticks of uncooked spaghetti
• 1 – yard masking tape (stick down on edge of desk)
• 1 – yard string
• scissors (for cutting the string)
• 1 – regular size marshmallow

I put all the materials for each group in a large clasp envelope (except for the tape), and glued a 9×12 piece of colored construction paper to the front – a different color for each group. This is optional but it made passing out supplies, and naming groups by color, quick and easy!

You’ll also need:

• a large digital timer that counts down (My favorite is the 12″ Time Timer, which is easy for all students to see from across the room. You can also use a countdown app on your phone or laptop.) 
• tape measure or measuring tape
• music (optional – I made a playlist on iTunes of 5 songs that would end at exactly the moment the time was up!)

(I recommend first watching the Marshmallow Challenge TED Talk if you can, but be careful not to give too much away when explaining it to your students!)

Directions:

1. Divide students randomly into teams of 2-3 around tables or desks. 
2. Explain the directions and repeat them a few times so everyone understands what to do.
   Example: “You will have 18 minutes to work in your groups to build the tallest freestanding structure possible, using only the materials provided. The structure will be measured to the top of the marshmallow, so the marshmallow should be at the highest point of your structure.”
3. Start the timer. While students are working, walk around to make sure they understand the directions. Announce things like, “The blue group is off to a good start”, or “The orange group has a structure standing!” This helps create excitement and motivation.
4. Give warnings at 10 minutes, 5 minutes, 1 minute, and at 30 seconds left. Then count down the final 10 seconds together.
5. When the time is up, measure the structures that are standing and announce the winner. (Structures may not be taped down and must stand on their own, without students holding them up.) 
6. The team with the tallest freestanding structure gets a standing ovation! (Interesting side note: I was surprised to discover that only one student in my entire K-6 school knew what a standing ovation was!)

Closure:

It was interesting to observe how different personalities work together (or not!), and to watch the different strategies and approaches that students used in solving problems.

The tallest structure was built by my 6th grade students, but as the video suggests, it was actually my kindergarten students who had the most success in building structures that were able to stand on their own!

Try this with your own students, then spend a few minutes at the end discussing what worked, what problems they experienced, and what they learned. You’ll be amazed!!

There is so much to be learned from this activity…. sportsmanship, teamwork, not being misled by “false assumptions” (like the marshmallow being “light”!), and the importance of testing your prototypes.

I did this with grades K-7, and even the parent volunteers wanted to give it a try…. just tailor your discussion at the end to the age group you’re working with.

If you can, watch the TED Talk first for even more insight into why this is such a valuable exercise… just be careful not to give too much away when explaining it to your students!

Here are a few more pictures… try to guess which grades they go with!

Yes, those last two were from my adorable Kinders! They may not have been the tallest structures, but they were standing… and they definitely scored points for cuteness!