Shepherd and Sheep Game

Groups can be divided into smaller teams of between 6 to 10. Team members who are not the Shepherd must then be blindfolded and directed by a shepherd into a pen. The shepherd must direct team members by spoken commands. Teams who get all their members or ‘sheep’ into their pens the fastest, wins the game.

Suggested Learning Outcomes

• Encourages leadership
• Challenges communication skills
• Improves problem solving
• Develops trust
• Builds resilience and perseverance

Resources:

Blindfolds and cones

Space Required:

Medium size open space both Indoors or Outdoors.

Group Size:

6 to 10 ideally, but can be done with more split into smaller teams.

Total Time: 40 minutes

• 5 minutes to brief and setup
• 5 minutes to plan
• 20 minutes for activity based on 4 teams (five minutes per team)
• 10 minutes to review and debriefRunning the Activity

How to Facilitate Shepherd and Sheep Activity

• Introduce the activity: In your teams, you must select one person to be a shepherd; everyone else will be sheep. The aim of the challenge is for the shepherd to try and navigate blindfolded sheep into the pen. The team that directs the most number of sheep into the pen wins the challenge.
• Discuss and clarify activity rules.
• Before you begin, provide each group with ten to fifteen minutes to plan how they are going to communicate and give direction.
• While the groups are planning, you can begin setting up the course. Use the cones to mark a starting point and locate a pen around 10-15 metres away. Obstacle locations will changed for each group.
• When the groups are ready, select one team to go first.
• All sheep will begin at the start point next to the shepherd. The shepherd is not allowed to leave this area or to physically guide the sheep; they can only direct them through verbal communication.
• Get the sheep to put their blindfolds on and then lay out the marker cones in the area. Once you are happy with the layout, begin the activity.
• Allow five minutes per team or until all sheep have been penned. At the end of the team’s turn, note down the number of sheep in the pen and the time it took to complete the activity.
• Repeat for all teams and remember to change the location of the obstacles.
• At the end of the activity, tell the groups the final results and then review.

Rules of Shepherd and Sheep Activity

• The spoken commands the shepherd gives to direct the sheep, can only be through sounds and no words.
• All team members or ‘sheep’ are allowed past the start point, the shepherd is not.
• The shepherd is only allowed to direct one sheep at a time.
• The entire challenge must be completed in 5 minutes.
• Team members or ‘sheep’ have three lives each. If a sheep bumps into an obstacle, they lose one life. Once a sheep loses all three lives, the team member must leave the game area, so there is one less sheep in the team.

Safety when running Shepherd and Sheep Activity

• Make sure to prepare the area for the challenge properly, ensuring no hazards are in the way.
• Keep an eye on everyone throughout the challenge and place yourself strategically in order to avoid injury to any team members

Debrief and Review Shepherd and Sheep Game

Here are some questions to ask, which will help teams process the Shepherd and Sheep Challenge:

• Who did you choose to play the shepherd and why?
• Was there a plan or strategy in place before the challenge began? How did you come up with this plan?
• Was everybody in the team active in the strategy discussion?
• Give the definition of communication. In what way can we know whether the communication was effective?
• Do you think planning and strategy is important and how much time did you give towards it?
• During the challenge, was there a time when you felt you needed to change or adapt the plan?
• Did you review your plan again before changing it? Why do you think this is important?
• Was the shepherd effective in directing and did all team members trust him/her?