Human knot
Encyclopedia
A human knot is a common icebreaker
game or team building activity for new people to learn to work together in physical proximity. It is a disentanglement puzzle
in which a group of people in a circle hold hands with the person across from them, and the goal is to entangle the limbs to get the group into a circle, without letting go of grasped hands. Instead, group members should step over or under arms to try to untangle the knot. Not all human knots are solvable, and may end up as two circles.
The game is recommended for children from 12 years and up. Optimal number of people is 7 to 200 (group sizes of 10 are ideal). No materials are required. It is designed to build team work and problem solving skills, while serving as a fun icebreaker.
Icebreaker (facilitation)
An icebreaker is a facilitation exercise intended to help a group to begin the process of forming themselves into a team. Icebreakers are commonly presented as a game to "warm up" the group by helping the members to get to know each other...
game or team building activity for new people to learn to work together in physical proximity. It is a disentanglement puzzle
Disentanglement puzzle
A disentanglement puzzle is a type of mechanical puzzle that involves disentangling one piece or set of pieces from another piece or set of pieces. The reverse problem of reassembling the puzzle can be as hard as—or even harder than—disentanglement...
in which a group of people in a circle hold hands with the person across from them, and the goal is to entangle the limbs to get the group into a circle, without letting go of grasped hands. Instead, group members should step over or under arms to try to untangle the knot. Not all human knots are solvable, and may end up as two circles.
The game is recommended for children from 12 years and up. Optimal number of people is 7 to 200 (group sizes of 10 are ideal). No materials are required. It is designed to build team work and problem solving skills, while serving as a fun icebreaker.