Teeter Totter Traverse - COVID-Friendly Variations For Your Whale Watch

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The problem with simply reading (or writing for that matter) about low ropes variations is that sometimes the description doesn’t do the activity justice. The description seems blah, boring, or just not exciting enough to try out. A good name for the activity, a photo, and a recommendation can tip the scales. Sadly, none of those are provided in Quicksilver p. 193 or The High 5 Guide (2nd ed.) p. 85 so until COVID-19, I ignored this gem. Enter the Teeter-Totter Traverse – a physically distant initiative that occurs on the Whale Watch and includes two versions.


Version 1 – Two-sided Crossing.

Divide your group in half. Send each grouplet to their end of the Whale Watch. Place boundary markers at the ends of the Whale Watch so people don’t put their hands and feet in places where they could get crushed. Moving one person at a time, the folks at end A need to move across the Whale Watch to end B. Meanwhile the folks at end B need to move across the Whale Watch to end A. The goal is to switch sides with the Whale Watch making the fewest number of ground touches. And yes, holding the Whale Watch so it remains in contact with the ground is considered a travesty and is against the rules.

Version 2 – One-sided Crossing.

Same task as in Version 1 except that everyone starts on one side and must get to the other side. Participants tend to see this as a much harder challenge (it’s not). Doing the activities in this order is a great way to explore pre-conceived notions or to teach Class 1 levers -- especially the part about how effort relates to load.

Additional ways you can play with this initiative include

  • Putting water balloons, raw eggs, or possibly squeaky toys under the corners so that a ground touch comes with an actual consequence
  • Allowing the Whale Watch to only be touched with the feet – regardless of whether an individual is crossing or assisting with balance

If you would like a framing…

The castle of Teeter is guarded by a moat. There is but one way in (or one way out) - a movable bridge like no other (I checked on Wikipedia). Following an incident with some goats, the underside of the bridge is the new home of Totter the Troll who is friendly enough as long as people follow his rules:

  • Folks may cross one person at a time.
  • Don’t put hands or feet (or really any body parts) under the bridge. It wrecks the slimy grossness of the delicate wetland ecosystem in the moat. Also you’ll need to go get first aid.
  • Don’t bang the bridge on the edge of the castle or the ground on the other side. If there is a touch, you’ll owe Totter a penalty – which he will only disclose when it is time for it to be collected. The bridge keeper (aka your facilitator) may have historic information on what you might expect should contact occur.

Finally, as in grocery stores these days, the facilitator is encouraged to set up physically distant staging areas so that people waiting to get into or out of the castle don’t start crowding around the ends of the bridge and accidently spread disease to their fellow citizens even while they are wearing masks.


By Kathy Haras, Ph.D