The Tower of Skills and Talents

Topic
- Labour, business & entrepreneurship
- Society
Learning skills
- Social adjustment
- Critical & reflective thinking
- Coordination & flexibility
- Fine motor skills
Activity type
- Board game
- Group discussion
Materials
- Basic
- Self-made
Age
- 6 - 11 years
- 12 - 14 years
- 15 - 17 years
5 - 15 minutes
+5 players
Easy
Calm
Small (office, pavement)

Contributors

Mobile School

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Everything you need to play this game

A Jenga game (or similar wooden block stacking game – 45 blocks total)
Coloured paper (preferably in 2 different colors)
Markers or pens
Scissors
Glue stick or double-sided tape

Make it yourself

Step 1

Prepare your blocks

Count your Jenga blocks – you’ll need a total of 45 blocks.

Divide them into three groups:

8 blocks for highly trained jobs
12 blocks for vocational training jobs
25 blocks to be left blank

Step 2

Cut and attach colored paper

Cut strips of colored paper to fit the sides of the Jenga blocks.

Choose one color for highly trained jobs and a different color for vocational jobs.

Wrap and glue or tape the paper around:

8 blocks in Color 1 for highly trained jobs
12 blocks in Color 2 for vocational jobs
Leave the other 25 blocks uncovered

Step 3

Write job titles on the blocks

Using a marker or pen, write one job title on each covered block.

Examples of highly trained jobs (Color 1):

Doctor
Teacher
Pilot
Police (wo)man
Engineer
Musician
Business (wo)man
Actor/Actress

Examples of vocational training jobs (Color 2):

Plumber
Electrician
Farmer
Mason
Tailor
Housekeeper
Barber
Waiter
Driver
Shopkeeper
Baker
Delivery person

Tip: Adapt the job titles to your local context to make the game more relevant for the players.

Good job!

A step-by-step guide to play the game

Set up the tower as in a normal Jenga game.

Make two groups of players.

The two groups face off in a round of rock, paper, scissors.

The losing team of that round must remove one job block from the tower (anywhere except the top row and the non-coloured blocks).

Repeat: Play rock, paper, scissors again, then the losing team removes another block.

The game continues until the tower collapses. The team that removed the last block before it fell loses—the other team wins!

Reflection questions

What did this game teach you about different types of jobs?
What happens when we remove too many important jobs from a community?
Can we think of any jobs that were missing?
What would you like to do when you grow up, and how do you think it helps society?
Are all jobs equally important to society?

Extra game information

This game concept was developed by a team of Tomorrowland during a StreetwiZe leadership expedition in Kolkata, India.

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