Welcome to the Playful Activity Library! We invite you to explore this curated collection of active, playful activities designed for use in adult education settings. This library supports our playful learning community by showcasing inspiring practices, sparking new ideas, and encouraging collaborative connections. We welcome all forms of playful approaches—whether it’s a quick icebreaker, a creative classroom activity, or a fully developed board game. Whatever your contribution, we’d love for you to share it with the community!
This activity draws on the format of the Crystal Maze gameshow. The example attached was developed for a University of (Central) Lancashire staff away day to help facilitate conversations around the concept of the Connected Curriculum (developed by University College London to create opportunities for engagement with research during their studies). This was facilitated in a large group of over 80 staff. The game consists of three zones where participants play one 10 minute game to collect crystals (crystal beads can be purchased cheaply for this) which gives them time in the final Crystal Dome:
GAME 1: a physical game where paper copies of case studies were hidden around the venue and participants had to find them and map them to the correct dimension of the connected curriculum model. The attached slides show the correct answers as well as the instructions for participants. Make sure you are aware of any accessibility needs of participants and if they cannot move around the venue easily, give them the role to collate and review the cases their team brings back to the table.
GAME 2: a mental game where participants are given a set of blue and red statements (which you print as sticky labels) and they need to match the correct halves of each statement to illustrate the 12 dimensions of connectedness.
GAME 3: a skill game where teams must use Playdoh (or other creative materials) to create a model which is related to the core principle of ‘learning through research and enquiry’. They are expected to explain their model in less than 30 seconds at the end of the time.
CRYSTAL DOME: Having collected crystals through these three games (each giving them 30 seconds in the dome), each team then enters the crystal dome where they must brainstorm as many ideas for applications of the connected curriculum in their work. Each team is told which whistle they can start on and all teams finish at the same time. The winning team is the one with the most ideas. The ideas can then be collected up to inform curriculum design by the participants and by others in the department.
Resources needed: Slide deck with embedded music; Crystals (beads or paper versions); Printed materials for use in the individual games; Post-it notes for the crystal dome brainstorming; a whistle or loud buzzer on your PC; lots of energy!
The zones and game types can be adapted or changed for different topics so for example, engagement with key aspects of a hard to reach topic.
This activity is inspired by the format of The Crystal Maze, originally created by Jacques Antoine and produced by RDF Television. This adaptation is designed for educational use only and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the official producers or rights holders of The Crystal Maze.
Emma Gillaspy
University of Lancashire
Social Profile
Small (30 or less), Large (30 – 500)
Interaction, Risk and Reward, Physical Play
Exploring, Creating, Collaborating
CC BY-NC-SA https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/