Marshmallow Spaghetti Tower

This activity is one of the most popular team building activities for its ability to spark collaboration and engagement.

20 pieces of (uncooked) spaghetti per group

One piece of marshmallow per group (blue tack glue can also be used instead of marshmallow)

One meter of masking tape per group

Divide the students into groups of 3. If you have an uneven number you may have a group of 4, but no more than 4 students per group. Two groups can share a table. 

“One of the keys to starting a successful business is teamwork and problem solving. This requires creativity, innovation and thinking outside the box, but also being able to develop a plan and execute it as a team. In the Marshmallow Challenge your team is going to have 20 minutes to work together to construct a spaghetti tower that has a marshmallow on the top. The winning team will have the tallest tower standing unassisted.”

Rules

Your team may only use the materials provided. This includes one meter of masking tape, 20 sticks of spaghetti, and your marshmallow

You may not use any other materials to assist in the support of your tower.

You will have only 20 minutes. The marshmallow must be on the top of the tower when time is called and your tower must be standing unassisted.

Measurement is a vertical measurement from the table top up. 

You may stick masking table tape to the table top.

The spaghetti may be broken into smaller pieces. However, once broken, pieces may not be replaced. 

During team activity: Monitor team progress and remind tables of the rules if necessary. 

Completion of team activity: When two minutes remain, give an announcement that there are two minutes remaining. Then also at one minute. When time is called, measure the height of each teams’ tower. Declare a winning team.

You may want to ask a couple of teams that were successful, what was their secret? Discuss challenges and things they would do differently next time. You may also discuss how roles were shared within the group.