Feeding The Zircon Gorilla
by Sam Sikes

The "Gorilla book" contains mostly problem-solving activities used for team building. All of the activities have inexpensive props (if any are required). Almost all the activities were created to address the needs of teams Sam had been working with through the years. This was Sam's first "official" book and it has become a standard resource for experiential facilitators world-wide.

FAQ: Why Zircon Gorilla?
Feeding The Zircon Gorilla is the name of one of the activites in the book. The activity was originally created for a company that used a gorilla as their unofficial corporate mascot. What does a 500 pound gorilla do?... pretty much anything he wants.



Executive Marbles
by Sam Sikes

The"Marbles book" was written as a continuation of the Zircon Gorilla. It contains mostly new problem-solving activities. A feature added to this book is a chart that identifies the primary issues or concepts that each activity tends to bring out. So if you were looking for activities that focus on leadership for example, it is easy to narrow down your choices by using the chart. There is also a chart of suggested team sizes.

FAQ: What's an Executive Marble?
One of the activities in the book is called Executive Marbles. The activity is an adaptation of a Native American game called Cherokee Marbles. The Cherokees would take the time to grind a stone into a round ball about the same size as a pool ball to use in the game. As with almost all Native American games, this one teaches a lesson: when to be patient and when to be assertive. In the book I suggest simply buying your balls instead of spending 12+ hours grinding each one.

50 Ways To Use Your Noodle
by Chis Cavert and Sam Sikes

The "Noodle book" is a combination of adapted activities and newly created activities that use the foam pool noodle as a prop. None of the activities is meant to do in the water. Approximately half of the book contains icebreaker and energizer games and the other half contains problem-solving activities.

FAQ: Noodles? No water??
Chris and Sam joined talents to publish this book. It seems that many camps would use noodles as a part of their swimming pool programs, but then they would have to store them away in the Fall and Winter seasons. These things can take up a lot of room. Chris and Sam put together the book so that anyone, anywhere would be able to use their noodles year-round. Besides, the things are addictively fun!


50 MORE Ways To Use Your Noodle
by Chris Cavert and Sam Sikes

After the first "Noodle book" became popular Chris and Sam started getting descriptions of new activities from around the world. People also requested activities they could do in the pool. So... this new noodle book contains new games, problem-solving activities, water activities, variations and some "just for fun" activities. There are actually 55 more ways to use your noodle in the book, but who's counting? Also included are the plans for making your own noodle cutter!

FAQ: What's a midaroni?
It is half of a maxaroni. :)
There are 5 sizes/lengths of noodle used in both noodle books. The most commonly seen noodle is a maxaroni. It is approximately 60 inches long. If you cut it in half, you have two mid-length noodles called midaronis. If you cut it into 3-inch lengths, each is called a minironi. If you find the big diameter noodles (4 inches in diameter) you have a maxaroni rex. If you cut a maxaroni rex into 1.25 inch lengths, each one is called a meatball. Now aren't you glad you asked?

FAQ2: Is that a different cover?
Yes, Chris and I decided to change the background color of the book in January of 2006. Even though the 50 MORE cover was quite a bit different from the original Noodle book cover, the two kept getting confused because they weren't different enough. I like the new look.

99 of the best Experiential Corporate Games we know!
(OUT OF PRINT as of Oct. 2006)
by Simon Priest, Sam Sikes, and Faith Evans

The "99 Games book" is truly a collection of the best experiential activities that Simon, Sam, and Faith have used. As with any "best of" book, the activities came from a variety of other published sources; however, 46 of the activities had not been published previously. Many of these "new" activities have been distributed experientially through the years, but not captured in writing. This is a great resource for trainers who need to breath some life into their programs without spending a lot of time doing it.







Raptor
by Sam Sikes

Raptor is the third book in a loose series that includes Feeding The Zircon Gorilla and Executive Marbles. It includes many new problem-solving activities. Perhaps one of the most exciting innovations is the use of mousetraps in several of the activities. Like the Marbles book, this one has a matrix of issues and concepts and team sizes to help the facilitator choose the best activities for a program more easily.

FAQ: How did you come up with the name Raptor?
Like the other two books in the series, Raptor is the name of one of the activities. The activity is a competition between teams who are trying to strategically knock a pool ball into a small hole. The dynamics are similar to a scene from the movie Jurrasic Park where the veloceraptors were converging on the people as they crossed a tall grass field.

The More The Merrier
by Sam Sikes, Faith Evans, and Chris Cavert

This book is as large as the groups it was written for. Weighing is at 2.6 pounds, there is a lot of information about facilitating large groups. Aside from the 100+ activities, it also includes theory with references and footnotes, practical planning and design tips, and stories from many facilitators sharing their large group experiences.

FAQ: What do you consider a large group?
I have to answer with two qualifiers: it depends on the purpose of the gathering and it has to do with the perspective of the facilitator. In the book, we divided activities into groups sizes of 20-50, 51-100, and "the more the merrier". If I am wanting to create a mood or allow people to mix and mingle, then it could be 1000 people and I would feel like there could be a few more. However, when there is a purpose beyond getting to know each other and celebrating, I consider anything over 20 or 30 a large group.