We're always on the look-out for new and exciting activities. This particular team building challenge was inspired by a trip to a medieval castle in the South of France. Whilst watching a demonstration of these giant catapults known as Trebuchets, Ben noticed that assembling this large siege weapon required a team all working together to successfully build, load and fire them. After returning home, he set to work with the team to build our own replicas that are perfectly proportioned and weighted to ensure they operate safely and effectively.
This exciting historically inspired challenge requires teams to work together and follow instructions to build, test load and fire our flat packed medieval catapult, known as a Trebuchet. Your target is a wooden castle placed at the centre of the playing zone (a lawned garden at one of our recommended venues works well). Points are scored for hitting the castle, with maximum points awarded for any on target shots that land inside the castle itself. Fielders can also be deployed to retrieve your projectile quickly or to ‘catch out’ any opponents preventing them from scoring.
To make things more interesting we give each team exactly 1 hour to build their catapult and score as many points as possible before completely dismantling it. Go beyond the hour and you’re disqualified so the pressure is on to manage your time effectively to hit the deadline. Will you risk it all to keep slinging shots at the castle to score a few valuable extra points or will you play it safe and pack down early to avoid losing out?
To succeed at this challenge, you and your teammates must work together to build your catapult quickly, problem solve to mitigate any issues and challenges that crop up and manage your time wisely to score as many points as possible with sufficient time to disassemble your catapult. In a race to outscore your opposing teams it’s all too easy to run out of time. Construct a catapult works well as a standalone activity or can be combined with Archery to create a great medieval multi-activity day, so why not add this on to your next event booking today.
Outdoor Activity
Construct a Catapult is an outdoor activity which requires a suitable lawned area at your chosen venue so is a great addition to a country retreat or away day. The setup time is 1 hour and this activity typically runs for around 1 hour, 20 mins.
As a standalone activity this can accommodate groups of 15- 40. For greater numbers this can be combined with Archery to create a medieval themed day or included as part of a larger activity package.
“Many thanks for yesterday. The feedback has been very positive, and the team really enjoyed the activities and experience. Thank you for your professional running of the afternoon and getting everyone involved. There were a few sharp shooters amongst the team that we will need to keep an eye on, although give them a memory task or the sorting of small items in a sock by touch and feel, they were not so good!! 😊”
Mark Reeve
Talent Acquisition & Early Careers Manager, DFDS
