The Marshmallow Challenge
Also known as: Spaghetti Tower Challenge, Marshmallow Tower Challenge, Spaghetti Marshmallow Challenge, 18-Minute Tower Challenge
A hands-on team building activity where groups compete to build the tallest freestanding structure using spaghetti, tape, string, and a marshmallow on top within 18 minutes.
Quick Overview
Introduction
The Marshmallow Challenge is a deceptively simple team building exercise that reveals profound insights about collaboration, innovation, and prototyping. Teams receive 20 sticks of spaghetti, one yard of tape, one yard of string, and one marshmallow. Their mission: build the tallest freestanding structure with the marshmallow on top in just 18 minutes. What makes The Marshmallow Challenge fascinating is how it exposes natural team dynamics. Some teams plan extensively before building, while others dive straight into construction. The marshmallow, seemingly innocent, becomes the ultimate test—it must sit on top and the structure must stand on its own when time expires. This activity consistently produces surprising results. Kindergarteners often outperform business school students, revealing important lessons about iterative design versus over-planning. The Marshmallow Challenge has been used by thousands of organizations worldwide, from Fortune 500 companies to innovation workshops, because it creates immediate, memorable learning experiences about teamwork and creative problem-solving.
Key Features
- Reveals team dynamics and communication patterns within minutes through hands-on collaboration
- Teaches iterative prototyping and the value of failing early to succeed faster
- Creates level playing field where hierarchy dissolves and creativity emerges organically
Ideal For
The Marshmallow Challenge works exceptionally well for newly formed project teams who need to understand their collaboration patterns, innovation workshops focused on design thinking principles, leadership training programs exploring facilitation styles, and corporate meetings that want to energize participants while teaching valuable lessons about prototyping. It's particularly powerful at the beginning of multi-day conferences or training sessions when you want to establish a culture of experimentation and psychological safety.
What Makes It Unique
Unlike discussion-based icebreakers, The Marshmallow Challenge produces a physical artifact that teams can see and compare. The competitive element combined with the tight time constraint creates genuine pressure that mirrors real workplace challenges. The surprising difficulty—most structures collapse—generates humility and authentic learning moments that stick with participants long after the activity ends.
Game Video
How to Play
Preparation
5-10 minutes- 1Prepare material kits for each team: 20 sticks of dry spaghetti, 1 yard of transparent tape, 1 yard of string, 1 standard marshmallow, and scissors. Place all materials in paper bags or envelopes so teams can't see them in advance.
- 2Arrange the room with separate work areas for each team—tables or floor spaces at least 6 feet apart to prevent copying. Clear enough space for teams to move around their structures.
- 3Set up a visible timer (projected on screen or large clock) that all teams can see. Prepare a measuring tape and camera to document final structures.
- 4Create mixed teams of 4-5 people if possible. Avoid letting people self-select into friend groups—random or strategically mixed teams produce better learning. Print name tags if groups don't know each other.
- 5Prepare your debrief questions in advance. The learning happens in the reflection, so plan 10-15 minutes for discussion after building.
Game Flow
18 minutes- 1Gather everyone and explain the challenge: 'Each team will build the tallest freestanding structure using only the materials provided. The marshmallow must be on top. The entire marshmallow must be on top—no fair biting pieces off! Your time starts when I say go, and when I call time, you must step away from your structure. Whichever team has the tallest structure that stands on its own wins.'
- 2Clarify rules: Teams can break the spaghetti, cut the tape and string, but must use the entire marshmallow intact. The structure must stand freely—no leaning on walls, hanging from ceiling, or being held up. Teams can stand up to measure during building but must step back when time is called.
- 3Distribute material bags to each team. Emphasize: 'Do not open the bags until I say go.' Answer any clarifying questions, then start the 18-minute timer loudly: 'Your time starts now!'
- 4Observe teams without interfering. Notice which teams plan extensively vs. start building immediately. Watch for emerging leaders, conflict, laughter, and frustration. These observations will fuel your debrief discussion.
- 5Give time warnings at 10 minutes remaining, 5 minutes remaining, 1 minute remaining, and 30 seconds remaining. Watch teams scramble at the end—this pressure reveals authentic behaviors.
- 6When time expires, call 'Time! Step away from your structures!' Firmly ensure teams don't touch their towers. Many structures will collapse in the final seconds—this is part of the learning.
- 7Measure structures from the table surface to the bottom of the marshmallow. If a structure has fallen, its height is zero. Take photos of successful structures and celebrate the winning team.
- 8Ask the winning team to briefly share their approach. Then ask teams with fallen structures: 'What happened?' Often they'll reveal they waited until the last minute to add the marshmallow and discovered it was heavier than expected—a perfect metaphor for testing risky assumptions early.
Wrap Up
10-15 minutes- 1Facilitate debrief discussion with open-ended questions: 'What surprised you about this activity? What strategy did your team use? If you could do it again, what would you do differently?' Let teams share honestly without judgment.
- 2Reveal key research insight: 'Interestingly, when this challenge is run with different groups, kindergarteners average taller structures than business school students. Why? Kids naturally prototype and iterate, while adults tend to plan and build one tower. The kids fail faster and learn faster.' This insight usually generates 'aha' moments.
- 3Connect to workplace applications: 'Where in your work do you spend too much time planning the perfect solution instead of testing risky assumptions early? What's your project's marshmallow—the critical element you should test first?' Give teams 2-3 minutes to discuss specific applications to their work.
- 4Ask about team dynamics: 'What behaviors helped your team? What got in the way? Did everyone's voice get heard?' This reveals patterns about communication, leadership, and psychological safety that teams can address going forward.
- 5Close with key takeaways: 'Great teams build to learn, not just learn to build. Testing assumptions through rapid prototypes beats perfect planning. And sometimes the quietest team member has the best solution—make sure everyone's ideas get heard.' Thank teams for their participation and willingness to try something playful and potentially awkward.
Host Script
Questions & Examples
Common Structure Strategies
- •The Tripod Base: Three spaghetti pieces forming a triangular base with vertical supports—stable but often too short
- •The Tower Approach: Stacking spaghetti pieces vertically with tape reinforcement—can be tall but risks collapse
- •The Teepee Design: Leaning multiple spaghetti strands together at top with marshmallow as connector—creative use of marshmallow weight
- •The String Suspension: Using string to create tension structure—requires engineering knowledge but can be very tall
- •The Wide Base Pyramid: Large stable foundation that tapers upward—reliable but material-intensive
Team Role Patterns That Emerge
- •The Architect: Team member who wants to plan extensively before building—often needs gentle push to start testing
- •The Builder: Hands-on person who starts assembling immediately—valuable but may not consider structural principles
- •The Skeptic: Questions whether ideas will work—helpful for identifying risks but can slow momentum if too negative
- •The Cheerleader: Keeps team morale high and encourages risk-taking—essential for psychological safety
- •The Timekeeper: Watches the clock and pushes team to move faster—crucial as deadline approaches
Debrief Discussion Prompts
- •What was your team's initial strategy? How did it change once you started building?
- •At what point did you place the marshmallow on your structure? What did you learn from that timing?
- •How did your team make decisions? Was there a clear leader, or did roles emerge organically?
- •What's one thing your team did really well? What's one thing you'd do differently next time?
- •Where in your actual work do you see parallels to this challenge—times when you should test risky assumptions earlier?
Workplace Applications
- •Software Development: Test integration with real data early rather than waiting until the end to discover APIs don't work as expected
- •Marketing Campaigns: Launch small pilot campaigns to test messaging before committing full budget to unproven concepts
- •Product Design: Build low-fidelity prototypes with users immediately instead of perfecting designs internally first
- •Change Management: Run small pilot programs in one department before rolling out organization-wide initiatives
- •Project Planning: Identify and test the riskiest project assumptions first rather than starting with easy, low-risk tasks
Virtual Version (for Zoom/Teams)
The Marshmallow Challenge can be adapted for virtual teams, though it loses some immediate impact. The key is shipping physical kits in advance or using household materials.
- •Ship identical material kits to all participants 1-2 weeks before the session. Include clear instructions not to open until the event. Alternative: provide a shopping list of household items (uncooked pasta, marshmallows, tape, string) participants can gather.
- •Use breakout rooms for teams of 3-4 people. Ensure each room has a designated timekeeper and camera person. Teams build individually with cameras on, then reconvene to share results.
- •Have each team photograph or hold up their final structure to the camera from multiple angles. Use screen share to display all structures side-by-side for comparison. Judging becomes subjective but that adds to the fun.
- •Extend the debrief time since virtual discussions take longer. Use collaborative tools like Miro or Mural for teams to post reflections about process, learnings, and workplace applications. The digital artifacts create lasting reference material.
Tips & Variations
Pro Tips
- ✓Run multiple rounds if time permits. The second round is always better—teams apply learnings and the competitive energy intensifies. Build more rounds into longer workshops.
- ✓Take photos of all final structures before anyone touches them. These images are powerful for documentation and social media. Collapsed structures tell important stories too.
- ✓Don't reveal the kindergartener vs. MBA insight until after teams have finished. If you tell them beforehand, teams will consciously try to 'act like kindergarteners' and it reduces the authenticity of the learning experience.
- ✓Mix teams intentionally for maximum learning. Avoid letting departments or friend groups work together. The best insights emerge when diverse perspectives collide.
- ✓Keep the energy high with music during building time and enthusiastic commentary. Your facilitation energy directly impacts participant engagement and risk-taking behavior.
- ✓Connect The Marshmallow Challenge explicitly to real work challenges during debrief. Generic reflection is less impactful than helping teams identify specific applications to current projects.
Variations
Limited Resources Variation
Give teams only 10 spaghetti sticks or 20 inches of tape to increase difficulty. Scarcity forces more creative problem-solving and careful prototyping since mistakes are costlier.
Silent Challenge
Teams must build without speaking—communication only through gestures and actions. This variation highlights how much we rely on verbal communication and surfaces non-verbal collaboration skills.
Leadership Rotation
Every 6 minutes, a new team member must take explicit leadership role and direct the team. This variation develops leadership skills and reveals different leadership styles within one team.
Earthquake Simulation
At the 12-minute mark, facilitator shakes the table. Structures must survive and teams can make repairs. Adds unpredictability and tests how teams respond to unexpected setbacks.
Continuous Improvement
Run three 10-minute rounds with the same teams. After each round, give teams 3 minutes to debrief and plan improvements. This variation emphasizes iterative learning and continuous improvement mindsets.
Common Pitfalls
- ✗Waiting until the last minute to place the marshmallow on top. The marshmallow is heavier than it looks and often collapses rushed structures. Test with the marshmallow early and often.
- ✗Over-planning instead of building prototypes. Teams that spend 10+ minutes planning often run out of time and build only one fragile tower. Start building early to learn what works.
- ✗One person dominating decisions while others passively watch. Effective teams actively seek input from all members and build on each other's ideas collaboratively.
- ✗Building too tall too fast without reinforcing the base. Ambitious height goals fail when foundations are weak. Strong structures have stable, wide bases that taper upward.
- ✗Not stepping back to view the structure from different angles during building. Teams focused only on close-up details miss structural instability visible from a distance.
Safety & Inclusivity Notes
- •Ensure participants with mobility limitations have accessible workspaces. The activity can be done seated at tables or standing on the floor—accommodate individual needs.
- •Be aware of dietary restrictions and allergies. While participants shouldn't eat the marshmallows, some may have sensitivities to handling them. Offer gloves if requested, or substitute with small balls of clay.
- •Create psychologically safe environment by normalizing failure. Emphasize that most structures collapse and there's learning in every outcome. Celebrate creative attempts even when they don't succeed.
- •Allow quiet participants to contribute in their preferred style. Some people think best internally before speaking. Create space for written reflection and small group discussion, not just vocal sharing in large group.
- •Respect that some participants may feel uncomfortable with competitive activities. Frame it as collaborative learning rather than winning at others' expense. Celebrate multiple forms of success beyond just tallest tower.
Why This Game Works
The Marshmallow Challenge leverages fundamental principles of experiential learning, design thinking, and team psychology. By forcing teams to prototype rapidly under time pressure, it bypasses theoretical discussion and creates visceral learning. The physical constraint of building with limited materials mirrors real-world resource limitations, while the 18-minute timer induces productive stress that reveals authentic team behaviors rather than polished personas.
Psychological Principles
Experiential Learning Theory
David Kolb
Kolb's theory posits that people learn most effectively through a cycle of concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation. Direct hands-on experience creates deeper understanding than passive instruction.
Application in Game
The Marshmallow Challenge embodies all four learning stages. Teams experience building (concrete), observe their structure's collapse (reflective), discuss what went wrong (conceptual), and apply insights in subsequent rounds or projects (experimentation). The physical failure creates memorable learning that transfers to workplace innovation challenges.
Iterative Design Thinking
Tom Wujec
Design thinking emphasizes rapid prototyping and iteration over perfect planning. The process of build-measure-learn creates better outcomes than extensive upfront planning because it incorporates real-world feedback quickly.
Application in Game
Teams that build multiple prototypes rather than planning one perfect design consistently perform better in The Marshmallow Challenge. The activity demonstrates that kindergarteners outperform MBA students because children naturally prototype iteratively while adults over-plan. This reveals the power of testing assumptions early and often.
Psychological Safety in Teams
Amy Edmondson
Psychological safety—the belief that one can take risks without fear of punishment or humiliation—enables team learning and innovation. When team members feel safe to experiment and fail, they generate more creative solutions.
Application in Game
The Marshmallow Challenge creates a safe environment for failure because everyone struggles and most structures collapse. This shared vulnerability builds psychological safety quickly. Teams that laugh at failures and rapidly try new approaches demonstrate healthy team dynamics that predict future collaboration success.
Tuckman's Stages of Group Development
Bruce Tuckman
Teams progress through forming, storming, norming, and performing stages. Understanding this natural progression helps teams navigate early conflict and establish productive working norms faster.
Application in Game
The 18-minute time constraint compresses Tuckman's stages into a rapid-fire sequence. Teams quickly move from polite forming to storming when disagreements emerge about approach, then norm around a strategy, and finally perform under deadline pressure. Observing this accelerated journey provides insights into how the team will function on longer projects.
Scientific Evidence
Research analyzing Marshmallow Challenge outcomes across 70+ teams found that kindergarteners averaged structures 26 inches tall while business school students averaged only 10 inches. Teams that built at least 3 prototypes achieved 34% taller structures than teams that built only 1-2 prototypes.
A study of 124 project teams found that teams engaging in hands-on prototyping exercises showed 28% improvement in psychological safety scores and 31% increase in willingness to voice dissenting opinions during subsequent project work.
Measurable Outcomes
Facilitators coded pre/post workshop collaboration sessions and counted proactive verbal check-ins per minute
Timeframe: Immediately following activity
Tracked how long teams needed to arrive at a freestanding structure that could hold a marshmallow during follow-up sprints
Timeframe: During follow-up design thinking exercises
Assessed using the standard Team Psychological Safety instrument emailed to participants
Timeframe: One week post-activity
Success Stories
Transforming a Siloed Software Development Team at a FinTech Startup
Background
A 25-person engineering team at a rapidly growing payment processing startup was struggling with cross-functional collaboration. Backend, frontend, and QA engineers worked in isolated pods with minimal communication. The VP of Engineering brought in The Marshmallow Challenge during a quarterly team offsite to diagnose and address the collaboration gap.
Challenge
The team had strong individual technical skills but poor collaborative problem-solving. Projects were delayed because teams didn't surface integration issues until late in development cycles. Engineers admitted they were afraid to propose ideas that might reveal knowledge gaps, creating a culture of playing it safe rather than innovating.
Solution
The VP ran three rounds of The Marshmallow Challenge with randomly mixed teams. After each round, she facilitated reflection discussions focused on what behaviors helped vs. hindered success. She explicitly celebrated teams that failed fast and tried multiple approaches. The debrief connected building marshmallow towers to building software features—both require early integration testing and rapid iteration.
Results
Post-activity surveys showed a 33% increase in team psychological safety scores. In the following quarter, the number of cross-functional design reviews increased by 40%, and the average time to identify integration issues dropped from 8 days to 3 days. Engineers reported feeling more comfortable proposing experimental solutions and admitting uncertainty early, leading to faster problem resolution and fewer last-minute surprises.
Breaking Down Hierarchies in a Traditional Manufacturing Company
Background
A family-owned manufacturing company with 120 employees faced challenges bringing younger employees into leadership roles. The culture was hierarchical, with senior managers making most decisions and junior staff hesitant to speak up. The HR director introduced The Marshmallow Challenge at a company-wide leadership development program.
Challenge
Traditional top-down management was slowing innovation. Junior employees had valuable ideas about process improvements but rarely shared them. Senior leaders acknowledged they didn't create space for junior voices, but weren't sure how to change the dynamic without appearing to lose authority.
Solution
The HR director ran The Marshmallow Challenge with intentionally mixed teams—pairing senior executives with junior staff members. The activity's level playing field (no one had tower-building expertise) allowed junior employees to take leadership roles naturally. The facilitator highlighted moments when junior team members' ideas led to taller structures, making the value of diverse perspectives tangible and undeniable.
Results
The activity sparked candid conversations about decision-making patterns. Three months later, the company implemented a formal idea submission system and monthly cross-level innovation sessions directly inspired by the collaborative spirit of The Marshmallow Challenge. Employee engagement scores increased 23%, and the company implemented 12 process improvements suggested by junior staff in the first quarter—previously averaging 2-3 per year.
Energizing Burnt-Out Healthcare Workers During Pandemic Response
Background
A hospital system's emergency department staff was experiencing severe burnout 18 months into the pandemic. Team cohesion had deteriorated as exhaustion set in. The Chief Nursing Officer organized a series of wellness and reconnection sessions, starting each with The Marshmallow Challenge to rebuild team spirit.
Challenge
Staff morale was at an all-time low. Team members were going through motions but had lost the collaborative energy that made them effective. Traditional team meetings felt like obligations rather than opportunities. Leaders needed a way to re-energize teams and remind them why they chose healthcare careers.
Solution
The CNO introduced The Marshmallow Challenge as a 'play break' during quarterly team meetings. Rather than focusing on the competitive element, she emphasized the joy of creating something together and the humor of inevitable failures. Teams that hadn't laughed together in months found themselves cheering for collapsing spaghetti towers and celebrating creative problem-solving.
Results
Staff reported that the activity helped them remember what effective teamwork felt like. Burnout survey scores improved modestly but significantly (12% reduction in emotional exhaustion subscale). More importantly, the activity became a cultural touchpoint—staff began using 'marshmallow moment' as shorthand for needing to pause, regroup, and try a different approach during stressful patient situations, applying the iterative mindset to clinical challenges.
What Users Say
"We've used dozens of team building exercises over the years, but The Marshmallow Challenge is the one people remember and reference months later. It perfectly demonstrates the danger of over-planning and the power of rapid prototyping in a way that no PowerPoint ever could. Our product teams now use 'build the marshmallow first' as a mantra for testing risky assumptions early."
Jennifer Park
VP of Product Development
Use Case: Quarterly innovation workshops
"I was skeptical when our facilitator pulled out spaghetti and marshmallows. But watching our normally quiet team members take charge when their ideas worked better than the senior engineers' was eye-opening. The activity broke down walls in 18 minutes that months of meetings hadn't touched. We still talk about 'marshmallow moments' when we need to try something bold."
Michael Torres
Engineering Manager
Use Case: Cross-functional team formation
"As a professor of organizational behavior, I've observed hundreds of team dynamics. The Marshmallow Challenge is brilliant because it reveals authentic behavior under pressure. Students who discuss collaborative leadership theories suddenly become autocratic or passive when building towers. The gap between espoused values and actual behavior becomes visible, creating powerful teaching moments."
Dr. Sarah Okonkwo
Associate Professor of Management
Use Case: MBA leadership course
"We run this with every new cohort of managers in our leadership development program. The debrief discussions are golden—people connect tower-building struggles to real project challenges they're facing. One manager said it helped him understand why his team was stalling: they were planning perfect solutions instead of testing assumptions. Six weeks later, his project was back on track using iterative sprints."
David Ramirez
Director of Learning & Development
Use Case: New manager onboarding program
Frequently Asked Questions
The 18-minute timeframe was established by Tom Wujec's research and creates optimal productive pressure—long enough to attempt meaningful building but short enough to prevent overthinking. You can adjust to 15-20 minutes based on your schedule, but shorter than 15 minutes becomes rushed and longer than 20 minutes reduces urgency and energy.
Measure precisely to the bottom of the marshmallow using a measuring tape. If structures are truly identical in height, celebrate both teams as co-winners, or use a secondary criterion like 'most aesthetically interesting structure' or 'best use of materials.' The winner matters less than the learning discussion, so keep the spirit light.
Stick with standard-size marshmallows for consistency—they're heavy enough to create the central challenge. Using mini marshmallows makes it too easy. If marshmallows aren't available, substitute with similar-weight objects like a lemon or tennis ball, but the 'marshmallow' name and tradition add to the activity's appeal and searchability for resources.
Address rule-bending immediately but lightheartedly: 'I see you're getting creative with the tape, but remember the rules—you can't attach to the table!' Treat it as a teachable moment about constraints driving innovation. In debrief, discuss how teams approached boundaries and what that reveals about risk tolerance and rule interpretation in workplace settings.
Teams of 4-5 people work best. Smaller teams (2-3) can work but reduce diversity of perspectives. Larger teams (6+) often lead to some members becoming passive observers. If you have uneven numbers, a team of 6 is better than having one team of 3 while others have 5.
Absolutely—in fact, it's particularly valuable for senior teams who may have fallen into established interaction patterns. The novelty of the task creates a level playing field where expertise doesn't transfer, allowing different team dynamics to emerge. Frame it as a leadership development exercise focused on team behavior observation rather than a 'fun game' if organizational culture is formal.