Yes, it’s that time of year again.  We are all busy trying to figure out what stocking fillers we need to buy for nephews and nieces, aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters, mum and dad, friends and colleagues.

And we have loads of ideas for you!

For Kids:

• An adventure day for only £30 per person

• 1/2 days are only £20 per person

• NEW! 1 day at Adventure School in the Mournes, Belfast or Gortin only £25 per day

For Adults:

• Try coasteering only £45 per person

• Full day of adventure skills only £75 per person

• Intro activities only £35 per person

And if you can’t decide what to book you can also buy a voucher for any monetary amount

Each personalised voucher will be emailed to you with a description of the activity, what it involves, what they should expect and details on how to book.

To purchase your Gift Vouchers give us a call on 0845 521 3145or email info@theadventureteam.co.uk

The Coasteering Club is a great way to explore our coastline under your own steam and with the help of The Adventure Team.

The Coasteering Club meets on the 1^st Sunday of every month at various locations throughout Ireland – north and south!  We also run at least one trip a year to another location in the UK with Pembrokeshire high on the agenda for 2011.

Bronze Membership of the club costs £75 and includes:

• 3 coasteering trips over a 12 month period
• Insurance
• Experienced guides

Silver Membership of the club costs £120 and includes:

• 6 coasteering trips over a 12 month period
• Insurance
• Experienced guides
• Reduced equipment hire rates

Gold Membership of the club costs £180 and includes:

• 12 coasteering trips over a 12 month period
• Insurance
• Experienced guides
• Discounted training courses
• Discount rates for friends attending open events
• Reduced equipment hire and purchase rates

Member’s can also access any of the 30+ Coasteering events scheduled with The Adventure Team.

Members must be 17 years of age at time of joining

As many of you may have noticed we have been running a 1/2 price sale which we have promoted through our Facebook Page.  And because it has been going so well we have decided to extend it until the end of January for all of you that subscribe to our newsletter.

Some of the ideas that have been booked already are:

Kids Birthday Party – 2 activities over 2 hours.  Choose from Archery, River Scrambling, Treasure Hunt, Team Games and Orienteering.  Standard rate is £150 for 15 participants and now you can get it for only £75!  (We can even come to you!)

Coasteering – this is one of our most popular activities by far!  Now you can book a session for only £23.50!  A definite bargain for those of you that want a good challenge!  Want to know more about coasteering? Click here

Kayaking – How about a 2.5 for you and the family?  In our sale you can book 4 places for the price of 2 – that’s £50 instead of £100!

Archery – Our 1 hour introductions to archery are extremely popular and at only £5 per person instead of £10 we think they will be even more popular.  Minimal number of 8 required for this.

Team Building – Does your team need a boost?  A full day of Team Building for 20 staff for £500 instead of £1000!

Don’t know what you want and don’t want to miss this offer?

That’s ok!  We have had families, individuals and youth organisations booking vouchers for this summer as well.  They don’t know what dates they want or what activities but they will now get them for 1/2 price.

If you would like to book some 1/2 price activities give us a call on 028 8164 8390 and if you have subscribed to our newsletter they are yours

The Adventure Team has grown from strength to strength since we opened our doors on the 1^st January 2008 – and that’s all down to you.

So we have been considering different ways that we can thank our customers and thought it would be best to get your input.  This short survey will help us get a better picture of what you would like and help you get a better idea of what we think.  And as a wee treat everyone who enters it will be entered in to a draw to win a £100 Adventure Voucher!

Click here to complete the survey

Thank you for your time – now cross your fingers and hope you win

Yesterday we had our first Activity Auction!  We offered a Coasteering Voucher valued at £188 and it went for only £50!  A real bargain!

Today we have a 2 hour archery and team games session at a suitable venue close to you.  The voucher would normally cost £150 and allows up to 15 people to take part.  It will make a wonderful Birthday treat, actually, it is perfect for any sort of party!

If you would like to win this brilliant gift head on over to The Adventure Team on Facebook and enter your bid!

A brilliant alternative to Musical Chairs!

Get the group in to pairs – if the group has males and females it is ideal to get them in to pairs of the opposite sex.

When the music’s on, the pairs must prance and dance around at will.  When the music stops the games facilitator shouts either ‘Knight’, ‘Horse’ or ‘Cavalier’

• Knight means the male has to give his partner a piggy back
• Horse means the male has to give their partner a horse ride by getting on all fours
• Cavalier means the male has to get down on one knee and the female sits on it

The last couple to execute the maneuver is out and so the game plays on until the remaining couple is announced the winner.

A simple game which is why it is so good!

Have fun

Mafia is a great game – it’s simple to setup, needs no equipment, and is heaps of fun.  You need at least 7 or 8 people to play.

There are five roles people play in the game – the mafia, a medic, townspeople, and a moderator.  For a group of eleven, the ratios should be approximately:

• 2 Mafioso
• 1 Medic
• 1 Policeman
• 6 Townspeople
• 1 Moderator

The roles should be allocated secretly apart from that of the moderator.  Normally, the Moderator writes them on cards and hand them out, so no one knows what role others are playing.  The moderator should be someone who knows the game well.

In a nutshell:

• The objective of the Mafioso is to work together to assassinate all the towns people (including the police & medic)
• The objective of the town’s people is to vote out both the Mafioso

The game starts with the moderator telling everyone to close their eyes. 

Once all eyes are closed, the moderator asks the mafia to open their eyes.  As this is the first turn, each Mafioso will discover their fellow Mafioso who they will be working with.  The moderator asks the two Mafioso who they wish to kill.  They silently agree (by pointing to someone) who to ‘kill’ that turn.  Once they have selected someone, the moderator thanks them and asks them to close their eyes. 

The moderator then asks the Medic to open their eyes.  They can then choose someone to ‘save’ (more on what this means later).  Once they have selected someone to save, the moderator asks the Medic to close their eyes

Finally the moderator asks the Policeman to open his/her eyes, and select someone to accuse (of being in the mafia).  The moderator must honestly (and silently) answer the policeman with a nod or a shake of the head whether the accused is one of the assassins or not.  The policeman then closes their eyes. 

That’s the end of the first round, and the moderator then asks everyone to open their eyes.

The moderator announces to the group who was killed during the night.  The person who has been killed takes no further part in the game.  It is essential they are not allowed to talk. 

Note that if the person the mafia selected to be ‘killed’ was also the one selected by the medic, the moderator only reveals there was a failed assassination attempt (and doesn’t give any further information) so the person remains alive.

It is then up to the remaining group members to discuss amongst themselves who they think is in the mafia.  After a few minutes of discussion, the group must vote (one at a time) who they think is in the mafia. 

Given the roles have been handed out in secret; the early rounds are often full of speculation, people justifying their innocence, or explaining their suspicions.  And as the game progresses, lies, deception and strategy creep in.  When all votes have been cast, the person with the most votes is out of the game (and must also not speak again).

The game continues on this cycle, with everyone closing their eyes, the mafia again selecting someone to kill, the medic selecting someone to save, the policeman someone to accuse, the moderator announcing who was killed, then voting again. 

If the medic and/or policeman have been voted out, the moderator should continue pretending to ask them to select someone to save (or to accuse) just so the townspeople don’t know who those people are. 

If one of the two Mafioso is voted out, the game still continues with one Mafioso.

The game ends either when

• All the townspeople are killed (and therefore the mafia win)
• All of the mafia have been voted out (and the townspeople win)

As the game progresses, less and less people are in the game, and people (especially the medic and policeman) build up more and more knowledge of who the Mafioso may be.  Thus the discussions get more and more interesting. 

It’s recommended the medics and policemen keep their identity a secret in the early rounds to avoid being picked off by the assassins.  There comes a time however when it may be beneficial to reveal their role to the group, especially if the policeman has an accusation confirmed.  Whether they can convince the rest of the group they are genuinely a policeman (and not a Mafioso posing as a policeman) adds to the mystery!

Moderators need to be very careful to recite the same script each time to avoid inadvertently giving things away (e.g. "Mafia, open your eyes"  versus  "Mafioso, open your eyes" gives away that one Assassin has been killed).  If the medic has been voted out, continue pretending to ask them (and allow enough time for a pretend answer) so the group is unaware if they are still in the game or not.  Also be aware of voice projection – don’t give away roles by speaking in their direction.

Adjust the number of policemen / Mafioso according to the size of the group.  For 15 players, have two policemen, for 20, have three Mafioso, etc.

The more times you play the game, the better it gets as people get an understanding of how it all works and develop their strategies!

Enjoy

There are absolutely loads of games that can be played with balloons (over 30 that we know of) and we will put these together very soon!  In the meantime check out Balloon Stomp – this games guarantees high energy, lot’s of running about and loads of laughs!

Aim of the Game: Stomp and Pop the balloons of the people in the other teams so that you are the only team left with your balloons intact!

Preparation:

• Play in an area where everyone can easily run around without banging in to anything
• Loads and loads of balloons (spares are useful as some usually “accidentally” pop before the game even begins)
• Ribbon or string, cut 1 1/2 feet long

How to Play Balloon Stomp:

Split everyone into three equal teams and hand out the balloons, one colour per team; and give each person two balloons.  Each person should tie the ribbon or string to their ankle and then attach one of the inflated balloons to it.  Now for the rules:

• When you say “go”, the players must stomp and pop other teams’ balloons.
• The players can only run within the set boundaries.
• The players cannot use their hands.
• If a players’ balloon is burst they must inflate and attach their second balloon (step outside the boundary to do this)
• If both balloons have been popped, the player must sit out of the boundaries and is out of the game.
• The remaining team with at least one balloon intact wins the game.

This game can also be played on an individual basis – each person is against everyone else!

Have fun

A weekend of Adventure, great food, traditional bunk room (or private cottage) accommodation and lots of people to hang out with in the evening!

Activities include archery, orienteering and canoeing!

All of this for only £125 per person, or £110 per person if booking 4, or more, places – gift vouchers available.

All activities and accommodation subject to availability

This is a great opportunity to chill out from the rush of everyday life. Gortin is a quaint friendly Irish village with great evening entertainment. You will love this weekend!

Adult Adventure Breaks are on the 1st weekend of every month. If the date isn’t ideal we can schedule a date that suits you – just ask…

BOOKING IS ESSENTIAL

Send us an email or call us on 028 8164 8390 and book your places today!

We provide Birthday Party’s for Kids and adults on a regular basis but it seems that deciding what to do for a kids Birthday can be a bit more difficult – at least for the parent organising it anyway…

We often hear comments like:

“I just don’t know what to do this year?”

“My son/daughter is getting a bit old for the usual trip to the swimming pool, or party at the house – what can I do?”

“I want my daughter/son to have a birthday to remember”

And because we have so many activities available we have come up with a solution!

We now have a brilliant Birthday Party offer that will have 15 children busy, happy and excited for 2 hours!!!

The participants will get an hour of archery and an hour of indoor soccer, basketball or games. We will look after the screaming party kids for the 2 hours allowing you to relax and enjoy the party for a change!

And we think the price should also help you relax a bit – it’s only £100!

That’s right; £100 gives you all those activities, complete supervision throughout and, BONUS! a CD of images from the activities! If you bring 15 children that works out at £6.60 per person.

All that you need to do is bring a long a cake or for £3.00 per person we can take care of the catering for you – hotdogs or burgers, juice and a cake!

If you would like to book a Party give us a call on 028 8164 8390 or email info@theadventureteam.co.uk

If you fancy organising an adult birthday party have a look at this video and see how much fun you can have –