#1: Get your team to the labyrinth where The Pinecone sculpture (seen HERE) is on display. Once there, get to any of the starting points of the labyrinth and have your team members form a line, one behind the other, with the person who is newest to the company in the front. Then, take a video of your entire group traveling through the maze in a line attempting to make it to the center of the labyrinth in the shortest amount of time. Follow the designated paths without crossing the grass, and either have the last person in your line film the video or find a kind stranger to do it. Any team that makes it to the center will receive 1 point, but if your team navigated the paths faster than the other teams then you will receive an extra point.

#2: Tomorrow is National Armed Forces Day, a holiday first conceived by President Truman to celebrate all five branches of the United States military. To honor this special day, anywhere around the area find an active military person or a veteran. They could be wearing some form of military or veteran attire, have a military ID, or they could simply describe their military background while you’re completing your challenge. Once you’ve found someone, take a video of them watching your entire team doing 10 push-ups or sit-ups at their feet to honor their strength and courage. After you’ve finished recording, spend a few minutes learning more about their time in the service before you depart, as a small gesture of appreciation.

#3: In order to serve the community and their mental health needs, you need to stay healthy as well. Research shows that consuming raw garlic can boost your immune system. So take a video of all your team members each chewing a separate raw clove of garlic for at least 10 full seconds. Team members should be actively chewing the clove and not just holding it in their mouths. Disclaimer, although healthy this will likely not be pleasant, which is exactly the point. Because a team that suffers together, grows together.

#4: Click HERE to see pictures of a beautiful local mural. Get to this location and have someone take a picture of your team with any portion of that artwork behind you while everyone is jumping in the air and high-fiving at the same time. Work together as a team, and with the person taking the picture to try and time your jump perfectly. You may need to take the picture quickly since it’s located in the drive-thru area of a chain store where the customers waiting might be a little impatient (at least until they get the drink this place sells).

#5: Get every team member a large (16 ounces or so) open-top paper, plastic, or foam cup and fill it with water. Then somewhere outdoors, line up shoulder to shoulder and balance a full cup on each team member’s head. Once everyone’s cups are balanced, hold hands with the team members on either side of you and take a video of your team working together to all take 10 steps forward without anyone touching their cup or having it spill. If someone’s cup spills make sure to encourage them and then refill any spilled cups and start again as a team. After your team successfully travels 10 steps together dump the cups to prove they were full, and celebrate!

#6: A few days ago was National Have a Coke Day (it’s true, look it up). To celebrate this popular American drink find any vending machine that sells Coke. Buy one but instead of taking it with you, leave it in the dispenser tray with a note that says “Have a Coke on us! Love, Choices Psychotherapy”. Then take a picture of your Act Of Kindness so that your team, the vending machine, the free Coke, and your note are all visible if possible.

#7: Headquartered right here in Bloomington, Dairy Queen is well known for flipping their Blizzards upside down when presenting it to the customer. But this concept was actually taken from a rival ice cream shop back in 1959 when a somewhat annoying youngster kept asking the owner to make thicker and thicker shakes. Finally, the owner flipped it over to prove it’s thickness and appease the young boy. To honor this locally based franchise get to any DQ location and have someone on your team (or recruit a stranger if preferred) do a handstand while the rest of the team holds their legs like they are an upside down Blizzard. Try to have the person doing the handstand face the picture, and help them down so they don’t fall (or else it’s free according to the DQ policy).

#8: To build anything great, whether that’s an organization like Choices Psychotherapy, or a city like Edina, requires great leadership and people working together. Scattered around the city are a number of statues of humans, many of whom impacted this place in significant ways. Find any life-size statue of a human and take a fun team picture with the statue reacting wildly as if you’ve just met your longtime icon. Then after this event, live each day in a way that will make people want to build a statue of you in the future.

#9: Get to any grassy surface and take a video of your team all completing the Group Sit & Stand Challenge. Basically, your team members will all be standing shoulder to shoulder in a tight clump/circle with your backs all facing in and your arms interlocked. Slowly lower the entire interlocked group to the ground until you are in a seated position with your butt on the ground, and then slowly stand back up while remaining interlocked. To watch a video of a group successfully completing this challenge click HERE.

#10: Coming up in a few weeks we will celebrate Father’s Day, which was originally inspired by a young girl whose father was a Civil War vet and raised 14 children on his own after becoming a widow. To honor the great men everywhere that deserve our praise take a video of your team members hugging or high-fiving any male who is pushing a stroller around town as you give him words of encouragement such as "we believe in you", "you're awesome", "you're doing a great job", etc. Make sure your video shows the stroller at some point, although the child doesn’t need to be recorded.

#11: Get to any outdoor fountain around the area (the decorative kind, not the kind you drink from). Once you’ve found one, take a video of any two team members both successfully completing the “Bottle Flip Challenge” at exactly the same time. Basically, take a video of both members each flipping their own standard (16 ounces or so) bottle of water onto a hard surface near the fountain, and getting it to successfully remain standing upright once it lands. The bottle can be filled with as much water as needed to improve your chances of completing the challenge successfully. What will make this challenge difficult is getting two people to make a successful flip on the same attempt. If anyone is struggling, encourage them and keep trying together as a team. Your entire team can all be attempting the challenge together, as long as any two team members land the flip on the same attempt. To watch a video of two people successfully completing this challenge together click HERE.

#12: Get to any clothing or apparel store and find two different items with enough in stock that every team member can be wearing the same two items in their own sizes. Then take a fun team picture with everyone wearing those items. For example it may be a wacky shirt, and a pair of shorts. Or maybe some cozy slippers and a large sun hat. As long as everyone is wearing the same exact two items but in their own sizes.

#13: Take a video of your team successfully completing the Whipped Cream Catapult Challenge (click the link at the end of this description to see it performed properly). Divide your team into pairs. Have someone squirt a dollop (small lump) of whipped cream onto the back of their hand. Have the other person stand a few feet away from them ready to catch the whipped cream in their mouth. The person with the whipped cream on their hand will swing their arm back, palm down. When that hand gets back in front of them at about waist height, they’ll strike their wrist with their other free hand, causing the whipped cream to go flying. The second person should successfully catch the whipped cream in their mouth, or at least catch some of it in their mouth and the rest on their face. To complete this challenge at least half your team should make a successful catch in the video. To understand the challenge better and to watch a video of a team successfully completing it click HERE.

#14: Earlier this month was International Firefighters Day. To honor these heroes of the community, take a video of your team completing "Stop, Drop, and Roll" while any regulation/operable fire extinguisher is visible in the background, or you are standing in front of an actual fire station. Be sure to yell each step of the fire safety technique as you all do it together and make sure the fire extinguisher or fire station is clearly visible at some point in your video.

#15: In order to be an effective mental health professional you need the ability to concentrate, even while under an immense amount of stress and surrounded by endless distractions. Click HERE to complete the Choices Psychotherapy Concentration Challenge. Once on the site, select the option for “Concentration” and get ready to begin the test. You will see a series of shapes. The goal is to decide whether the word inside the shape matches the color of the shape. If it does, click the check mark. If it doesn’t click on the X. Your score will be based on speed and accuracy. To complete this challenge successfully, any member of your team needs to score 27 or more points total on one test. Once someone has achieved an acceptable score, take a picture of the highly focused team member proudly displaying their score on their screen.

#16: Anywhere around the area, take a picture of your team forming a 3-tiered, human pyramid inside of any elevator. You’ll need at least 6 people to properly form 3 tiers, so recruit kind strangers if needed. The elevator can be stopped at a floor with the door open as long as your pyramid is performed inside the actual elevator.

#17: Take a video of your team completing the "Paper Airplane Challenge". Basically send some team members to the 2nd level of any building or parking garage and have them toss paper airplanes out into the air in front of them (not just dropping it straight downward). The rest of your team should be on the sidewalk or grass below. Any of your team members at ground level need to catch just one plane before it hits the ground. All team members at ground level can be attempting to catch planes, but only one plane needs to be caught. To watch a team complete this mission successfully click HERE.

#18: Find a postcard that features this area in some way, or a fun greeting card, and purchase it. Then click HERE to go to the Postcard Happiness Project website and scroll down to the profile for John Craig, an adult with Downs Syndrome from Oregon that loves to receive mail. On your postcard include a fun or uplifting message and sign it with your names or your group name. The mailing address for John can be found in his profile description. Stamp your card and take a picture with it to show you've completed your Act Of Kindness and then drop it in the mail along the way or after your event ends.